Symptoms Lyme disease

by Nathan Wei, MD, FACP, FACR

Nathan Wei is a nationally known board-certified rheumatologist and author of the Second Opinion Arthritis Treatment Kit. It's available exclusively at this website... not available in stores.

Click here: Second Opinion Arthritis Treatment Kit

Deer ticks can be so small that they are almost impossible to see. Therefore, many people with Lyme disease never see a tick. These people are more likely to develop symptoms because the tick remained on their body longer.

The symptoms of Lyme disease include:

• A flat or slightly raised red lesion at the site of the tick bite (can be larger than 1 to 3 inches in diameter, often with a clear area in the center)
• Fever
• Headache
• Lethargy
• Muscle pains
• Stiff neck
• Joint inflammation in the knees and other large joints



Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• Itching, overall
• Unusual or strange behavior
• Severe radiculoneuropathy
• Demyelinating neuropathy
• Facial diplegia (bilateral facial nerve paralysis)
• TMJ arthritis
• Lymph node swelling
• Pharyngitis
• Conjunctivitis
• Testicular swelling
• Atrioventricular conduction abnormality
• Myopericarditis
• Cardiomyopathy
• Meningoencephalitis
• Uveitis
• Panopthalmitis
• Tendonitis
• Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans

Signs and tests

Physical examination in advanced Lyme disease may show evidence of joint, heart, or brain abnormalities

Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi by immunofluorescence (IFA) or ELISA are helpful for diagnosis. False positive and false negative laboratory results limit ELISA interpretation. ELISA tests are confirmed with a Western blot test. Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR is sometimes used in cases that are equivocal. Cross reactivity with Treponema pallidum may occur. B. burgdorferi antibodies may be greater in the CSF than the serum of patients with neuroborreliosis. Skin biopsy of the leading edge of ECM sometimes reveals the spirochetes.

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