Signs Of Lyme Disease In People

Lyme Disease Symptoms To Watch For According To Doctors

Do you know the signs of Lyme disease?

Knowing the symptoms to look for can help diagnose Lyme disease early on, when it’s easily treatable.

Fever or fatigue, with or without a rash, can be a symptom of many thingsand Lyme disease is just one possibility. To diagnose Lyme, doctors say they have to consider symptoms and circumstances. If youve been hanging out in wooded or grassy areas, especially in certain regions of the country during the spring, summer, or even autumn months, it might make sense to entertain the possibility that you were bitten by a tick. And whats the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in America? Its Lyme disease, by far.

But Timothy P. Flanagan, MD, associate professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division at Brown Universitys Alpert Medical School, says it would be a mistake to latch on to a Lyme diagnosis without ruling out other possible causes, including other infections transmitted by ticks. You could have a different tick-borne infection entirely, such as anaplasmosis or babesiosis, or you could have Lyme with one or more co-infections. Thats because the same ticks that transmit Borrelia can carry other disease-causing microbes, too.

Its super important that we think of all the tick-borne diseasesnot just Lyme, Dr. Flanagan tells Health. Babesia, a parasite that causes babesiosis, is treated differently than Borrelia, for example.

What Is Late Lyme Disease

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.

Ongoing Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

A few people who are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease continue to have symptoms, like tiredness, aches and loss of energy, that can last for years.

These symptoms are often compared to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

It’s not clear why this happens to some people and not others. This means there’s also no agreed treatment.

Speak to a doctor if your symptoms come back, or do not improve, after treatment with antibiotics.

The doctor may be able to offer you further support if needed, such as:

referral for a care needs assessment
telling your employer, school or higher education institution that you require a gradual return to activities
communicating with children and families’ social care

Page last reviewed: 05 July 2021 Next review due: 05 July 2024

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Chronic Lyme Disease Vs Acute And Late Stage Lyme

One reason chronic Lyme disease is harder to detect and treat than Lyme at earlier stages is that chronic Lyme disease symptoms are more wide-ranging and varied. Chronic Lyme disease can cause symptoms of early Lyme disease such as fatigue and muscle aches to recur, but it can also cause new symptoms that affect different parts of the body.

Your Symptoms Change When You Take Antibiotics

When diagnosing a Lyme patient, Reihman will take note if they’ve ever experienced a flareup from antibiotics. This is called a Herxheimer reaction or Herx. “When Lyme is killed, it releases toxins, which are inflammatory to the body and create more symptoms,” Reihman says. A Herx reaction is often a sign that someone has killed off Lyme bacteria without properly supporting their body’s detox mechanisms. However, other people with Lyme will get better on antibiotics, since the bacteria are being killed. So, improvement of symptoms after taking antibiotics, even for something unrelated, is another sign someone could have Lyme.

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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.

Ucla Research: Signs Of Lyme Often Missed In Dark

Research from UCLA suggests that many physicians may not have the knowledge or training to properly recognize how Lyme disease appears on the skin of Black people.

In a study just published in the peer-reviewed Journal of General Internal Medicine, UCLAs Dr. Dan Ly analyzed data from a nationwide sample of Medicare beneficiaries who had all been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Ly found that approximately 1 in 3 Black patients who were newly diagnosed with Lyme disease already had related neurological complications such as meningitis, neuropathy and cranial neuritis an indication that the disease may not have been properly diagnosed in its earlier stages. Less than 1 in 10 newly diagnosed white patients had these complications.

Medical textbooks and other physician-training materials tend to underrepresent Black patients, Ly said, which could account for delays in diagnoses of certain diseases and conditions, like Lyme disease delays that can lead to serious health complications.

According to Dr. Ly, differential recognition of the skin manifestations of Lyme disease in Black patients may be the reason for delayed diagnosis and subsequent neurological complications. Thus, he said, efforts to better educate physicians and to boost representations of Black patients in medical education materials may be necessary to improve the diagnosis of the disease in this population.

