What Is A Lyme Flare Up

Other Canine Diseases Carried By Ticks

Lyme disease isnt the only disease carried by ticks. In fact, there are several canine diseases to be aware of, especially if your dog lives in an area with a known tick problem. Some of the most common tick-borne diseases that affect dogs include: Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, Bartonellosis, and Hepatozoonosis.

Can Lyme Disease Have Flare

In short, yes Lyme disease generally comes with flare-ups. One initial flare-up of symptoms can occur at the beginning of treatment and is referred to as a Herxheimer reaction. This reaction occurs when the dying bacteria releases certain toxin-like substances that cause symptoms to reappear.

Other types of flare-ups can occur long after treatment, and the existing symptoms that a person experiences with Lyme disease may recur or worsen. When flare-ups occur in someone with chronic Lyme disease, its typically because they havent sought treatment for more than a year after an initial infection, or because they had been previously prescribed steroids prior to getting diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Image by Ayo Ogunseinde on a: Can you have a relapse of Lyme disease?

If I Already Have Lyme Disease What Added Risks Does Covid

COVID-19 should pose no additional risks for you if your Lyme disease was detected early, you have been treated with antibiotics, and your symptoms have resolved. You may, however, be at a greater risk of complications from COVID-19 if your immune system is decreased from the more severe forms of Lyme disease, such as post-Lyme disease syndrome or chronic Lyme disease.

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Swap The Sad Diet For Anti

When it comes to managing inflammation, diet is the perfect place to start. The foods you choose to eat can either help or hinder your recovery from Lyme disease by impacting your bodys inflammatory burden. The Standard American Diet, rich in refined carbohydrates and industrial seed oils, increases the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, immune molecules that trigger an inflammatory response. Many of the same pro-inflammatory cytokines triggered by the SAD diet are also triggered by Lyme disease and other tick borne infections.1 The SAD diet is also associated with an impaired immune response, which is the last thing you want when youre battling an infection.2 Other food groups, such as gluten and dairy, can also trigger inflammation and are best avoided by people with Lyme disease.

Conversely, eating an anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet can accelerate your recovery process and create a foundation for long-term health. At CCFM, we recommend that most patients begin a Paleo Reset Diet. This diet is designed to reduce inflammation and improve digestion, energy, blood sugar control, and body weight. The Paleo Reset Diet is centered around the following foods:

• Non-starchy vegetables ideally 6-8 cups of vegetables across the color spectrum
• Whole fruits

• Gluten free diet
• Elimination and reintroduction diet

Incorporate Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Lyme Disease Symptom Flare Ups & Menstrual Cycle: A Link Between Lyme Flares And Menstrual Symptoms

Transcription of video:Hi! This week is for the ladies, so if youâre not interested in learning about the links between lines have them flare-ups and menstrual cycles then this video is not for you. Go ahead and skip this one. But if you arenât gonna stick around, a short disclaimer: Iâm not a medical doctor this work has not been reviewed by a medical doctor and this should not be taken in lieu of medical advice. I am simply sharing my research and experiences with you.

First, just kind of a cliff notes version of what I was dealing with before I got Lyme and then what Iâm dealing with after Lyme, and then weâre gonna dive into some of the research and interesting things I found out.

My very first cycle was around 13 or 14 years old and it was extremely painful. I remember vomiting from the pain, not being able to stand upright, and missing days of school. Around age 15, I was told I had endometriosis and put me on birth control pills, which were supposed to give me a more regular period and help me manage those cramps. However, I never really experienced any relief, and for whatever reason, I just continued taking the birth control pills.

So, my period started getting a lot worse, I started getting a lot more fatigue. Which in my mind, I was thinking okay my bodyâs just recalibrating from getting off these hormones for 15 years, but looking back Iâm like, Oh, you know, Lyme could have been messing up all those cycles as well.

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What Are Common Lyme Disease Flare

When the symptoms of Lyme disease return in a flare-up, they will be similar to those that appeared during the initial infection. In some cases, the symptoms can be worse. Some patients with chronic Lyme disease flare-ups may also experience new symptoms that werent present during the initial infection stage of the disease.

The many symptoms that occur during a Lyme disease flare-up can include:

• Mood changes, such as becoming more irritable or experiencing increased or new depression or anxiety
• Poor quality of sleep that results in daytime tiredness
• Issues with balance and dizziness
• Numbness or tingling in the hands and feet
• Pain in the muscles that can be localized or across the entire body
• Vision issues, such as blurred vision
• Body pain that does not go away

Not everyone with a Lyme disease flare-up will experience all these symptoms, as each case is unique.

