What Are The Effects Of Lyme Disease

How Can Lyme Disease Affect Your Pregnancy

We dont know for sure about the effects of Lyme disease on pregnancy. Untreated Lyme may cause complications during pregnancy, including:

• An infection in the placenta. The placenta grows in your uterus and supplies your baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord.
• Stillbirth. This is when a baby dies in the womb after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
• Congenital heart defects. These are heart conditions that are present at birth. They can affect the hearts shape or how it works, or both.
• Urinary tract defects. The urinary tract is the system of organs that helps your body get rid of waste and extra fluids. Urinary tract defects can cause pain, urinary tract infections, kidney damage and kidney failure.
• Problems with your babys blood, like hyperbilirubinemia. This is when your babys blood has too much bilirubin in it. Bilirubin is a yellow substance that forms as red blood cells break down. Too much bilirubin can cause your baby to have jaundice. This is when your babys skin and the white parts of his eyes look yellow because his liver isn’t fully developed or isn’t working.

Untreated Lyme disease also may cause your baby to have a rash after hes born.

Can I Catch Lyme Disease From My Dog

Dogs are not a direct source of infection for people. Lyme disease cant be transmitted from one pet to another, nor from pets to humans, except through tick bites. However, a carrier tick could come into your house on your dogs fur and get on you.

If your dog is diagnosed with Lyme disease, you and any other pets have probably been in the same outdoor environment and may also be at risk, so it is a good idea to consult with your physician and veterinarian to see whether you should test other pets or family members.

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When To See A Healthcare Provider

Since Lyme disease can take different forms, and since its often confused with other conditions, its important to be proactive if you suspect the condition. What signs prompt medical help? Call the healthcare provider if:

• You have a bullseye rashor any kind of rashfollowing a tick bite.
• You experience flu-like symptoms after a tick bite.
• You experience symptoms of more advanced Lyme disease: arthritis, heart palpitations, facial paralysis, dizziness, and others.

What Are The Complications Of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease affects people differently. Relapse and incomplete treatment responses happen. Relapse and incomplete treatment responses happen. Complications of untreated early-stage disease include:

• Joint disease

• Frequent hospitalizations to manage the disease

Some of these complications result in chronic, debilitating conditions.

Some people may develop post-Lyme disease syndrome . A condition also known as chronic Lyme disease includes PLDS, but also other syndromes. Usually, these are characterized by persistent musculoskeletal and peripheral nerve pain, fatigue, and memory impairment.

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What Do I Do If I Find A Tick On My Skin

Dont panic. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skins surface as possible. Pull up with steady, even pressure. Be careful not to squeeze or twist the tick body. Sometimes parts of the tick remain in the skin. You can leave them alone or carefully remove them the same way you would a splinter. Do not use heat , petroleum jelly, or other methods to try to make the tick back out on its own. These methods are not effective.

Wash the area where the tick was attached thoroughly with soap and water. Keep an eye on the area for a few weeks and note any changes. Call your doctor if you develop a rash around the area where the tick was attached. Be sure to tell your doctor that you were bitten by a tick and when it happened.

Treatment For Other Forms Of Lyme Disease

People with other forms of disseminated Lyme disease may require longer courses of antibiotics or intravenous treatment with antibiotics such as ceftriaxone. For more information about treating other forms of Lyme disease, see:

The National Institutes of Health has funded several studies on the treatment of Lyme disease that show most people recover within a few weeks of completing a course of oral antibiotics when treated soon after symptom onset. In a small percentage of cases, symptoms such as fatigue and myalgia can last for more than 6 months. This condition is known as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome , although it is also sometimes called chronic Lyme disease. For details on research into chronic Lyme disease and long-term treatment trials sponsored by NIH, visit the visit the National Institutes of Health Lyme Disease web siteexternal icon.

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Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

People with Lyme disease may react to it differently, and the symptoms can vary in severity.

Although Lyme disease is commonly divided into three stages early localized, early disseminated, and late disseminated symptoms can overlap. Some people will also present in a later stage of disease without having symptoms of earlier disease.

These are some of the more common symptoms of Lyme disease:

• a flat, circular rash that looks like a red oval or bulls-eye anywhere on your body

• other flu-like symptoms

These symptoms may occur soon after the infection, or months or years later.

Your child may have Lyme disease and not have the bulls-eye rash. According to an early study, results showed roughly 89 percent of children had a rash.

Lyme disease is best treated in the early stages. Treatment for early localized disease is a simple 10- to 14-day course of oral antibiotics to eliminate the infection.

Medications used to treat Lyme disease include:

• doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime, which are first-line treatments in adults and children
• cefuroxime and amoxicillin, which are used to treat women who are nursing or breastfeeding

Intravenous antibiotics are used for some forms of Lyme disease, including those with cardiac or central nervous system involvement.

