How do you know if you have chronic Lyme disease?
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How do you know if you have chronic Lyme disease?
People with persistent symptoms often experience lingering episodes of:
- fatigue.
- restless sleep.
- pain.
- aching joints or muscles.
- pain or swelling in the knees, shoulders, elbows, and other large joints.
- decreased short-term memory or ability to concentrate.
- speech problems.
What are the symptoms of late stage Lyme disease?
Late persistent Lyme disease
- Arthritis that most often affects the knee.
- Numbness and tingling in the hands, feet, or back.
- Feeling very tired.
- Not being able to control the muscles of the face.
- Problems with memory, mood, or sleep, and sometimes problems speaking.
What mimics chronic Lyme disease?
Called the “great imitator,” Lyme disease can present a variety of symptoms that mimic a wide range of illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, insomnia, and autoimmune disorders such as RA and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
What are long term effects of Lyme disease?
Chronic symptoms of Lyme are a much longer list and may include vertigo, ringing in the ears, short-term memory loss, light and sound sensitivity, mood swings, anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, and serious cardiac problems.
What is a Lyme flare up?
A flare-up may occur following a trigger or as part of the illness. When a Lyme disease flare occurs, patients will notice a return of the symptoms they have experienced before or a worsening of existing symptoms. Some patients may also develop new symptoms. A flare-up can come and go and vary in intensity.
Is chronic Lyme a disability?
Yes, for many people, Lyme disease results in short and/or long term disability. Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that ranges widely in presentation and severity. The infection can cause a diverse number of physical and cognitive (i.e., mental) symptoms, which can vary from mild to debilitating.
Can you get flare ups of Lyme disease?
Can late-stage Lyme be cured?
Without treatment, Lyme can cause permanent damage. But most people with late-stage Lyme disease can recover if they get treatment with antibiotics. The longer you wait before treating Lyme disease, the longer it can take for symptoms to go away.
How is chronic Lyme treated?
How is Lyme disease treated? For early Lyme disease, a short course of oral antibiotics such as doxycycline or amoxicillin is curative in the majority of the cases. In more complicated cases, Lyme disease can usually be successfully treated with three to four weeks of antibiotic therapy.
Does Lyme disease affect your eyesight?
Lyme disease patients might potentially develop inflammation of the eye structures. Eye inflammation commonly appears in the third or late stages of the disease. Inflammation of the optic nerve can cause vision loss. Optic neuritis symptoms include eye pain, color vision loss, and flashing lights.
What is the best treatment for chronic Lyme disease?
In the majority of cases, it is successfully treated with oral antibiotics. In some patients, symptoms, such as fatigue, pain and joint and muscle aches, persist even after treatment, a condition termed “Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS)”.
