Life After Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is a complex bacterial infection which can spread throughout the body causing a number of different symptoms. It is transmitted by the bite of blacklegged ticks and is prevalent throughout Europe and parts of America.  The Borrelia bacteria which cause the  infection can trigger inflammation in many different parts of the body including vital systems, organs and tissues.  This is one of the reasons why Lyme disease can be such a debilitating condition with wide ranging symptoms.

Black legged tick

Dealing with widespread infection can be difficult and this is why Lyme disease can be a complex condition to manage.  At the heart of any Lyme disease treatment is the necessity to eradicate the Borrelia bacteria which is causing the infection and inflammation.  The recommended treatment is currently a three to four week course of an oral antibiotic such as doxycycline or amoxicillin (a penicillin based treatment).  Studies have shown that a minimum 10 day regime of one of these antibiotics was enough in most cases to successfully clear up the main infection.  However this is only effective on cases of initial Lyme disease infection.  Once the bacteria has had a chance to spread throughout the system it can be much more difficult to deliver the antibiotics to the infection sites.  Intravenous ceftriaxone may be prescribed if there are any signs of infection or inflammation in major systems such as the central nervous system or brain. 

Treating Inflammation

Even during the successful treatment of Lyme disease inflammation can persist for weeks and in some cases can get much worse before it gets better.  This is why it is important not just to treat the main cause of the infection but also the side effects.  Inflammation resulting from Lyme disease can be painful and can also cause debilitating problems such as Lyme arthritis.  This is when the bacteria invades the joints causing severe inflammation and swelling, particularly in the knees.  There are a number of ways in which you can manage the symptoms of inflammation in cases of Lyme disease.  Many patients suffering from Lyme disease inflammation can respond well to holistic treatments and a change in diet.

Diet

A low-carb, low sugar diet has been shown to be effective at reducing internal inflammation in a wide range of conditions.  This is because the high levels of sugar and starch found in most modern diets can actually promote inflammation as they encourage the growth of bacteria and yeast.  These microbes cause inflammation because they excrete acids and toxins when they feed on complex sugars.  By cutting down on sugar and starch in your diet you can help to ‘starve’ these microbes and reduce the amount of toxins they produce, therefore reducing swelling.

Dietary Supplements

There are several supplements available which have been shown to be effective at reducing inflammation.  These include:

• Methylsulfonylmenthane (MSM) – this supplement needs to be taken in quite high dosages to be effective, but it is one of the safer dietary supplements.  It is well known for reducing inflammation and can be used to treat Lyme disease symptoms.
  

  Cats Claw

• Green Tea – you can take green tea in supplement form or drink it as a herbal tea.  It has been used for hundreds of years to treat internal infections successfully and recent studies have shown it can inhibit the growth of bacteria and yeast in the body, reducing inflammation.
• Salmon Oil – salmon oil is very high in Omega-3 fatty acids.  In particular it contains the fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to reduce inflammation.
• Cats Claw – this supplement has been shown to significantly inhibit bacteria growth and reduce inflammation.
• Vitamin C - this is a common supplement and recent studies have revealed the powerful effects this can have in supporting healing systems in overcoming system wide infections.

Erythema migrans rash

It is widely recognized that there are three stages of Lyme disease, and a good basic understanding of the symptoms that present in these stages can help you to identity the presence of this condition so that you can seek treatment as soon as possible.   If you have been exposed to ticks by traveling in high risk areas such as woodland edges and grasslands then you should monitor your health for a few weeks following this exposure and note down any symptoms you may experience for your physician.

