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Signs And Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

Tips for preventing Lyme disease during tick season

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Overview

Lyme disease is an underreported, under-researched, and often debilitating disease transmitted by spirochete bacteria. The spiral-shaped bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, are transmitted by blacklegged deer ticks. Lymes wide range of symptoms mimic those of many other ailments, making it difficult to diagnose .

The blacklegged ticks can also transmit other disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites. These are known as coinfections . These ticks that transmit Lyme are increasing their geographical spread. As of 2016, they were found in about half the counties in 43 of 50 states in the United States .

Lyme is the fifth most reported of notifiable diseases in the United States, with an estimated 329,000 new cases found annually . Some studies estimate that there are as many as 1 million cases of Lyme in the United States every year .

Most people with Lyme who are treated right away with three weeks of antibiotics have a good prognosis.

But if youre not treated for weeks, months, or even years after infection, Lyme becomes more difficult to treat. Within days of the bite, the bacteria can move to your central nervous system, muscles and joints, eyes, and heart .

Here is a list of 13 common signs and symptoms of Lyme disease.

How To Avoid Tick Bites

To reduce the chance of being bitten:

  • cover your skin while walking outdoors and tuck your trousers into your socks
  • use insect repellent on your clothes and skin products containing DEET are best
  • stay on clear paths whenever possible
  • wear light-coloured clothing so ticks are easier to see and brush off

What Do You Do If There’s A Tick Under Your Skin

Use a pair of fine-tipped tweezers to remove it as soon as possible. Pull upward with steady pressure. If parts of the tick are still in your skin, try to get those with the tweezers, too. After everything is out, clean the bite area with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.

You probably wonât get infected if you remove the tick within 36 to 48 hours.

How do you throw away a tick?

Put it in soapy water or alcohol, stick it to a piece of tape, or flush it down the toilet.

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What Can Patients With Chronic Neuropsychiatric Symptoms From Lyme Disease Do To Get Proper Treatment If We Are In A So Called Non

Chronic neuropsychiatric Lyme disease is a confusing entity to treat. That is why it is best to consult with someone who has had considerable experience evaluating these patients. That specialist may then be able to guide you and your doctor regarding the next phase of treatment. For example, while one patient may need additional antibiotics, another may need symptomatic therapies focused more on the residual symptoms. If one lives in an area in which Lyme disease is not common, it can be helpful to ask your doctor whether he or she would consider it useful for you to consult with a doctor from another state who might be more familiar with the latest treatment strategies. Most doctors would appreciate the recommendation of a colleague with more extensive expertise. It helps both the treating doctor and the patient. Your doctor may also wish to call a specialist in another state who has more experience often informal professional to professional consultation is quite helpful. We wish to add however that we have seen many patients who have avoided going to regular doctors or regular psychiatrists because of a fear of being misunderstood. This can be risky because it delays help which that particular doctor may be able to provide. One does not necessarily need to be an expert on neuropsychiatric Lyme disease to treat depression or irritability related to Lyme disease.

Chronic Lyme Disease: How One Tick Bite Can Ruin Your Health For Ever

Untreated Lyme disease: If it isn

For some people, the symptoms of Lyme disease never go away after treatment. Now we have clues about why this happens, supporting the idea that “chronic Lyme” really does exist

Ticks transmit Lyme disease by passing on Borrelia bacteria when they bite

Eye Of Science/Science Photo Library

BARELY a summer day went by that I didnt hear someone talking about Lyme disease. In the four years I lived on Long Island in New York, checking for ticks became second nature. After a walk in the woods. After a stroll in the marshy grasses by the beach. After a backyard barbecue.

I remember the first one I found on my clothing: a lone star tick, its distinctive white dot almost shining up at me from the crook of my elbow. I panicked until I found out that lone stars dont transmit Lyme disease.

The first time I found the kind of tick that does spread the disease burrowing into my leg, I retched, then rushed to the doctor the second time, I calmly went to the clinic to have it removed and get tested. In time, panic gave way to low-level, background worry.

Maybe I was right to be alarmed. Lyme disease is on the rise around the world. This bacterial infection spread by tick bites can lead to joint pain, fatigue, neurological damage and even temporary facial paralysis. If caught early, it is treatable in most cases. But some people report symptoms that never go away, even after treatment.

For some people, Lyme disease symptoms never go away

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Learn More About Lyme Disease Treatment

When you suspect youve been bitten by a tick, its important to seek help from Dr. Constantine Kotsanis at the Kotsanis Institute of Functional Medicine. He has years of experience treating patients that may have been infected by a tick. He understands the seriousness of Lyme disease treatment and is committed to ensuring his patients stay as healthy as possible, even after a tick bite. He can offer diet, nutritional supplements, and other tips to maintain your health after Lyme disease.

Learning how to protect yourself from ticks is important since you can get Lyme disease more than once in your life, so clearing an infection doesnt make you immune to getting it again. However, Lyme disease is curable, in most cases, so getting effective Lyme disease treatment will help resolve your symptoms.

