2023-08-28 18:25:00
Par Thomas Cherbonnel
Published on August 28, 23 at 8:25 pm See my news Follow Les Nouvelles de Sablé Marie Félix has released a book retracing her obstacle course in the face of Lyme disease. ©Thomas CHERBONNEL / News from Sablé
For 40 years, Marie Félix (her author name) has lived with Lyme disease. The one who taught for several years at Lycée Colbert (now Lycée Raphaël Elizé), in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, lived until 2017, without knowing what illness she was suffering from.
Her years of suffering, she recounts them in a book entitled: If patients knew, if doctors could.
Marie Félix was 20 years old when she was affected by Lyme disease. A tick bite during an outing in the forest will trigger this descent into hell.
My parents are both doctors. They converted to foresters. They had two reasons to know before everyone else, the reasons for Lyme disease in the 80s. But despite everything, the knowledge was extremely rudimentary.
Marie Felix
The first symptoms
Contrary to the usual symptoms, “I didn’t have any joint pain or felt a fever. As for the third “pillar” of the disease, it was only in 2017, when Lyme disease was diagnosed, that erythema migrans “flashed back”.
The latter is a skin lesion that appears at the bite. “An acquaintance confirmed to me that I had indeed had it, but at the time no one had paid attention to it”.
“50% of people with Lyme don’t get or see erythema migrans. It’s not necessarily something spectacular,” explains Marie Félix.
“I lost my hair at 23”
The first symptoms begin to appear a few months after the tick bite. “The particularity is that I started by complaining of sciatica”.
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She also suffers from cruralgia. “I had difficulty sitting up. This hindered me a bit in my studies”.
Over the years, the symptoms are more and more important. She then begins to consult doctors. But “no one believes me. “I lost my hair at 23, I was almost bald. I was told it was psychosomatic. »
She receives treatments that are administered to people suffering from depression.
Neurological disorders
But the pain intensifies and neurological disorders appear. She suffers from tinnitus hyperacusis, ophthalmic problem (with a narrowing field of vision).
Dizziness even prevents him from standing up. Despite everything, this science teacher is still practicing her profession.
“During intercourse I lay down on the stage. I have spent part of my life staring at ceilings. »
“A few windows of well-being”
During all these years of suffering, Marie still does not know what she is suffering from. “15 years ago my father said to me, it’s still not Lyme? »
The one who lived in Poillé-sur-Vègre for two years carried out two tests which turned out to be negative. “If I had known what I really had, I wouldn’t have taken the shock,” says Marie.
Despite the illness “there have been some windows of well-being. Marie notably had three children.
In 2017, a new general practitioner prescribed Marie a third test. This time, he comes back positive and the diagnosis is confirmed during a second test. “40% of the tests are false negatives, the tests are not reliable”, Marie is scandalized.
The latter is not relieved by the result. “I knew I would be in phase 3 of the disease (the most advanced stage). This is the lesional phase. »
An obstacle course
It is then an obstacle course that begins for Marie. Today she is better thanks to an alternative treatment: “non-Western traditional and herbal medicine. »
Today, retired, Marie Félix divides her time between her home in the Paris region and the family home located in Ombrée d’Anjou.
Through her book, she wants to give hope.
On Friday, September 8, at 6 p.m., she will go to Le Mans, to the Thuard bookstore, for a presentation of her book followed by a debate. The next day, Saturday September 9, she will be in Sablé-sur-Sarthe where a signing session is planned, at the Ancre des Mots bookstore at 2:30 p.m.
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