Early Stages

There are two main stages after the initial Lyme disease infection, and these are known as ‘early localized’ and ‘early disseminated’.  These first two stages present different symptoms such as:

• Early localized – one of the key characteristics of Lyme disease is the skin rash known as Erythema migrans (EM). This occurs in two thirds of patients between 3 to 30 days after the initial infection and manifests as a red mark on the skin (at the site of the tick bite).  This mark gradually expands in a circular fashion, rather like a bull’s eye and can be hot and sore to touch and multiple lesions can form in other areas of the body. Typically EM rashes fade after around four weeks, but this does not mean the infection is gone, but instead that it has moved onto the next stage.
• Early disseminated – once the Lyme bacteria begins to spread through the body (via blood and lymph systems) then other symptoms can begin to manifest. This typically includes a flu-like state, with symptoms such as fatigue, chills, fever, stiff joints, and a general feeling of being unwell, which can last for weeks.  The generic symptoms can be difficult to diagnose when they manifest without the characteristics EM rash, and many patients are incorrectly diagnosed.  At this stage some patients may experiences fibromyalgia, which cause symptoms such as muscle pain and joint stiffness and this can develop into Lyme arthritis if left untreated.  Neurologic abnormalities have been known to develop in around 10-15% of patients during the early disseminated stage of Lyme disease and this can result in conditions such as cranial neuritis (typically Bell’s palsy), and an inflammation of the brain known as meningoencephalitis (which resembles meningitis).

Late Stage

The late stage of Lyme disease occurs when the infection is left to spread throughout the system unchecked.  This stage can begin months or years after the initial infection and one of the most common symptoms is Lyme arthritis, which develops in around 60% of patients.  Lyme arthritis can be a painful and debilitating condition, and although it can be cleared up with antibiotics, long term exposure can lead to permanent damage to the lining of joints, and in particular the knees.  Chronic fatigue can also characterize the late stages of Lyme disease infections, and further neurologic abnormalities can develop including a variety of brain problems which can seriously affect mood, memory and sleep.

Treating Lyme Disease

Oral antibiotics such as doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime axetil can be effective at treating Lyme disease in the early stages, but once the condition has progressed then intensive intravenous antibiotic treatment may be required to target the widespread bacteria.  Most patients respond well to antibiotic treatment, although some may find that symptoms can persist for months or even years before they are fully recovered.

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.

Lyme disease is a condition prevalent in many parts of the US, Canada and Europe and is caused by the bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi, which is spread from animals to humans by the bites if infected ticks.  Once Borrelia burgdorferi has invaded the host’s body it can spread throughout the system via the blood and lymph nodes, and can infect the major organs, skin and joints causing a number of problems from minor skin lesions through to potentially debilitating conditions such as heart disease and Lyme arthritis.

Lyme Arthritis

Although Lyme disease can be treated with standard antibiotics this can be a difficult condition to diagnose in the early stages as the symptoms can be generalized, and there are no reliable tests available to healthcare professionals as yet that can confirm the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the first few weeks of infection.   This means that a vast number of Lyme disease sufferers are misdiagnosed, and nearly 60% of them then go on to develop more serious symptoms such as Lyme arthritis, which can cause swelling and inflammation in the joints (in particular the knee joints) and can cause severe pain and mobility problems.  In many cases despite the correct treatment being applied Lyme arthritis can persist for months or even years after the initial infection and this is a rare condition known as antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis. 

Lyme Arthritis can cause severe knee joint pain

Different Strains of Lyme Bacteria

The main problem with antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis is that in many cases tests carried out on the joint fluid of the affected areas actually show negative for the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, which indicates that the arthritis is persisting even when the bacteria has been successfully eradicated from the system.  Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led by Allen Steere, have been looking into this problem and analyzing joint fluid samples from over 120 patients who have received treatment for Lyme arthritis in the last 30 years.  The research has revealed that different strains of the B. burgdorferi bacteria may have a significant impact on the severity and duration of Lyme arthritis.  It was shown that a particular strain of B. burgdorferi known as RST1 was most commonly found in patients that suffered from the rare and more serious condition of antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis.  At first researchers considered that this may have indicated a greater resilience in RST1 to survive in the joint fluid despite treatment with antibiotics, but then further tests showed that in fact the RST1 strain seemed to be more virulent than other strains of B. burgdorferi, and caused a much more severe immune response in the infected host. This meant that those patients that had become infected with the RST1 strain were much more likely to suffer from severe joint inflammation and develop persistent antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis, especially if they were genetically susceptible to joint conditions in the first instance.

