Tipperary man seeks help following Lyme disease diagnosis

A Tipperary man is seeking for help after being diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Fionn Cleary was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2021, after experiencing chronic fatigue for the past decade.

Lyme disease is an illness caused by borrelia bacteria. Humans usually get Lyme disease from the bite of a tick carrying the bacteria.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, extreme tiredness, as well as joint stiffness and swollen lymph nodes.

This year, Fionn’s health has been declining and he is looking to get treatment at the Neomed Institute in Cyprus.

In a GoFundMe campaign, Fionn explained he is seeking help to be able to afford six weeks of treatment.

“For the past decade I’ve been dealing with worsening symptoms of chronic fatigue, sleep issues and cognitive issues. It’s been particularly bad since a major crash of health in 2019, and since then I live with a constant exhaustion and inability to focus on anything. In 2021 I got diagnosed with Lyme disease and some of its coinfections through the Armin Labs test. Some treatments that I’ve been able to access here have worked a little, but this year my health is really declining and I’ve had to cancel everything I’ve wanted to do in the last six months,” said Fionn.

Most days, Fionn says he cannot concentrate on anything and he experiences exhaustion.

“It takes me three or four hours to feel fully awake and that exhaustion and fogginess just doesn’t lift for the rest of the day. After my major crash five years ago, there were days where the brain fog was so intense I could hardly speak. As someone who was trying to be a comedian and a writer, it was really scary and heart breaking to be experiencing such a cognitive decline in my early 20s – a time where most of my peers were thriving into their healthy adult bodies and I was just getting weaker and getting stuck back home where I have absolutely no community,” he said.

Despite the fact he is someone who “tries to push ahead”, Fionn says his illness keeps knocking him back.

“I’ve made several attempts to go back to university throughout the years, but I’ve never had the consistent health to do so. I’m a comedian and a writer, but I’ve had to cancel every creative project I’ve wanted to do this year. Last year I was lucky enough to be able to perform a one-man-show about the experience of being chronically ill, and while it was incredible to realize one of my major goals in life, the brain fog made that whole process so challenging.

“As I’ve said I’ve had to cancel everything I’ve wanted to do for the past six months, I’ve been living with these symptoms for so long and I need proper specialized treatment and I need to have my case taken seriously, so it feels urgent that I seek whatever treatments I can.”

At the end of this month, he is hoping to travel to Cyprus and get help.