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Treatment Following A Tick Bite

In some circumstances, a single dose of antibiotic given within 72 hours of a tick bite might prevent the development of Lyme disease. Several criteria must be met:
The tick must be identified as the blacklegged tick .
The tick must have been attached for at least 36 hours .
The tick bite occurred in a highly endemic area

Talk to your doctor about the single dose antibiotic treatment if you meet these criteria. You can also take a “wait-and-see” approach and watch for signs and symptoms of Lyme disease. Prompt treatment of the disease is very effective and will prevent more severe signs and symptoms.

Other Causes Of Lyme Disease Symptoms

CDC: How to spot signs, symptoms of Lyme disease

Sometimes people think they have the symptoms of Lyme disease, but it is a different disease caused by ticks. Diseases caused by tick bites that are known in Australia are:

Queensland tick typhus
Q fever
mammalian meat allergy

Sometimes there is no known diagnosis for symptoms such as fatigue, disordered thinking, disturbances of the senses, joint pain and headaches. These symptoms are real and can be very debilitating. In this case, you doctor will work with you to manage the symptoms and improve your quality of life.

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How Is Lyme Disease Treated

With early-stage Lyme disease, youâll take antibiotics for about 10 days to 3 weeks. The most common ones are amoxicillin, cefuroxime, and doxycycline. The antibiotics will almost always cure your infection. If they donât, you might get other antibiotics either by mouth or as a shot.

If you donât treat your Lyme infection, you might need oral antibiotics for symptoms like weakened face muscles and irregular heartbeat. You may need antibiotics if you have meningitis, inflammation in your brain and spinal cord, or more severe heart problems.

If your Lyme is late stage, the doctor might give you antibiotics either by mouth or as a shot. If it causes arthritis, youâll get arthritis treatment.

Thereâs no therapy for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.

Signs And Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

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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.

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Lyme Disease And The Cdc

In order for the Centers for Disease Control to recognize a Lyme case for surveillance purposes, there must be objective findings, such as positive blood tests, Bells palsy or joint swelling . The chart below reflects the CDC-reviewed surveillance case manifestations from 2001 to 2010.

This situation contributes to what many experts view as severe undercounting of Lyme disease by the CDC.

Using Cbd Oil In Your Dogs Treatment Plan

There is anecdotal evidence that suggest CBD is a holistic solution that can improve your dogs overall mood and increase their appetite. The increase in appetite is important because Lyme disease in dogs can reduce their appetite. Although CBD oil is not a treatment for Lyme disease in dogs, it can help stimulate appetite and can help mitigate any pain or discomfort your dog may be feeling. If your dog has been diagnosed with Lyme disease you should speak with your trusted veterinarian to come up with a treatment plan that suits your dog.

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Symptoms Of Late Stage Lyme Disease

The CDC reports that late stage Lyme disease may appear days to months after the initial tick bite and may include but are not limited to:

Severe headaches and neck stiffness
Additional EM rashes in new places on the body
Facial palsy, also known as Bells palsy paralysis of one side of the face
Arthritis or joint pain and swelling, especially of large joints
Intermittent tendon, muscle, joint, nerve, or bone pain
Heart palpitations or arrhythmia
Dizziness or shortness of breath
Inflammation of the brain or spinal cord
Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet

As mentioned above, late stage Lyme may also be characterized by the recurrence of early stage symptoms, such as fatigue.

Symptoms Check Out? Get Tested. Get Answers.

How Lyme Disease Is Identified In Horses

The identification and treatment of the most common form of Lyme disease starts with diagnostics.

When we have a horse that has signs that we think could be compatible with Lyme disease, the next step is actually to rule out all the other causes that could be causing it, Dr. DeNotta says.

A veterinarian typically starts with a complete physical exam, blood work, lameness exam and diagnostic workup.

Its what we call a diagnosis of exclusion, Dr. DeNotta says. The reason for that is most of the time, its something else .