Early Signs And Symptoms :

  • Erythema migrans rash A characteristic ring-shaped rash often termed Bulls eye
  • Occurs in approximately 70% 80% of infected persons.
  • Begins at the site of a tick bite after a delay of 3 to 30 days .
  • Expands gradually over several days, reaching up to 12 inches or more.
  • May feel warm to the touch but is rarely itchy or painful.
  • May appear on any area of the body.
  • Fever
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    Risk Factors For Post

    Youre at a greater risk for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome if youre infected by the bite of a diseased tick. If the infection progresses to the chronic stage, your symptoms might continue for weeks, months, or even years after the initial tick bite.

    You may also be at a higher risk for these long-term symptoms if youre not treated with the recommended antibiotics. However, even people who receive antibiotic therapy are at risk. Because the cause of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome is unknown, theres no way to determine whether it will progress to the chronic stage.

    Typically, the symptoms of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome resemble those that occur in earlier stages. People with persistent symptoms often experience lingering episodes of:

    • fatigue

    How Can Lyme Disease Last For Years

    2YH: Ticks and preventing Lyme disease

    Category: Health Published: October 9, 2015

    If treated, Lyme disease does not last for years. However, for some people, the after-effects of the disease can linger for months and sometimes even years. Alternative medicine providers call this condition “Chronic Lyme disease,” but this title is simply wrong. For a person who has been infected with Lyme disease and then treated, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is measurably no longer present in his body, even though he may still feel some symptoms. The correct title for this condition is therefore “Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.”

    Lyme disease is an infection caused by a bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi. This bacteria is delivered to humans through tick bites. From the bite site, the bacteria can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. Usually, but not always, an infectious tick bite causes a characteristic red rash at the site of the bite. Other symptoms include fever, muscle soreness, headache, fatigue, and dizziness. In a few cases, symptoms can also include mood swings, memory loss, and sleep disturbance. If left untreated for too long, Lyme disease can lead to nerve damage, thereby causing shooting pain, numbness, and even paralysis.

    The CDC states,

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    Lyme Disease: Resolving The Lyme Wars

    • By , Contributor

    Its finally getting warm here in New England, and most of us have plans to enjoy the beautiful weather. And thats why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report raising awareness about how to prevent the tickborne infections that typically occur during this time of the year. Lyme disease is probably the most well-known, and the one for which diagnosis and treatment are most controversial.

    Key Points To Keep In Mind

    • Most Lyme disease tests are designed to detect antibodies made by the body in response to the infection.
    • Antibodies can take several weeks to develop, so patients may test negative if infected recently.
    • Antibodies will persist in the blood for several months or even years after the infection is gone. Thus, the test cannot be utilized to determine if a patient has been cured.
    • Infection with other diseases, including some tick-borne diseases, or some bacterial, viral, or autoimmune diseases, can result in false-positive test results.
    • Some tests give results for two types of antibodies, IgM and IgG. A positive IgM should be disregarded if the patient has been sick for more than 30 days.

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    I Am Wondering If Columbia University Uses Xenodiagnosis For Detection Of Infectious Diseases

    This is an interesting question. Xenodiagnosis in this case refers to allowing an uninfected tick to feed on an individual with suspected infection to see whether the tick is able to suck up spirochetes when the spirochetes might not have been detectable otherwise. As strange as this concept appears, it has been used successfully recently by Dr. Steven Barthold at UC Davis. After being unable to identify persistent infection in a treated infected mouse using the standard PCR and culture techniques, he was then able to identify the spirochetes in these mice after treatment using the xenodiagnosis method. We at Columbia are not using this method on humans. This is a very intriguing scientific question that should be studied in humans.

    The Centers for Disease Control publishes national statistics and identifies those counties with the highest rates of Lyme disease in the United States. The web sites of many state health departments provide data on Lyme disease by town of residence.

    Support groups can be found by calling the Lyme clinics or Lyme disease organizations in your state. You might also call a national organization, such as the Lyme Disease Association for the names of support groups in your area.

    Effects Of Untreated Lyme Disease

    4 Lyme Disease Home Remedies

    When left untreated, Lyme disease can be debilitating. When it isnt treated early, it can spread and go into hiding in different parts of your body. Weeks, months, or years later, it can cause problems with your brain, nervous system, heart and circulation, digestion, muscles or joints, reproductive system, or your skin. While symptoms may disappear randomly, other ones may appear at different times. This is known as post-treatment Lyme disease or chronic Lyme disease.

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    Lyme Disease Frequently Asked Questions

    If you have not done so already, remove the tick with fine-tipped tweezers.

