Lyme Disease Symptoms:

The Great Imitator at the Heart of a Controversy

Read the latest news about Lyme disease symptoms on our blog.


Lyme disease symptoms mimic those of hundreds of other disorders, therefore Lyme is known in the medical profession as the Great Imitator. Lyme is a multi-system, multi-stage inflammatory disease that affects the nervous system and all the systems of the body, including the brain. Once assumed to be spread by bacteria carried only by deer ticks, Lyme-literate experts now maintain that it can be spread through other means, including mosquito bites and the exchange of body fluids.

Lyme can be very difficult to diagnose. Tests are often inaccurate, frequently not thoroughly conclusive, and symptoms manifest differently from patient to patient and depending on the stage of the disease. Not everyone who has Lyme develops the characteristic bull's eye rash, which is commonly accepted as a classic Lyme symptom. Moreover, it is not yet known how long the bacteria may lie dormant. Some people do not develop symptoms immediately after being infected, and some who have been exposed may never develop them.

Lyme Disease Symptoms

Symptoms vary but may include:
  •  Extreme fatigue
  •  Skin rash
  •  Palsy
  •  Arthritis
  •  Neuralgia
  •  Vertigo
  •  Light sensitivity
  •  Nausea
  •  Arrhythmia
  •  Nervous system disorders
  •  Headaches
  •  TMJ
  •  Mood swings
  •  Cognitive disorganization
  •  Hallucinations
  •  Hearing loss
  •  Facial paralysis

Lyme disease is frequently underdiagnosed, and can be misdiagnosed as a number of other illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Epstein-Barr virus, rheumatoid arthritis and even Alzheimer's disease. Some Lyme experts estimate that up to fifty percent of patients diagnosed with autoimmune diseases have Lyme either as the cause of, or as a contributor to, their suffering.

Like CFS, Lyme disease symptoms can create achiness and crushing fatigue that is unrelieved with bed rest. However, Lyme disease does not simply cause flu-like symptoms and severe joint pain. Lyme may also affect the cardiac system and the brain, causing arrhythmia and poor concentration, mood swings and depression. Typically, the elimination organs are invaded: Kidneys, bladder, liver, skin and lymph glands. Additionally, patients commonly report some psychotic episodes, including hallucinations involving their sense of sight, smell and hearing. The list of symptoms is long and varied because the Borrelia bacteria affects every bodily system.

Furthermore, Ginger Savely, FNP, RN, who treats patients with Lyme, its co-infections, and other tick-borne diseases at her clinic in San Francisco, California, says some people appear to have an "aspect of predisposition toward becoming disabled by the infection." Savely frequently treats family members, observing that although there are remarkable exceptions, members of the same family often have a similar tendency to succumb to the Lyme infection. Studies have shown there appear to be "some genetic typings that are going to get more sick with the infection than others," she says.

Another factor making the disease hard to diagnose is that negative clinical test results do not necessarily mean the patient is free of Lyme or its co-infections. The spirochetal bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme, is pleomorphic, which tends to complicate testing and treatment. The bacteria is capable of changing from its corkscrew or spiral shape into two, three or more different shapes, which it appears to do sometimes in order to protect itself in a hostile environment, specifically, the body’s immune system and antibiotic therapy.

Although every case is different, left untreated, Lyme disease symptoms can be devastating. Unfortunately, the effect of a professional misdiagnoses results in many patients going untested for Lyme. Therefore, they remain untreated, and their symptoms worsen.

Learn more about Lyme disease symptoms by becoming a member of the LDRD, where you can listen to what Lyme specialists who treat patients every day have to say.


Resources:
ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society
Ginger Savely, FNP, RN, oral communication 4/13/08
American Academy of Physicians
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Beating Lyme Disease by Dr. David Jernigan, B.S., D.C., and Dr. Sara Koch Jernigan, B.S. D.C.
Bowen Research Laboratory: http://www.lymeresearch.com
Academy for Bio-Energetic and Integrative Medicine: http://www.abeim.net/


Suzanne Arthur ©2005-2008 Lyme Disease Research Database