The results of this study have been valuable in ascertaining why some individuals seem to develop persistent Lyme arthritis despite being successfully treated for Lyme disease with antibiotics, and also adds to the growing body of evidence examining the differential pathogenicity of the known strains of B. burgdorferi.

Genetic engineering has always been a controversial issue, but researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colorado have been testing ways in which advanced genetic engineering techniques could help to prevent the spread of the potentially debilitating insect-borne condition known as Lyme disease.

Microscopic image of tick

Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks and is a major problem throughout many parts of Europe and the mid and eastern United States, and has recently been shown to be spreading across the border into southern Canada. Lyme disease is difficult to detect in the early stages as the symptoms are often generalized and similar to a number of other common conditions, and although this disease can be cleared up quickly with a course of oral or injected antibiotics, if left untreated it can become very serious, resulting in a number of painful and potentially debilitating symptoms including Lyme arthritis and heart problems.

New Research

Researchers in the Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases team at Fort Collins have been analyzing exactly how the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is transmitted and have been testing ways in which genetic engineering could interfere with this process and halt the spread of this disease. Recent laboratory research into genetic engineering and insect-borne diseases has revealed some breakthrough results, which could hold the key to developing an effective vaccine against the potentially debilitating disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi infections.

Deactivating Genes

Genetic engineering has allowed researchers to analyze Lyme disease on a genetic level, and research has shown that deactivating specific genes in the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria makes it much less likely for hosts to contract Lyme disease. The gene isolated for this treatment is known as bba64, and is expressed by those ticks responsible for the spread of Lyme disease, and scientists believe this gene plays a key part in the infection process, facilitating the transmission of the bacteria from tick bites to the animal host by somehow repressing the host’s immune response and allowing the bacteria to pass unchallenged into the system. Researchers deactivated gene bba64 and then used this to inoculate mice test subjects in a laboratory environment, and found that when the mice were exposed to infected ticks they were much less likely to become infected with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria compared to those mice that had not been inoculated.

Close up image of tick mouth parts

Researchers believe that by deactivating the bba64 gene which naturally facilitates the infection process, they can effectively create a laboratory stage vaccination and it is thought this works by making it much more difficult for the Lyme disease bacteria to survive in the tick’s mouth and gut, meaning that there are not enough bacteria to pass along in the ticks saliva when it feeds in order to infect the host animal.

Future Vaccination

Although this genetic testing is only in its early stages scientists are hopeful that this breakthrough research on the bba64 gene may hold the key to developing an effective Lyme disease vaccination for the future, and may also be useful in developing vaccinations for other insect-borne diseases.

I Just found out I have Lyme Disease today. I had been feeling very fatigued for about five to six months and over the last two months began feeling other symptoms like joint pain, weakness, brain fog and constant nausea. It got so bad that I became depressed and lost my appetite. It’s really hard to eat when you are constantly feeling like you are going to though up; over the last couple of months I had lost about 20 pounds.

I was really scared and somehow convinced myself that I must be terminally ill and the doctor will tell me I have three months left to live. When I saw the doctor he seemed very concerned and ran many tests including full blood work and an abdominal CAT scan. Two days after the test I was feeling so sick that I could not go to work again. I missed a phone call and when I listened to my messages it was my doctor; he sounded very serious saying that I should call his office as soon as I get this message. I was terrified. I was convinced that was is it. He was going to tell me that the end is near. I worked up my nerve to finally call him and to my surprise he told me that what was making me so sick was Lyme Disease.

My first reaction was a deep breath of relief. Yes Lyme Disease is a very bad thing and had made me very very sick, but I wasn’t going to die. At least this was something I could fight and hopefully beat. My doctor referred me to an infections disease specialist and I immediately made an appointment for the earliest date available Monday the 11th.

I am starting this blog partly as an outlet for my stress due to this disease and partly because there are others out there in the same situation who would like to hear about my experiences and maybe share their own. For we are not alone and together we can all beat this. I will be posting constant updates here and will discuss my treatment and progress. I look forward to hearing from you.