    The chances that you might get Lyme disease from a single tick bite depend on the type of tick, where you acquired it, and how long it was attached to you. Many types of ticks bite people in the U.S., but only blacklegged ticks transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Furthermore, only blacklegged ticks in the highly endemic areas of the northeastern and north central U.S. are commonly infected. Finally, blacklegged ticks need to be attached for at least 24 hours before they can transmit Lyme disease. This is why its so important to remove them promptly and to check your body daily for ticks if you live in an endemic area.

    If you develop illness within a few weeks of a tick bite, see your health care provider right away. Common symptoms of Lyme disease include a rash, fever, body aches, facial paralysis, and arthritis. Ticks can also transmit other diseases, so its important to be alert for any illness that follows a tick bite.

    References:

    Moody KD, Barthold SW, 1991. Relative infectivity of Borrelia burgdorferi in Lewis rats by various routes of inoculation.external iconAm J Trop Med Hyg 44: 135-9.

    There are no reports of Lyme disease being spread to infants through breast milk. If you are diagnosed with Lyme disease and are also breastfeeding, make sure that your doctor knows this so that he or she can prescribe an antibiotic thats safe for use when breastfeeding.

    Can Lyme Disease Resolve On Its Own

    It gets bigger for a few days to weeks, then goes away on its own. A person also may have flu-like symptoms such as fever, tiredness, headache, and muscle aches. Symptoms of the initial illness may go away on their own. But in some people, the infection spreads to other parts of the body.

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    What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

    Lyme disease can affect different body systems, such as the nervous system, joints, skin, and heart. The symptoms of Lyme disease are often described as happening in three stages. Not everyone with Lyme has all of these, though:

  • A circular rash at the site of the tick bite, typically within 12 weeks of infection, often is the first sign of infection. It’s considered typical of Lyme disease, but many people never get one.

    The rash sometimes has a “bull’s-eye” appearance, with a central red spot surrounded by clear skin that is ringed by an expanding red rash. It also can appear as an growing ring of solid redness. It’s usually flat and painless, but sometimes can be warm to the touch, itchy, scaly, burning, or prickling. The rash may look and feel very different from one person to the next. It can be harder to see on people with darker skin tones, where it can look like a bruise. It gets bigger for a few days to weeks, then goes away on its own. A person also may have flu-like symptoms such as fever, tiredness, headache, and muscle aches.

  • The last stage of Lyme disease happens if the early stages weren’t found or treated. Symptoms can begin anytime from weeks to years after an infectious tick bite. In kids and teens, this is almost always in the form of arthritis, with swelling and tenderness, particularly in the knees or other large joints.
  • What Is Late Lyme Disease

    Understanding the Persistent Symptoms in Lyme Disease | Johns Hopkins Medicine

    Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is caused by an infection with the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. This bacteria is disseminated through tick bites. Infected ticks usually bite small mammals, who do not develop any kind of infection from the bacteria. When humans are exposed to B. Burgdorferi from a tick bite, however, they can develop Lyme disease.

    People who work outside or spend time in woodland areas, where there is greater potential for exposure to tick bites, are most at risk of infection.

    Lyme disease is a condition which progresses in stages:

  • A person will initially develop early localized lyme disease, in which the bacteria have not yet spread through the body. At this stage, which generally has its onset days or weeks after the tick bite, a personâs symptoms will usually include a fever, fatigue, and a rash, called the Erythema Migrans rash, which has a distinctive bullsâ eye shape and affects around two thirds of people who develop Lyme disease. See this resource for more information on symptoms and treatment of early localized Lyme disease.
  • If Lyme disease is not diagnosed in either of these early stages, and is not treated effectively with antibiotics, the bacteria that cause LD can spread throughout the body from the site of the tick bite, resulting in late disseminated Lyme disease, or late lyme disease. The onset of symptoms and complications of late disseminated Lyme disease is usually around 6-36 months after the original infection.
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    Can Lyme Disease Ever Go Away

    Lyme disease infection does not go away by itself, it may simply lay dormant for short periods of time before regrouping and proliferating to trigger new symptoms. Some people may remain infected with Lyme disease and be asymptomatic for many years, only for postmortem investigations to find bacteria in their heart, liver,

    Treatment For Lyme Arthritis

    An initial episode of Lyme arthritis should be treated with a 4-week course of oral antibiotics. Patients with persistent joint inflammation and pain after a course of antibiotics may require a second course . In some cases, joint swelling and pain can persist or recur after two courses of antibiotics. The cause of persistent arthritis is unknown but is thought to be driven by immunologic factors. Additional antibiotics have not been shown to improve these symptoms, and patient referral to a rheumatologist is recommended.

    The following regimens may need to be adjusted depending on a patients age, medical history, underlying health conditions, pregnancy status, or allergies. Consult an infectious disease specialist regarding individual patient treatment decisions.

    Table 1. Oral antibiotic regimens for Lyme arthritis.*

    Age Category
    14 28 2,3

    Intravenous ceftriaxone is the preferred regimen for the second course of antibiotics for patients without any response after the initial course of antibiotics.

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