The veterinarian first must rule out the most common reasons causing whatever abnormality the horses owner is reporting.

An additional difficulty is that the bacteria doesnt show in high concentrations in easily sampled fluids, such as blood, which would allow for a direct test. This is why the blood work is checked for, among other things, the antibody levels.

However, if all those reasons have not proven compatible, and the horse has antibody levels indicating a past or ongoing borrelia infection, the veterinarian at that point might look to Lyme disease and recommend treatment.

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Stage : Changing Skin

In stage 3, few signs of Lyme disease appear on the skin. Most problems occur in the heart and nervous system, and these can be serious.

Where you see signs on your skin: If you were in Europe when bit by a tick, you may see changes to your skin in this late stage. These changes usually appear on a hand or foot. Some people develop this change on both of their hands or feet. It can also occur on a knee, elbow, or elsewhere.

What the skin looks like: The skin begins to swell, and you may notice some redness. These signs are caused by having a bacterial infection for a long time. The affected skin may also feel sore.

In time, the skin starts to harden and shrink, causing deep lines to form. If you have hair in the area, it tends to fall out. The sweat glands can die, and the skin often becomes so thin that it tears easily. The medical name for this condition is acrodermatitischronical atrophicans.

In stage 3, you may also see tumors on your skin. It is believed that the long-term infection and swelling in the lymph nodes can lead to a cancer known as cutaneous B-cell lymphoma.

Skin starts to harden and shrink, causing deep lines to form

The medical name for this condition is acrodermatitis chronical atrophicans. Swelling, hardened skin, and deep lines on the foot of someone who has had Lyme disease for years.

When you see signs of changing skin and symptoms: These tend to occur months or years after you are bitten by a tick.

Arthritis
Dementia
Heart failure

Lyme Disease 10 Signs To Watch For

Lyme Disease, Causes, Signs and Symptoms, DIagnosis and Treatment.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bite of a deer tick carrying the bacterium Borrelia Burgdorferi . This bacteria is a cousin to the spirochete bacterium responsible for syphilis. Infected ticks thrive in forested areas.They transmit the bacteria to humans, which causes a range of health problems. With an early diagnosis, it is possible to recover completely without long-term effects, but undiagnosed Lyme disease can have severe complications.

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Complications Of Untreated Lyme Disease

If unchecked, the Lyme disease infection can spread to other bodily systems, causing significant damage. Untreated, complications of this condition can be very severe:

Arthritis:Prolonged infection with Lyme disease leads to chronic joint inflammation and swelling, usually in the knees . These symptoms tend to arise within two years of infection, with periods of flare-ups and remissions. This arthritis is relatively difficult to manage, though antibiotics and steroids may be attempted.
Lyme carditis:If the bacteria reach the heart tissues, they can cause inflammation and lead to heart block. The electrical signals being sent between the upper and lower chambers of the heart are interrupted, impairing the coordination of the heartbeat. Though disruptive, this is rarely fatal.
Lyme neuroborreliosis:Inflammation of multiple nerves, including those in the spine and brain, is the chief characteristic of this condition. This can also affect the meningesthe layer of tissue surrounding the brain and spineleading to meningitis, among other conditions. Antibiotic therapy, if applied promptly, tends to be effective as a treatment.

Even in cases where Lyme disease has progressed, antibiotic regimensespecially drugs like doxycyclineare generally successful in resolving problems.

What Should I Do If I Am Bitten By A Tick

If you experience a tick bite, the best way to remove it is by taking the following steps:

Tug gently but firmly with blunt tweezers near the “head” of the tick at the level of your skin until it releases its hold on the skin.
Avoid crushing the tick’s body or handling the tick with bare fingers as you could exposure yourself to the bacteria in the tick.
Wash the bite area thoroughly with soap and water.
DO NOT use kerosene, petroleum jelly , or hot cigarette butts to remove the tick.
DO NOT squeeze the tick’s body with your fingers or tweezers.

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