Lyme disease patient goes SEVEN YEARS undiagnosed with condition
Adam Lomax was diagnosed with Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick
The NHS “insulted and failed” Adam Lomax, 28, after his GP dismissed his Lyme Disease as flu, he claimed.
Lomax was diagnosed with the rare condition, which causes joint pain, heart problems and a bull’s-eye-shaped rash, three months ago. After a friend’s recommendation, he was tested for the disease after his symptoms persisted for almost seven years.
Lyme disease affects between 2,000 and 3,000 people in England and Wales a year, according to NHS Choices. It’s a bacterial infection that’s spread to humans by blood-sucking ticks.
Ticks are small, spider-like parasites, found in woodlands and heath areas. When brushed onto skin or clothing, they bite and feed on blood.
“About seven years ago, when I was at university near the New Forest - a high risk area for ticks - I woke up in the night to something biting my arm,” said Lomax. “I whacked it off while half asleep, thinking it was a spider or a mosquito.”