A Troubling Lyme Tale

Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the U.S. It is caused by a bite from a deer tick that carries the Borrelia Burgdorferi (Bb) bacteria.

The deer tick is the size of a small freckle and attaches itself to areas that are moist and warm such as behind the knees, groin, abdomen and the back of the neck. Because the infected tick is so small, one may not know they've been bitten. It simply attaches itself, remains for 48-72 hours, may become engorged and fall off.

A troubling fact is that many may not know they have Lyme disease until it develops into a chronic illness because they don't know they've been bitten by a tick.

Symptoms

One to four weeks after being infected, symptoms may appear. Few develop the classic bullseye rash which is usually the first tell-tale sign. Other symptoms may be:

joint problems

extreme fatigue

weakness or numbness of the limbs

memory loss
difficulty thinking
rashes
tremors
night sweats
heart palpitations
Bells palsy
headaches
severe pain
difficulty sleeping
hormonal changes
low-grade fever and
depression

Symptoms may resemble other illnesses and are often misdiagnosed, such as:

rheumatoid arthritis
iirritable bowel syndrome
fibromylagia
chronic fatigue syndrome and
restless leg syndrome
multiple sclerosis

With some, symptoms can appear immediately or not surface until some time later. It can be years before symptoms are severe enough to seek treatment and there can be long term effects due to the chronic nature of this illness when not treated early.

It is not uncommon for a patient to have been seen by several physicians with a variety of ailments over the years as the disease travels through the body causing various symptoms. They leave physician offices with either no diagnosis or are misdiagnosed only to find out later it was indeed Lyme disease that had invaded their bodies.

Diagnosis and Treatment

There is no one test that can be used to diagnose Lyme disease which is why the Centers for Disease Contol (CDC) has left it up to the treating physician to make the diagnosis based on their own clinical findings. For early Lyme disease recovery, up to thirty days of antibiotics are recommended for treatment.

When it Becomes Chronic

Guidelines set out by the infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and approved by the CDC recommend thirty days of antibiotics to treat chronic Lyme disease. Many physicians disagree on this point stating that medical research indicates the use of long term antibiotics as necessary to treat the chronic form of this disease. There is a study done by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that backs up their findings for long term use of antibiotics. Because the CDC and IDSA disagree with the long term use of antibiotics for chronic Lyme disease, some insurance companies are denying coverage.

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