After improvement and to finish the course of treatment, healthcare providers will typically switch to an oral regimen. The complete course of treatment usually takes 1428 days.

Babesia And Lyme Its Worse Than You Think

Babesia, a tick-borne infection that causes malaria-like symptoms, has been making headlines over the past two years as the number of reported cases increases, and concerns grow over the seriousness of the disease and its ability to be transmitted through the blood supply.

Although Lyme disease is the most talked about tick-transmitted disease, Babesia is more common than you might think. In the 2015 issue of Trends in Parasitology, Diuk-Wasser and colleagues report that up to 40% of patients with Lyme disease experienced concurrent Babesiosis.

This means that out of the estimated 300,000 cases of Lyme disease reported annually in the U.S., 120,000 of those individuals may also have Babesia. This is particularly alarming given that the disease can go undetected in asymptomatic individuals and is transmissible through blood transfusions or congenitally. Additionally, Babesia requires different treatment than Lyme disease.

The Babesia microti parasite that leads to Babesia is commonly seen in blacklegged deer ticks. But according to the authors, its also common to find ticks and enzootic hosts carrying both Borrelia burgdorferi and B. microti. In fact, between 12% and 42% of rodents are co-infected with both agents. This would suggest that coinfection provides a survival advantage for both pathogens.

Babesia difficult to diagnose

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What Are The Most Common Side Effects Of Lyme Disease

Initial side effects of Lyme disease include rash, low energy, headache and stiff neck, according to WebMD. Stage two side effects include memory problems, and pain or weakness in arms and legs. The third stage may cause joint pain and swelling, numbness or tingling, and no control over facial muscles.

The Lyme disease rash often begins three to 30 days after the tick bite and appears as a bulls eye shape around the tick bite and slowly expands, notes Mayo Clinic. It can eventually develop on other areas of the body.

The rash doesnt typically cause itching or pain. The rash may also come with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills and body aches. The later stage side effects occur in the weeks or months after the bite, if the Lyme disease goes untreated.

Chronic Lyme: What Happens When Lyme Goes Untreated

The Lyme community typically uses the term chronic Lyme disease to describe a range of physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms that crop up after getting Lyme disease and persist for months to years after infection.

The risk of chronic Lyme increases the longer a Lyme infection goes untreated or undertreated. In other words, patients are more likely to recover fully if their Lyme infection is detected and treated as early as possible after the discovery of a tick bite. This stage is usually marked by symptoms such as fevers, chills, muscle aches, and sometimes rashes.

When left untreated or undertreated, however, Lyme disease can spread throughout the body and affect:

• The central nervous system
• Muscles and joints

As Lymedisease.org points out, these symptoms can evolve, disappear, and reappear at different times.

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What Should You Do If You Find A Tick

• Don’t touch the tick with your bare hand.

• Use a pair of tweezers to remove the tick. Grab the tick firmly by its mouth or head as close to your skin as possible.

• Pull up slowly and steadily without twisting until it lets go. Don’t squeeze the tick, and don’t use petroleum jelly, solvents, knives, or a lit match to kill the tick.

• Save the tick. Place it in a plastic container or bag so it can be tested for disease, if needed.

• Wash the bite area well with soap and water and put an antiseptic lotion or cream on the site.

Joint Pain And Swelling

About half of people with untreated Lyme get chronic arthritis. Joint pain and damage most commonly occur in the knee. But Lyme can also affect other joints, like the:

• Shoulders

• Wrists

These joints may feel swollen and warm to the touch. Lyme arthritis is more common in older people with Lyme disease.

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Chronic Lyme Disease Patients Profoundly Debilitated

Many patients with chronic Lyme disease are profoundly debilitated. Investigators of the four NIH-sponsored retreatment trials documented that the patients quality of life was consistently worse than that of control populations and equivalent to that of patients with congestive heart failure. Pain levels were similar to those of post-surgical patients, and fatigue was on par with that seen in multiple sclerosis.

An LDo published survey of over 3,000 patients with chronic Lyme disease found that patients suffer a worse quality of life than most other chronic illnesses, including congestive heart failure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. Over 70% of patients with chronic Lyme disease reported fair or poor health. Similar results have been found in other studies. Many of the symptoms associated with Lyme disease are common in other diseases. The CDC surveillance criteria for confirmed cases specifically exclude most of the symptoms that patients report, including fatigue, sleep impairment, joint pain, muscle aches, other pain, depression, cognitive impairment, neuropathy, and headaches. However, these common symptoms can be severe and may seriously affect quality of life.

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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How We Care For Lyme Disease

The Division of Infectious Diseases at Boston Childrens provides comprehensive care for children and adolescents with Lyme disease and other infections. Our services include consultation, evaluation, treatment, and management of long-term complications of Lyme disease.