Common Causes Of Chronic Illness Flare

When youre in the middle of a chronic illness flare-up, it can be difficult to pinpoint what might have triggered your reaction. But understanding your triggers is an important step in healing your body: It helps ensure youre not contributing to the problem, and that you can prevent flare-ups in the future.

If you feel like youve tried everything to manage or avoid flare-ups with no luck, keep reading to learn about 10 of the most common causes that you might not know about. By understanding what causes flare-ups, youll be able to gather the tools you need to avoid them in the future and feel better longer.

1. Herxheimer Reactions

Herxheimer reactions are common among Lyme disease patients using antimicrobials. When bacteria start to die off, they shed body parts called endotoxins that can circulate through the body and trigger a whole-body inflammatory reaction. The result: Lyme symptoms temporarily intensify.

Usual Herxheimer reactions include fatigue or generally feeling terrible all over. Generally, they start with the introduction of a new therapy, and ramp up as the serving size of the treatment is increased. Ordinarily, herxing is much more intense with conventional antibiotics than with herbal therapy the latter causes more gradual die-off and thus a less intense immune response.

2. Bacterial or Viral Flare-up

3. Acute Viral Infections

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How To Spot And Remove Ticks

Once youve come in from outside, one of the best ways to check yourself for ticks is to take a shower and bath.

Other than that, do your best to check your clothes, especially the folds of your clothes, knowing that ticks can be very small and hard to spot. Running your hands through your hair is also a good idea.

What Is The Treatment For Lyme Disease

The first-line standard of care treatment for adults with Lyme disease is doxycycline, a tetracycline antibiotic. Other antibiotics that have activity against borrelia include the penicillin-like antibiotic, amoxicillin, and the second generation cephalosporin, Ceftin. The mainstay of treatment is with oral antibiotics, but intravenous antibiotics are sometimes indicated for more difficult to treat cases of neurologic-Lyme disease, such as meningitis, and cases of late Lyme arthritis.

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Chronic Lyme Dos And Don’ts

Chronic Lyme disease is an ongoing Borrelia burgdorferi infection that can involve any body system or tissue. The infection produces a wide range of symptoms and signs, which can be debilitating for some patients. Common symptoms include severe fatigue, migratory musculoskeletal pain, headaches, and impaired memory. Unfortunately, chronic Lyme disease is complex and often misunderstood, which means that many patients will struggle to obtain the care they need to regain their health. Every patient concerned about Lyme disease and tick-borne illness should know the following.

What Are Lyme Disease Flare Up Symptoms

If you experience a flare-up, that means your Lyme disease symptoms have been dormant for a while, and now they are back. Lyme disease flare-up Symptoms that return can be more intense, and sometimes, new symptoms will appear. As a flare-up begins, symptoms range from mild to severe and may include:

As flare-ups start to subside, you will notice a significant improvement in your symptoms.

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The Most Common Lyme Disease Blood Tests

The two most common diagnostic tests for Lyme disease are the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the Western blot. These Lyme disease tests allow physicians to visualize the reaction between antibodies in an infected persons blood to specific antigens or parts of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.

In the case of the Western blot, for example, antigens are separated by size and then transferred onto a membrane strip. When an antibody reacts with an antigen on the strip, that band will turn dark purple. For test results to be positive, a specific combination of bands on the membrane strip must be present.

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Achy Stiff Or Swollen Joints

Joint pain and stiffness, often intermittent, are early Lyme symptoms. Your joints may be inflamed, warm to the touch, painful, and swollen. You may have stiffness and limited range of motion in some joints .

Pain may move around. Sometimes your knees may hurt, whereas other times its your neck or your heels. You may also have bursitis . Bursae are the thin cushions between bone and surrounding tissue.

The pain may be severe, and it may be transitory. More than one joint may be affected. Most often the large joints are involved .

People often attribute joint problems to age, genetics, or sports. Lyme should be added to that list, as these statistics indicate:

• One study estimates that 80 percent of people with untreated Lyme have muscle and joint symptoms .
• Fifty percent of people with untreated Lyme have intermittent episodes of arthritis .
• Two-thirds of people have their first episode of joint pain within six months of the infection .
• Use of anti-inflammatory drugs may mask the actual number of people with joint swelling .

Summary:

Joint pain that comes and goes, or moves from joint to joint, could be a sign of Lyme.

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An Alternate Route And A Diagnosis

Ultimately, diagnosed me with Epstein Barr and leaky gut, which she treated through diet, lifestyle changes, and supplements. A conventional Lyme test came back negative. She said that we could still go ahead and treat for Lyme since it could be a false negative, but I wasn’t ready to take that step without a definitive diagnosis.

