Lyme disease: A multi-systemic disease

There are many more symptoms for Lyme disease than the ones listed in this link. This is because Lyme is a multi-systemic disease. Aches and pains come and go and move about the body with consistent inconsistency...!!

This information is only meant to help you decide if you need to seek medical treatment to increase the quality of your life.
Just remember tho, a bit bite is not something to be ignored. The sooner you can get treatment, the less chance you have of developing Neuroborreliosis.

http://www.lyme-symptoms.com/1Lyme-Symptoms.html


Lyme is often Misdiagnosed as other Diseases and Disorders.
This is because it tends to mimic about 300 different illnesses which makes it very important to rule them out.
If you have ever experienced bites from ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, lice, biting flys, do not discount them.
You will do so at your peril !

http://www.lyme-symptoms.com/LymeMimics.html


Comparison of Lyme disease and co-infection symptoms.

http://www.lyme-symptoms.com/LymeCoinfectionChart.html

Tick-borne encephalitis or meningoencephalitis: is a bacterial infection of the brain, such as Lyme disease. The symptoms of encephalitis range from mild to severe and can be life threatening. Possible symptoms: Fever, headache, nausea, decreased alertness, malaise, visual disturbances, stiff neck and back decreased consciousness, tremor, seizures. Encephalitis can last from a few days to several months. Permanent neurological consequences may follow recovery in some cases. Consequences may include personality changes, memory loss, language difficulties, seizures, and partial paralysis. Tick-borne meningoencephalitis is caused by a virus and may be a coinfection of lyme.

Lyme Meningitis inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord called the meninges. It often occurs when an infection elsewhere in the body spreads through the blood and into the cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that circulates in the spaces in and around the brain and spinal cord). One form of bacterial meningitis is related to Lyme disease. Lyme meningitis is generally less severe than other forms of bacterial meningitis and is not fatal. Lyme meningitis may be the first evidence of Lyme disease, occurring without a history of erythema chronicum migrans or flu-like illness. Symptoms in milder cases of encephalitis usually include: headache, fever, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, nausea, sleepiness, confusion.

Chronic meningitis is a slowly developing inflammation of the subarachnoid space (located within the layers of tissues covering the brain and spinal cord) associated neurological involvement affecting the lower extremities. The infection and inflammation develop more slowly, over weeks and months that lasts a month or longer. If symptoms have been present for a month or more, meningitis is described as chronic. People may have a fever, a stiff neck, a headache, double vision, or difficulty walking, or they may become confused. Headache lasting weeks to months persistent/severe/ head pressure /congestion /burning. Burning in the brain and sometimes the neck and spinal cord or parts of the head, forehead or most of the head.

Aseptic meningitis(The space between middle and inner layers of tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meninges) is inflamed.) Sometimes aseptic meningitis is diagnosed when meningitis is caused by bacteria that are hard to identify, such as the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, syphilis, or tuberculosis. Symptoms Headache, stiff neck, malaise, nausea and muscle aches may develop over days. Usually, aseptic meningitis causes symptoms that are similar to those of bacterial meningitis (fever, headache, vomiting, sluggishness, and a stiff neck). However, people do not become as ill. People may not have a fever, particularly when the cause is not an infection.

http://www.lyme-symptoms.com/2Lyme-Symptoms.html#meningoencephalitis

We're Misunderstood

This blog is written by a young lady who was diagnosed with Lyme disease in January 2011.

As she says:  "Lyme disease is an epidemic larger than AIDS, West Nile Virus, and Bird Flu combined. The "great imitator", Lyme affects each person differently. Millions are silently suffering, improperly diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ALS, Alzheimer's, Psychiatric Disorders, and many others."

It is bad enough dealing with Chronic Lyme Disease and the many co-infections that go with it, but sometimes it is even harder trying to deal with the may sceptics and critics who pass comment when they are ignornant about the ravages of these illnesses.  It really is like having the sword of Damocleas hanging over you.


This blog is truely inspirational and the article "We're Misunderstood" could have been written by me, but after 30 years of battling this illness with no diagnosis, I don't think I could have stated it so well.

