- Lyme Disease (LD) was named after the town, Lyme, CT where in 1975 Dr. Steere discovered the cause of a mysterious outbreak of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
- LD is only transmitted by the Deer Tick. Deer do not get LD only humans, but adult Deer Ticks are nourished from deer and thus reproduce. (D-man was bit by a nymph stage tick)
- The tick must stay imbedded on a person at least 36-48 hours before enough bacteria is in the bloodstream to infect the person. (D-man's was on his back and he had no idea until after a couple of days)
- Not all Deer Ticks carry LD.
- Early symptoms include a bullseye-type rash around the tick area (though the area itself is not bothersome usually), flu-like symptoms, headache, fever, body aches, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes near the area of the bite.
- If caught and aggressively treated in the first 3-4 weeks, full recovery is expected.
- 2nd stage and later stage symptoms are similar, but can include, painful & swollen joints, stiff neck, sore throat, changes in vision, rashes in other areas of the body, abnormal pulse, changes in vision, fever, dizziness, memory loss, & many other possible symptoms.
- The longer one waits for treatment, the better the chance of the person battling LD for years to come.
We caught D-man's early as I know the exact day I removed the tick. D-man then came to us with 2 swollen lymph nodes near the bite site on his back. He really had no rash to speak of. He later developed migraines and extreme fatigue. He has either had really good days or really bad days. The headaches have lessened, but the chronic fatigue really has him down. His lymph nodes seem to be improving a bit though.
Aww :( I hope he feels better soon1
ReplyDeletePoor little guy!! That must be really hard trying to stay on top of his school work. Thank the Lord you caught it early! I had no idea it could be a years-long battle.
ReplyDeleteFor information you and anyone else interested in lyme Disease should in fact read ILADS guidelines found on www.ilads.org
ReplyDeleteIf not adequately treated initially it can return sometimes years later as a chronic illness. Patients treated on the standard low dose of a couple of weeks antibiotics don't always clear that infection and symptoms of migrating arthritis mE/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Neurological symptoms, psychiatric symptoms and gastro intestinal symptoms.
If you want to read even more then visit my blog and you will find the medical controversy surrounding this illness leaves thousands of patients the World over left to fall into chronic illness and then struggle to get appropriate treatment to recover.