The recommended treatment for Lyme disease is a short course of antibiotics, and it is widely recognized that the sooner after the initial infection you get this treatment the more effective it will be. Therefore if you discover you have been bitten by a tick, or you have symptoms follow a trip to a high risk tick area (such as woodlands and grasslands), then you should consult your healthcare advisor as soon as possible.
General Treatment
Oral antibiotics including doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime axetil are typically prescribed for Lyme disease, and should be taken for two to three weeks to eradicate the infection. Doxycycline is also effective for a number of other tick-borne diseases as well, but it not used to treat young children or pregnant/breast feeding women as it can cause potential harmful side effects. In these cases amoxicillin, cefuroxime axetil, or penicillin will be prescribed. Effective treatment with antibiotics can help to prevent any further symptoms such as arthritis and neurological problems, however Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose so you may have already progressed to the next stages of the condition before you seek treatment. In these cases different antibiotics will be prescribed to treat specific symptoms.
Oral antibiotics including doxycycline are prescribed for Lyme Disease
Lyme Arthritis
If you are diagnosed with Lyme arthritis then oral antibiotics will be prescribed for mild symptoms, but severe cases may be treated with a more intensive intravenous (through a vein) ceftriaxone or penicillin treatment. Alongside antibiotics other drugs may be prescribed to ease the discomfort of the Lyme arthritis condition and this can include anti-inflammatory drugs. In severe cases fluid may also be drawn from the affected joints to ease swelling, or the inflamed lining may be surgically removed.
It can take from a few weeks through to a few months for antibiotics to begin to show beneficial effects for Lyme disease, although in some severe cases it can take years for the condition to be treated successfully, and the patient could be left with some permanent damage to the affected joints.
Neurological Problems
If left untreated the Lyme disease infection can spread to the central nervous system and this can cause neurological problems. This can be treated with antibiotics such as ceftriaxone, which is typically given intravenously every day for around two to four weeks to tackle the infection quickly before it spreads any further. This has a good success rate and most people recover completely from neurological related Lyme disease problems.
Heart Problems
Long term exposure to Lyme disease can result in heart problems, and the treatment is similar to that of neurological problems and daily intravenous antibiotics such as ceftriaxone are typically prescribed for two to four weeks. People normally recover well from Lyme disease heart problems and rarely suffer from any long term damage to the heart.
Once you have received treatment for Lyme disease symptoms you may feel very tired for a few weeks, and suffer from headaches and muscle aches. You may also experience some neurological problems such as lack of concentration, memory problems and slight speech problems (such as muddling up words). This should pass after a few weeks, but if the symptoms persist you should seek further advice from your physicians.