The symptoms of the Lyme disease may appear differently depending on the stage of the disease. The symptoms on the early stages of Lyme disease are mild and may fail to appear at all. The most common symptom to look for is the Erythema migrans rash could spread up to 12inches or 30cm from the tick bite.
Early symptoms of Lyme disease
- Flu-like symptoms
- Redness of the skin
- Skin inflammation
- Erythema migrans rash
- Painless rash which clears at the center giving it a bull’s eye appearance.
After four weeks or so, the rash may disappear even without any treatment. But, after a month since the tick bite, other severe symptoms reappear which indicates the onset of the late stages of Lyme diseases. If not treated the tick bite can lead to a chronic Lyme disease which is difficult to treat.
Late symptoms of Lyme disease
The patient may experience one or all of the symptoms below. The Borrelia bacteria start spreading, affecting the nerves system, the heart and joints. These are symptoms of the late stage of Lyme disease
- Headache
- Stiff neck
- Painful joints and bones
- Fever and chest pains
- Fatigue
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Heart tremors and irregular heartbeats
- Dizziness
- Difficult in breathing
- Loss of the memory
- Numbness and tingling on the limbs
- Painful nerves
These symptoms may disappear after sometimes by themselves. However, more severe symptoms which indicate the onset of the Lyme disease may start to reappear months or years if the early stage was not effectively treated. These are the symptoms that indicate the late stage of Lyme disease.
- Loss of memory
- Joint pains
- Paralysis on some parts of the body
- Irregular heartbeats
- Numbness and tingling of the limbs
- Difficult in concentrating
- Arthritis
Even after treating the late stages of Lyme disease, the symptoms may persist. This condition is called chronic Lyme disease or post-Lyme disease syndrome which is difficult to treat. Non-specific symptoms may start to appear which can last for months. Such symptoms include joint pains, fatigue, memory loss, swollen lymph nodes and most of the late stage symptoms. Your doctor may recommend other ways to treat the symptoms since treatment with more antibiotics may cause more harm. The doctor may recommend enough sleep until the symptoms subside.
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