Saturday 7 February 2015

Do you suspect Lyme disease...

Some of the many symptoms of Lyme disease are listed below:
Originally set out by Lyme Research Alliance.
Head, Face, Neck:
  • Headache
  • Facial paralysis (like Bell’s palsy)
  • Tingling of nose, cheek, or face
  • Stiff neck
  • Sore throat, swollen glands
  • Heightened allergic sensitivities
  • Twitching of facial/other muscles
  • Jaw pain/stiffness (like TMJ)
  • Change in smell, taste
Digestive/excretory System:
  • Upset stomach (nausea, vomiting)
  • Irritable bladder
  • Unexplained weight loss or gain
  • Loss of appetite, anorexia
Respiratory/Circulatory Systems:
  • Difficulty breathingNight sweats or unexplained chills
  • Heart palpitations
  • Diminished exercise tolerance
  • Heart block, murmur
  • Chest pain or rib soreness
Psychiatric Symptoms:
  • Mood swings, irritability, agitation
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Personality changes
  • Malaise
  • Aggressive behavior / impulsiveness
  • Suicidal thoughts (rare cases of suicide)
  • Overemotional reactions, crying easily
  • Disturbed sleep: too much, too little, difficulty falling or staying asleep
  • Suspiciousness, paranoia, hallucinations
  • Feeling as though you are losing your mind
  • Obsessive-compulsive behavior
  • Bipolar disorder/manic behavior
  • Schizophrenic-like state, including hallucinations
Cognitive Symptoms:
  • Dementia
  • Forgetfulness, memory loss (short or long term)
  • Poor school or work performance
  • Attention deficit problems, distractibility
  • Confusion, difficulty thinking
  • Difficulty with concentration, reading, spelling
  • Disorientation: getting or feeling lost
Reproduction and Sexuality
Females:
  • Unexplained menstrual pain, irregularity
  • Reproduction problems, miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, neonatal
  • Death, congenital Lyme disease
  • Extreme PMS symptoms
Males:
  • Testicular or pelvic pain
Eye, Vision:
  • Double or blurry vision, vision changes
  • Wandering or lazy eye
  • Conjunctivitis (pink eye)
  • Oversensitivity to light
  • Eye pain or swelling around eyes
  • Floaters/spots in the line of sight
  • Red eyes
Ears/Hearing:
  • Decreased hearing
  • Ringing or buzzing in ears
  • Sound sensitivity
  • Pain in ears
Musculoskeletal System:
  • Joint pain, swelling, or stiffness
  • Shifting joint pains
  • Muscle pain or cramps
  • Poor muscle coordination, loss of reflexes
  • Loss of muscle tone, muscle weakness
Neurologic System:
  • Numbness in body, tingling, pinpricks
  • Burning/stabbing sensations in the body
  • Burning in feet
  • Weakness or paralysis of limbs
  • Tremors or unexplained shaking
  • Seizures, stroke
  • Poor balance, dizziness, difficulty walking
  • Increased motion sickness, wooziness
  • Lightheadedness, fainting
  • Encephalopathy (cognitive impairment from brain involvement)
  • Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)
  • Meningitis (inflammation of the protective membrane around the brain)
  • Encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord)
  • Academic or vocational decline
  • Difficulty with multitasking
  • Difficulty with organization and planning
  • Auditory processing problems
  • Word finding problems
  • Slowed speed of processing
Skin Problems:
  • Benign tumor-like nodules
  • Erethyma Migrans (rash)
General Well-being:
  • Decreased interest in play (children)
  • Extreme fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion
  • Unexplained fevers (high or low grade)
  • Flu-like symptoms (early in the illness)
  • Symptoms seem to change, come and go
Other Organ Problems:
  • Dysfunction of the thyroid (under or over active thyroid glands)
  • Liver inflammation
  • Bladder & Kidney problems (including bed wetting)


When to suspect Lyme:      

"This essay, written by John D. Bleiweiss, M.D. in April, 1994 is very long, but 
also very comprehensive. The reader suspecting Lyme symptoms should either 
identify with a number of sections of this article, or in this absence, be fairly 
certain of excluding the possibility of Lyme. 

Any Doctor investigating prudent treatment for Lyme Disease would 
do well by reading this essay."