What are the 3 stages of Lyme disease?

There are three stages of Lyme disease.
  • Stage 1 is called early localized Lyme disease. The bacteria have not yet spread throughout the body.
  • Stage 2 is called early disseminated Lyme disease. The bacteria have begun to spread throughout the body.
  • Stage 3 is called late disseminated Lyme disease.
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Is Stage 3 Lyme disease curable?

Stage 3 (late disseminated) Lyme disease is also treated with various antibiotics: For Lyme disease that causes arthritis, 28 days of oral doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime is prescribed. Additional courses of antibiotics may be necessary, depending on the severity and persistence of your symptoms.
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What are the symptoms of stage 3 Lyme disease?

Stage 3: Late disseminated Lyme disease
  • arthritis of one or more large joints.
  • brain disorders, such as encephalopathy, which can cause short-term memory loss, difficulty concentrating, mental fogginess, problems with following conversations, and sleep disturbance.
  • numbness in the arms, legs, hands, or feet.
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What are the major signs and symptoms of the last stage of Lyme disease?

  • Severe headaches and neck stiffness.
  • Additional EM rashes on other areas of the body.
  • Facial palsy (loss of muscle tone or droop on one or both sides of the face)
  • Arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling, particularly the knees and other large joints.
  • Intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones.
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What happens if you go untreated for Lyme disease?

What happens if Lyme disease is untreated? Left untreated, Lyme disease can spread to joints and organs, causing significant damage. Arthritis, heart disease, and nervous system problems are common complications of untreated Lyme disease.
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Lyme Disease | Pathophysiology, Signs, and Treatment



How do you feel when you have Lyme disease?

Erythema migrans is one of the hallmarks of Lyme disease, although not everyone with Lyme disease develops the rash. Some people develop this rash at more than one place on their bodies. Other symptoms. Fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache, neck stiffness and swollen lymph nodes can accompany the rash.
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Can you make a full recovery from Lyme disease?

Most people who develop Lyme disease recover fully following a course of antibiotics. In rare cases, Lyme disease symptoms may persist for weeks, months, or even years after antibiotic treatment.
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What is Stage 4 Lyme disease?

Late persistent Lyme disease

If Lyme disease isn't promptly or effectively treated, damage to the joints, nerves, and brain may develop months or years after you become infected. It is the last and often the most serious stage of the disease.
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What is Stage 2 Lyme disease?

Symptoms of early disseminated Lyme disease (stage 2) may occur weeks to months after the tick bite, and may include: Numbness or pain in the nerve area. Paralysis or weakness in the muscles of the face. Heart problems, such as skipped heartbeats (palpitations), chest pain, or shortness of breath.
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How do you know if you have late stage Lyme disease?

Symptoms of late stage Lyme disease

Severe headaches and neck stiffness. Additional EM rashes in new places on the body. Facial palsy, also known as Bell's palsy – paralysis of one side of the face. Arthritis or joint pain and swelling, especially of large joints (such as the knee)
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Can you treat late stage Lyme disease?

Like the less severe forms of Lyme disease, late Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics, although medical opinions differ about the appropriate length of an antibiotic treatment course.
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What is normal range for Lyme disease?

Normal levels vary depending on the laboratory assay performed, as follows. Borrelia burgdorferi antibody enzyme immunoassay (Lyme index value) : < 0.9 = negative. 0.91-1.09 = equivocal.
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What is the best treatment for chronic Lyme disease?

In the majority of cases, it is successfully treated with oral antibiotics. In some patients, symptoms, such as fatigue, pain and joint and muscle aches, persist even after treatment, a condition termed “Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS)”.
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What causes Lyme disease to flare up?

Triggers for Lyme disease vary by person, but they can include: emotional stress (such as a divorce, death in the family, or accidents) physical stress to the body (i.e., surgery, physical harm, concussion) life stress or stressful events.
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Can Lyme disease shorten your life?

Take away message: In the long run, Lyme does not affect your life as much as other health conditions. It is important to live a healthy lifestyle regardless of whether you are struggling with Lyme disease or not.
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What are neurological symptoms of Lyme disease?

Neurological complications most often occur in the second stage of Lyme disease, with numbness, pain, weakness, Bell's palsy (paralysis of the facial muscles), visual disturbances, and meningitis symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, and severe headache.
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How long will you test positive for Lyme disease?

Your immune system continues to make the antibodies for months or years after the infection is gone. This means that once your blood tests positive, it will continue to test positive for months to years even though the bacteria are no longer present.
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Can Lyme cause weight gain?

Stubborn weight gain is not unusual in that the bacteria damage the metabolism, thyroid, adrenals, and gut. It's disheartening, truly.
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Can Lyme come back after treatment?

In rare cases, you may experience a continuation of Lyme disease symptoms after antibiotic treatment. This is called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS).
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What does Lyme disease fatigue feel like?

Tiredness, exhaustion, and lack of energy are the most frequent symptoms. The Lyme fatigue can seem different from regular tiredness, where you can point to activity as a cause. This fatigue seems to take over your body and can be severe.
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Is exercise good for Lyme disease?

For those being treated for active, early-stage Lyme disease, light to moderate exercise—as much as can be tolerated—is recommended to help alleviate joint and muscle stiffness. Exercising isn't recommended if the patient has any fever or flulike symptoms.
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Can you live a normal life with Lyme disease?

Feb. 1, 2000 (Washington) -- People afflicted with Lyme disease go on to lead normal lives, plagued by the same nettlesome but rarely serious problems that are reported by most people, according to the largest study on the long-term effects of the tick-borne illness.
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Are people with Lyme disease at risk for Covid?

You may, however, be at a greater risk of complications from COVID-19 if your immune system is decreased from the more severe forms of Lyme disease, such as post-Lyme disease syndrome or chronic Lyme disease.
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Does Lyme disease make your legs hurt?

BODY ACHE. If you've contracted Lyme disease, you may experience muscle soreness or joint pain. Your knees are most likely to be affected, and joint pain can get more severe as the disease progresses.
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Can Lyme disease cause lower back pain?

Inflammation caused by the infection may play a role in the development of pain in the nerves, joints, and muscles. Though Lyme disease is most commonly associated with a circular rash on the skin after a tick bite, pain throughout the body — including back pain— is a common symptom, too.
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