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Check list of symptoms, - check here
Highlight each symptom and bring the check list to your next doctors appointment.
Symptoms:
Acute (early) Lyme disease symptoms:
* rash - This rash, called erythema migrans (EM), is usually oval or circular, uniform in color and centered on the initial
bite site. Although the “bull’s eye” rash is the classic Lyme disease rash, it occurs in only 10-20% of the patients who
have a rash during their illness. The bullseye rash is not the most common rash. The most common rash is oval and
uniformly colored. The rash appears 2-3 days after the bite. The usually expands and clears over several weeks.
Blood tests likely negative during this stage of Lyme disease. If a patient has multiple rashes, this is considered later
lyme and should be treated differently.
One third of all Lyme disease patients never have an EM rash.
* fever
* malaise
* fatigue
* headache
* muscle and joint aches
The incubation period from tick bite to the onset of symptoms is usually 1-2 weeks but it can be as long as one month.
It is possible for an infected person to have no symptoms or display only one or two symptoms; this can make obtaining
a correct diagnosis difficult.
Persistent (late) Lyme disease symptoms:
* fatigue
* muscle and joint aches
* Bell’s palsy
* pain
* numbness, tingling or burning sensations
* meningitis
* tremor, muscle twitches
* short-term memory loss
* depression, anxiety, panic attacks
* hallucinations
and many others.
The symptoms of late Lyme disease can appear months to years from infection. Left untreated, Lyme disease can
cause chronic disability, but it is rarely fatal. Cases of persistent infection have been known to linger for 20 years
before being correctly diagnosed.
Diagnosis
The most reliable method for diagnosing Lyme disease is a thorough medical history and physical exam.
The history includes details about possible tick exposure, current medical problems and a complete review of all
symptoms. The physical exam includes a good general exam plus detailed dermatologic, neurologic and joint exams.
The laboratory tests used to assist in the diagnosis of Lyme disease include the ELISA and Western blots. The ELISA
is called the “screening test”; if it is positive then Western blots are done. Unfortunately, neither is a reliable indicator
of illness; test results vary between labs and within the same lab and false positives and false negatives are common.
A 2003 study by CDC researchers demonstrated that the C6 ELISA, a commonly used test for Lyme disease,
performed well for patients with arthritis but missed patients with acute disease and many with early or late neurologic
Lyme disease. Because of these sorts of testing problems, Lyme disease must be diagnosed on clinical grounds. Lab
tests may confirm a clinical diagnosis but by themselves they cannot rule the disease in or out.
Treatment
The treatment of Lyme disease requires the use of antibiotics.
In cases where an EM rash is present, treatment should begin immediately. Blood tests are not recommended
because they are often falsely negative. Most studies on the treatment of early Lyme disease used at least 20 days of
antibiotic therapy. Treatment is usually successful; overall cure rates for this stage are roughly 90%.
Late Lyme disease is much more difficult to treat and while most patients improve with antibiotic therapy, cure rates are
much lower. The duration of treatment can be quite long; some patients
may need to be on antibiotics for months or even years. Others may require intermittent courses of antibiotics. Each
case is unique and care need to be individualized.
Lyme Disease and Co-infections - LDA click here
More WI Areas Prone to Lyme - Click here to read more
3 host Tick Cycle - click here
Tick Life Cycle - click here
Lyme cases spike 77% from 2006 to 2008
Reported Lyme disease cases by state 1999-2008 read more
In 2008 the CDC changed its Lyme reporting process: to include both “confirmed” and “probable” cases in the
total, and during this transition year, it’s difficult to tell how this affected the accuracy of the case count. Fifteen states
failed to report any “probable” cases - read more
Other tick-borne illnesses - click here to go to the CDC website
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