The commitment and compassion with which we care for all children and families is matched only by the pioneering spirit of discovery and innovation that drives us to think differently, to find answers, and to build a better tomorrow for children everywhere.

What Are The Long Term Effects Of Lyme Disease

The long-term effects of Lyme disease, if untreated or inadequately treated, can vary from arthritis to severe neuropathy. Impaired memory can be seen in some cases and even heart is affected in some others. It is a disease which can cause serious long term effects if untreated or improperly treated.

There are some factors which can increase the risk of getting the Lyme disease. If one spends a lot of time in woods or grasslands, it creates a risk factor for Lyme disease, as ticks dwell more in this type of areas. Also, ticks get attached easily to the bare flesh. Hence, it is advisable to wear full clothing while going to a ticks-infested place. Also, protect your pets from ticks by keeping them away from grass and tall plants. If at all you see a tick on the body, it should be removed promptly and properly. If the tick stays on the body attached for more than 36 hours, it is likely to cause infection. Ticks being attached for less than that period usually do not cause infection.

Lyme disease may affect multiple organs and systems in our body. And hence, it is responsible for producing a wide range of symptoms, which are related to the affected organs. The incubation period for the bacteria may range from one to two weeks, from infection to symptom onset.

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Some Vaccinated For Covid While Actively On Antibiotics

16% of patients who report having been vaccinated were actively on antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease when they received their shots. Nearly 93% of those vaccinated recommend that their friends and family receive the vaccination when able.

Of those who have not been vaccinated, 35% intend to get the vaccine when it is available to them and 39% do not intend to receive the vaccine. The remainder are unsure. For patients who do not intend to get vaccinated, 49% cited safety concerns and worries about potential COVID vaccination side effects.

A large majority of patients report that they take precautions to reduce their risk of exposure by wearing a mask in public , washing their hands and/or using hand sanitizer often , sheltering in place , or limiting contact to a small group of people with low risk .

The Potential Effects Of Lyme Disease And How It Attacks Your Immune System

With over 300,000 people infected with Lyme disease every year, there are a whole host of potential effects on your body including your immune system. Although this number is huge, Lyme disease often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Our functional medicine experts in Tulsa, OK, are here to help you begin your journey back to health.So, what exactly is Lyme Disease?

In basic terms, Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection typically transmitted through a tick bite, most commonly a bite from an infected black-legged deer tick . Once the tick bites you, it injects the bacteria into your bloodstream, and then it spreads throughout your body. You can also get Lyme Disease through sexual contact with a person who has it or from mother to baby. What are the common symptoms of Lyme Disease?

There is a wide range of symptoms associated with Lyme Disease. There are two categories of Lyme disease patients, and they can have different symptoms. They are:

Acute Lyme Disease This is when you first contract Lyme Disease. Typically, you will have a high fever, joint pain, lower back pain, numbness, and tingling in the hands and feet. Other symptoms may include fatigue, headaches, and Bells Palsy.

Why does Lyme Disease affect the immune system?

Conventional treatment for Lyme Disease

Conventional testing for Lyme

The Functional Medicine Tulsa Approach to Lyme Disease

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Chronic Lyme Disease Vs Ptlds

The terms chronic Lyme disease and Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome are sometimes used interchangeably. However, PTLDS is slightly more restrictive, referring to patients who have received treatment for Lyme disease but go on to experience Lyme disease symptoms. It does not include those who received a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis and have developed chronic symptoms of Lyme disease before receiving any kind of treatment.

The CDC defines PTLDS as generalized and/or recurring pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties that last for more than 6 months after treatment. These mirror symptoms associated with chronic Lyme disease, with or without treatment.

What If A Tick Bites My Dog

The more ticks in your region, the likelier it is that your furry pal will bring them home.

Your dog is much more likely to be bitten by a tick than you are. And where Lyme disease is common, up to 25% of dogs have had it at some point.

About 10% of dogs with Lyme disease will get sick. 7-21 days after a tick bite, your dog might seem like theyâre walking on eggshells. They also might have a fever and enlarged lymph nodes. Plus, they might seem tired. Dogs also get antibiotics for Lyme.

What if my dog brings ticks into my home?

Use a tick control product on your pet to prevent Lyme disease. Also, have your dog vaccinated against Lyme.

Check your dogâs whole body each day for bumps. If you notice a swollen area, see if thereâs a tick there. If you find a tick, wear gloves while you use tweezers to separate it from your dog. Then, put it in soapy water or alcohol, or flush it down the toilet.

Use alcohol to clean the spot on your dog where the tick was attached. Keep an eye on that spot, and also on your dog to make sure theyâre behaving normally. If you notice any changes, check with your vet.

Show Sources

John Aucott, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine director, Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center.

CDC.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: âVital Signs: Trends in Reported Vectorborne Disease Cases — United States and Territories, 2004-2016.â

American College of Rheumatology.

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