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The Sense of Dying

© Sue Vogan

The Sense of Dying

After speaking to many Lyme Disease victims (LDVs), I have found many things they have in common, but one that stands out is the "sense of dying." If you've never experienced the "sense of dying," this may seem absurd. Nonetheless, it is real, even if only to them. Thus, it must be validated.

One LDV stated that she had just got settled in bed and "it happened." She felt her "spirit" leave her body and she hovered above herself. She claimed that she felt peaceful and when it was over, she was disappointed that she had to "come back."

Another LDV claimed that she had just slipped beneath the covers after an uneventful day and "it happened." She could hear the traffic from the street outside her bedroom window, feel the cool forced air of her C-PAP, and see her cat snuggled beside her. Then, she was "whisked away to a field of beautiful flowers." She was calm and for the very first time, was in no pain. She was wide awake and just as suddenly as she had gone, she was back. The time lapse was only minutes, according to the bedside clock.

Some explain this as our bodies or minds playing tricks; others claim it's what happens when we are in a great deal of pain. But, whatever the explanation, both LDVs were in no pain, under no stress, were wide awake, and no events surrounded their lives that would even remotely warrant an "out-of-body" experience.

I have no explanation for the "sense of dying" episodes. However, I believe that I have seen it more in those that are ill, but it's usually more prevalent in terminal patients. Having worked around terminally-ill patients, I have watched their passing with a sense of awe. They seem to slip peacefully off into, for us, the unknown. What if they see where they are going before they actually go? Could this be what the LDVs are experiencing? Perhaps the Lyme Disease critters are causing havoc in our soft brain matter and sparking that passage of dying -- when, in fact, we are not. Could it be the brain thinking it is "time to die" from signals caused by the disease? I offer this only as a possibility. All we can know for sure is the one word that is common -- peaceful.

Let's just say that my theory is correct -- the disease is responsible for sending messages, wrong or misleading, to the brain. What other incorrect or ambiguous communications could be sent from the Lyme Disease bacteria? Would this explain some of the cognitive skill problems? The tingling or numbness? The brain fog or forgetfulness? How about the musical hallucinations, which are often a common side-effect of Lyme Disease? If this is true, then perhaps the disease IS in our heads -- clinically speaking.

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