What you can expect to happen after you have been bitten by a tick

Let it be said, that treatment with tetracycline is VERY important if you don't want to land up feeling like a bus has run you over in a few years time...  antibiotic therapy is most important, and can be life saving. 

Tick bite fever is a bacterial infection (rickettsia) transmitted by ticks. The symptoms of tick bite fever can vary considerably in severity and should be treated with antibiotics such as doxycycline.  This condition occurs in many areas of the world and is often known by a variety of names.  Where there is rickettsia, more often than not, lurks Lyme disease (borrelia burgdorferi).

A course of 3 weeks of Doxycycline can stem the development of Lyme disease and it's co-infections, but there is no guarantee.  This tiny little creature, sometimes the size of a poppy seed, is deadly.

Without proper treatment, you may experience joint pain and stiffness of th body if your disease progresses as well as neurological symptoms. A great number of people who develop Lyme disease experience joint pain and usually one or two joints are affected at a time,.  The knee is the the most common joint, followed by the shoulder, ankle, elbow, and hip.  Initially, joint discomfort may come and go but after months of infection, more typical symptoms of arthritis occur, with swelling, redness, and pain in the affected joint that may last for months if not years.

Some patients have no symptoms, despite evidence in the spinal fluid of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Others develop typical symptoms of meningitis, which include headache, stiff neck, and light avoidance. Nerve inflammation can manifest as facial muscle paralysis, often with just one side affected, causing a distorted appearance and drooling, or as pain or paralysis in the arms or legs. Seizures, eye inflammation, emotional changes, depression, and poor memory and concentration can also develop. Children tend to develop irregular, jerky movements of the arms, legs, or face. Some say that Neurological symptoms usually resolve within a few months, but mine have persisted for 11 years.  They started about 5 years after my last bout of tick bite fever.

Heart symptoms can occur in up to 10% of patients with untreated Lyme disease. and can show up as abnormal rhythms, which may be noticeable as palpitations, or as confusion, fatigue, dizziness and/or fainting. Sometimes patients are not aware of symptoms.  I thought my symptoms were related to my age, until I received a true diagnosis after blood tests.

Neurological changes can also happen, with memory and concentration problems, inability to sleep, chronic fatigue, and even personality changes. Specific nerve disorders may also persist, causing partial paralysis in affected muscles. i.e. Bell's Palsy and Parkinson's disease.

Sometimes musculoskeletal problems become chronic even after correct Lyme disease treatment has appeared to have been successful.   Lyme disease has symptoms similar to those of chronic fatigue syndrome, including chronic pain, headache, fatigue, joint stiffness, and sleep disturbances. All are difficult to diagnose with certainty. Fibromyalgia, which can occur after Lyme disease, is also characterized by similar symptoms.

My advice.  Don't mess about with any tick bite.  Seek a doctor who is WELL VERSED in the treatment of Rickettsia and Lyme to ensure you don't relapse.  After 16 years of mis-diagnosis, I ended up having to stop work at age 57 due to my ill health caused by rickettsia, Lyme disease and Q Fever, all of which I pick up in South Africa in my own garden in Johannesburg, despite the fact that the Department of Health deny this is possible !!

New Ideas about the Cause, Spread and Therapy of Lyme Disease

The transmission of Lyme disease was thought to be solely by the bite from a tick infected with the Borrelia spirochete.  However, this is not the sole source of infection.  It can be transmitted between sexual partners or by a pregnant woman to her fetus. It can also be transmitted by a mother who unknowingly, has the infection and who is breastfeeding.  Recent research is also linking autism in young children with Lyme infection.


The Bb spirochete is able to burrow into tendons, muscle cells, ligaments, and directly into organs.  A classic bulls-eye rash is often visible in the early stage of the illness. But this is not always the case.  


Later in the chronic illness stage of the disease, it can afflict the heart, the nervous system, all joints and other vital organs of the body.  


It is now realized that the disease can mimic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Bell’s Palsy, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, neuritis, psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, chronic fatigue, heart failure, angina, irregular heart rhythms, fibromyalgia, dermatitis, autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma and lupus, eye inflammatory reactions, sudden deafness, SIDS, ADD and hyperactivity, chronic pain and many, many other conditions.