What Is Chronic Lyme Disease?

Because Lyme disease is so often misdiagnosed, many people can find themselves suffering from symptoms of chronic Lyme disease. Chronic Lyme disease occurs when the illness is improperly diagnosed or left untreated, and it can cause a wide range of symptoms, with some being quite severe.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia, which is almost always transmitted through the bite of a black-legged or deer tick. Once the bacteria enter your body, you will most likely notice symptoms within a week or two of receiving the bite. However, there is not a set time for symptoms to begin appearing; in some patients, they have developed in a just a couple of days, and some people have experienced no symptoms for up to several months. The first noticeable sign that you may have Lyme disease will be the appearance of a reddish bulls-eye shaped rash that will develop at the site of the tick bite, which may also be accompanied by fever, fatigue, and muscle or joint pain. In severe cases of Lyme disease, some people have noted cardiac or neurological symptoms; however, these types of reactions are extremely rare.

Borrelia bacteria have proven to be a challenge for doctors and scientists to study because they are difficult to grow in a laboratory. Partly because of this, the resulting Lyme disease is often misunderstood or misdiagnosed by the medical community. Many doctors will incorrectly chalk a person’s symptoms up to some other malady that has similar symptoms. Additionally, there is no conclusive test that can be performed to determine if a person has the disease; doctors will usually make the diagnosis based on a person’s symptoms, medical history and response to different treatments. Finally, Lyme disease can come with so many different symptoms that it can be difficult for physicians to piece them all together for one diagnosis.

Misdiagnosing Lyme disease or leaving the illness untreated can lead to chronic Lyme disease, which can have serious and sometimes permanent effects on the infected person. Chronic Lyme disease can result in multiple symptoms, including arthritis, cardiac problems and meningoencephalitis, the latter of which has similarities to both meningitis and encephalitis. Left untreated, chronic Lyme disease can also cause neurological disorders that can affect memory, sleep and even your mood. Many of the symptoms of the chronic form of the disease are severe, and some can even cause permanent damage.

Treating Lyme disease can sometimes be difficult, particularly if the disease has progressed into the chronic stage. However, there are antibiotics available that serve as the primary treatment for the illness. Because chronic Lyme disease can be more resistant to treatment, antibiotics are usually given to these patients for a longer period of time, usually at least four weeks. The prognosis for a person suffering from Lyme disease is almost always good; with proper treatment, the illness will usually go away. Chronic Lyme disease sufferers will sometimes be left with some persisting disability such as fatigue, joint pain or possibly even some neurocognitive problems. Though Lyme disease and chronic Lyme disease are more prevalent now than before, rarely is the disease fatal.

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