It must be extremely frustrating to not feel like yourself, but you can’t pinpoint what exactly is wrong. You may have told your friends and family about your concerns, only to be met with speculation. Plus, when you visit physicians, they may be unable to find anything that is ‘wrong’. This is the reality that many people with Lyme Disease face during the initial stage of their diagnosis and treatment.
Lyme Disease is a full-body illness that drastically affects the person. It can affect the person’s cognitive state, physical abilities, mental well-being, and overall quality of life. Diagnosing Lyme Disease before it progresses to chronic Lyme can be the difference maker between a healthy life, and one that will require ample treatment for the next few years.
What is Lyme Disease?
Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection spread through ticks. The initial signs and symptoms include headache, fatigue, skin rash, and fever. If the disease is not initially treated, it can lead to inflammation within the nervous system and joints. Individuals can prevent tick bites by using bug spray and avoiding tick-laden areas. If you discover a tick bite, remove the attached tick as soon as possible and call your doctor to discuss the next treatment steps.
Signs of Untreated Lyme Disease
Untreated Lyme Disease has a wide range of symptoms and signs, which can make it initially hard to diagnose. Since the disease manifests itself in different ways based on the patient, it can take a while for the physician to pinpoint the direct cause of the issues. Many of the common signs include:
- Erythema migrans — This is a type of rash that is one of the most common symptoms, occurring in upwards of 80% of patients. This type of rash is at the site of the tick bite and will expand as it progresses. The rash could be warm, painful, hot, and irritable to touch.
- Headaches
- Stiffness
- Arthritis
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Brain and spinal cord inflammation
- Shooting pains in the extremities
Testing for Lyme Disease
The most common way to test for Lyme disease is to first visit with your physician to discuss the likelihood of the disease. The physician will ask questions regarding your signs and symptoms, chances that you were exposed to infected ticks and the possibility of other illnesses.
Next, your physician may require further laboratory testing to use the FDA antibody test for Lyme disease. Antibody tests can appear as false negatives during the initial weeks after infection, but change after the 6-week mark. If your blood tests positive for the tick antibodies, it will continue to show up as ‘positive’ on testing for months after the initial bite.
Although a positive test can be daunting, this doesn’t mean it will progress to the later stage of Lyme Disease if initially treated. Patients in the early stages of infection usually recover quite quickly with antibiotics. However, those that wait to get treated or have false negatives might delay treatment, leading to long-term damage to joints or the nervous system. Receiving treatment as soon as you notice the tick bite can help prevent future health concerns.
Disclaimer: This article is intended simply to provide information. It does not replace the medical advice of a physician. Please speak with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
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