The following is for educational purposes. It is not medical advice and does not cause a doctor-patient relationship. Please see your licensed health care provider for medical advice.
See the slides at the end for some pictures of Lyme and non-lyme rashes.
If you have the bulls eye rash it is better than a blood test to diagnose Lyme disease.
Some symptoms of Lyme and co -infections to look for:
(This is not an exhaustive list, these symptoms can be from other causes as well, so it is important to see an experienced healthcare provider to look for the cause of your symptoms)
Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi )-
History of bulls eye rash, circular rash.
Told the you have ringworm but have many other symptoms on this list and no response topical treatment.
Migratory joint pains
Fatigue.
Insomnia loss of libido.
Diagnosed with any of : MS, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimer’s Disease (especially in a young person), Rheumatoid Arthritis, and not improving with multiple different treatments
Interstitial cystitis.
Bell’s palsy.
New onset eye floaters/many eye floaters, worsening vision even when using eyeglasses
Migratory nerve and/or muscle pains.
Swollen glands with no other cause
Still feel tired when you wake up in the AM after sleeping all night.
Insomnia.
New onset psychiatric symptoms as an adult for no obvious reason, and not improving after trying multiple different medications.
Palpitations.
Light sensitivity.
Sound sensitivity.
Balance problems/ vertigo.
History of a circular rash associated with flu -like symptoms.
Tick borne relapsing fever-
Can have fever for 3 days, then no fever for 7 days, then this pattern can repeat.
High fever (103 dgrees)
Headache.
Muscle and joint aches.
Chills.
Vomiting, abdominal pain.
Rash.
If contracted during pregnancy, it can cause spontaneous abortion, premature birth, and neonatal death.
Bartonella-
History of exposure to cats/cat scratch, cat bite.
Pain in the soles of the feet when you get up in the morning and start to walk/plantar fasciitis symptoms. Rash that looks like linear
Swollen glands with no other cause.
Bartonella (continued)-
GERD/ abdominal pain.
Adult acne.
Twitching, numbness, tingling.
Seizure like activity.
Shin splints without doing heavy exercise.
Sore throats not from another cause.
Head congestion/pressure.
Interstitial cystitis.
Babesia-
More severe fatigue.
Bad fatigue after a small amount of exercise.
Drenching night sweats-need change clothing or sheets.
Shortness of breath/air hunger even with just talking.
“non-automatic breathing” sensation.
Sigh frequently.
Off balance or “tippy”.
Dry cough.
New onset psychiatric symptoms.
Anaplasma-
Fever, chills.
Severe headache.
Muscle aches.
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite.
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Anaplasma (continued)-
Rash is rarely reported.
In late disease one can get respiratory failure, bleeding problem, organ failure, seizures, coma and death.
Ehrlichia-
Fever, chills.
Severe headache.
Confusion.
Muscle aches.
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite.
Rash, which can look like red splotches or pinpoint dots.
In late disease one can get respiratory failure, bleeding problems, organ failure, seizures, coma and death.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (from the CDC)-
Can be rapidly fatal if not treated within the first 5 days of symptoms.
Symptoms-Early (1-4 days): High fever, severe headache, malaise, muscle aches, edema around eyes and on the back of hands, symptoms of nausea, vomiting, anorexia.
Rash may occur 2-4 days after fever-can look like red splotches or pinpoint dots.
Late (Day 5 and after): altered mental status, coma, pulmonary edema, multiorgan system damage. Somethings to consider….
As soon as you come in the house after a high risk activity,take off EVERYTHING you were wearing and put it all into the clothes dryer (not washing machine) for at least 10 minutes on high heat (to dry out the ticks to kill them if there are any).
Do a full body check from bottom of the feet to the top of head, especially check for warm areas- groin, armpits, and hairline. The ticks can be tiny- like a dot at the end of this sentence size. One may not feel the tick bite as their bite injects a substance similar to lidocaine.
Take a shower which hopefully should wash off ticks not attached to the skin ( if there are any).
If you find a tick, remove it with a fine tipped tweezer and pull up. DO NOT use Vaseline or a lit match!
Put the tick in a zip lock bag and send to a lab for analysis. Some labs which test for the tick to look for pathogens include TickReport.com , IGENEX, Clongen lab, or others.
Follow up with a licensed health care provider knowledgeable in tick borne illnesses.
For further information and if you would like to see Dr Greenfield as a patient, please contact :
Jody Greenfield, DO, FACP at 561-413-2869.
www.GetWellMedicalCare.com
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