After seeing the integrative doctor and implementing her treatment plan, I felt better in many ways, but I still didn’t feel like we had gotten to the bottom of things. My friend pushed me to see a “Lyme literate” doctor and more than a year later, I finally did.

My Lyme doctor finally confirmed what my friend had suspected. A more sensitive, comprehensive test not covered by health insurance provided the missing piece of the puzzle. My doctor also looked for and discovered a rash where I’d been bitten all those years ago, which to this day comes and goes. And so I began a treatment protocol based on guidelines from the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society , which recognizes that patients with chronic Lyme require individualized treatment that may involve extended courses of antibiotics.

Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

People with Lyme disease may react to it differently. 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

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

You may also notice some psychological symptoms in your child. According to a , some parents reported the following psychological issues in their child with Lyme disease:

• anger or aggression
• depression
• nightmares

If your child seems to be acting differently and cant explain why or what theyre feeling, its important to talk with their doctor, as these changes could be a sign of many conditions, including Lyme disease.

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Treating A Herxheimer Reaction Can Cause A Flare Up

What Are The Second Stage Signs And Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

The symptoms of second stage, early disseminated, Lyme disease can be difficult to attribute. Symptoms include severe fatigue, fever, pain, intermittent weakness and achiness of the muscles and joints, numbness in arms and legs, vision changes, and cognitive dysfunction such as short-term memory difficulties and problems multitasking. These symptoms are not specific for Lyme disease and can make the diagnosis of second stage Lyme disease very challenging.

More recognizable Lyme disease nervous system manifestations include facial paralysis , or meningitis with severe headache and stiff neck. Notable cardiac manifestations include passing out or feeling faint from an abnormally slow heart rate, irregular heart palpitations, or unexplained difficulty tolerating exercise. Meningitis and carditis are both potentially serious Lyme disease conditions and warrant immediate medical attention.

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Six Years After Tick Bite Its Markand The Illnessstill Show

You see that little spot on my calf? You wouldnt think that a small bite like this would change someones life, turn it upside down, crush their goals and dreams, shake them to their core, causing immense pain and profound fatigue along with a multitude of other symptoms and issues.

That bite also caused a secondary neurological disorder which affects my heart and all body systems , as well as a brain lesion. That bite is from a tick. Yes thats a tick bite from six years ago! Out of the hundreds of people with Lyme disease that I have met, only one other had a re-appearing bite years after she was bitten. This is not very common, but it does show how resilient and chronic this bacteria can be.

I remember the day as if it were yesterday. We were at a local creek, and the tick was only attached for a few hours. My husband saw the tick, as well as my parents, and my father removed the tick for me.

A few weeks later I developed flu-like symptoms and a rash . Because my case was not a textbook diagnosis, I was sent away without even being prescribed precautionary antibiotics.

Also, I was told that we did not have Lyme disease in Georgia so the doctor refused to order a Lyme disease test. Pretty tragic that the urgent care doctors decision and lack of knowledge has affected my entire life six years later.

We need recognition, we need accurate testing, we need Lyme-literate doctors, we need understanding, we need awareness, we need a cure!

You Feel Tired And Wired

Lyme never sleeps, which means that people with it often have trouble sleeping as well. Itâs common for those with Lyme to report having trouble falling asleep, waking up throughout the night, and waking up earlier than intended. One study in Sleep even found that 100 percent of Lyme patients had sleep issues. Even when they do get lots of sleep, the fatigue caused by Lyme can make people feel like they havenât slept at all. Yet Lymeâs effects on the adrenal gland and hypothalamus can leave people feeling hyperactive and jittery even as they are sleep-deprived, says Reihman. So, many Lyme patients describe themselves as âtired and wired.â

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Symptoms Of Early Stage Lyme Disease

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , early-stage Lyme disease symptoms crop up within 3 to 30 days after exposure and can include but are not limited to:

• Joint pain and swelling
• Swelling of the lymph nodes
• Erythema migrans , a bulls-eye-shaped rash that appears at the site of the tick bite

Early Lyme disease does not always appear the same in all patients. For example, up to 30% of patients dont remember experiencing a bulls eye rash.

How Long Before Lyme Disease Becomes Chronic

Late Lyme disease usually develops 6 to 36 months after a person first receives the causative infectious tick bite. Symptoms of late Lyme disease differ from earlier stages. In North America, joint pain and swelling are very common. In Europe, skin changes are more common.

Can a flare-up be a sign of Lyme disease?

People with Lyme disease are frustrated with severe flare-ups, unbearable symptoms, and flare-ups of antibiotics, refined sugars, stress, and alcohol. It can be frustrating for patients when the doctor overlooks Lyme disease as the big picture.

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