At a Glance: How do you diagnose and treat Lyme disease?
- Learn how you get infected with Lyme disease.
- Understand the three stages of Lyme disease, and their accompanying symptoms.
- Discover why conventional care often falls short with Lyme disease and how holistic testing and treatments can help restore your body to health.
- Be aware of late stage Lyme disease and the most serious health conditions that come with it.
One of the most difficult diseases to diagnose, Lyme disease affects 300,000 people every year and is the most common vector borne disease in the United States. Contracted from tick bites, Lyme disease comes from a bacteria of the Borrelia burgdorferi species; ticks pick up the bacteria from infected animals, and can then pass it onto humans. Chronic Lyme disease and Lyme disease treatment can be a long, arduous journey, as symptoms can vary and cause odd and hard-to-pinpoint health effects, but holistic treatment is effective.
Consult with a Forum Health professional for personalized Lyme disease treatment: Schedule an Appointment.
Three Stages of Lyme Disease
There are three principal stages of Lyme disease:
1. Early Localized Lyme Disease
This initial stage occurs 1 to 28 days after the initial bite, with a hallmark symptom of a red, expanding bulls-eye rash (found in 70-80 percent of cases). The bacteria have not yet spread to the rest of the body.
2. Early Disseminated Lyme Disease
If left untreated, the bacteria starts to spread through the body, occurring 3-12 weeks after the initial bite, causing more symptoms.
3. Late Disseminated Lyme Disease
This stage may occur months to years after the initial infection, and can demonstrate more serious symptoms, such as neurological and rheumatological involvement.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease symptoms can vary from person to person. Here’s what you can expect for each stage:
- The acute symptoms of Early Localized Lyme Disease include: the expanding bulls-eye rash, fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and pains, and swollen lymph nodes.
- Secondary symptoms of the Early Disseminated Lyme Disease stage include: nerve numbness or pain, paralysis or facial muscle weakness, meningitis with a stiff neck, fever, or severe headache, eye pain, heart problems (such as skipped heartbeats), or feeling dizzy or light-headed.
- Late Disseminated symptoms of Lyme Disease (Post Treatment Lyme Disease syndrome) include: fluid accumulation in the joints (specifically the knees), neuropathy (numbness and pain in the peripheral nerves), arthritis, Bell’s Palsy, and cognitive difficulties, among other symptoms that may cause chronic Lyme Disease. This stage may take months or years to develop.
Causes of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is caused by a bite from ticks carrying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. While there are several known species of Borrelia bacteria, it’s possible to contract multiple strains. Diagnosing Lyme disease can be challenging since many people cannot pinpoint when they were bitten.
Pitfalls of Conventional Treatment
Traditional treatments primarily rely on antibiotics. This is great if they work. However, studies show standard short-term protocols fail 24-50% of the time due to the Lyme bacteria’s ability to evade antibiotics. Consequently, even after treatment, lingering symptoms and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) can occur. In fact, the larger medical community says 10–20% of patients get post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). This is marked by lingering symptoms like fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, disrupted sleep, and reduced mental function.
Holistic and Integrative Treatment Approaches
Forum Health’s Treatment Strategies
Holistic treatment for Lyme disease offers a more thorough, well-rounded approach that targets the root causes. At Forum Health, our Lyme disease experts use integrative and functional medicine approaches such as RGCC testing and SOT Therapy which utilize advanced testing and therapies to target hard-to-diagnose illnesses and stop the bacteria or virus from replicating in those with Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, and other conditions. Functional medicine also emphasizes the importance of repairing the immune system and gut health as the basis of all health. Explore our Gut detox program to restore and repair gut health.
Where to Get Lyme Disease Treatment
Find a Forum Health Provider
Managing Lyme disease is a complex and multifaceted process, and our team of experts is here to guide you every step of the way. From offering cutting-edge diagnostic tools to providing innovative treatments that complement conventional approaches, we are dedicated to helping you achieve the best possible outcomes.
We offer a diverse array of choices, including hormone replacement therapy, medical grade detoxes, nutraceuticals, antimicrobial herbs, IV therapy, gastrointestinal support, and other emerging therapies, often overlooked or disregarded in mainstream healthcare.
Our providers are committed to supporting you, offering expertise, compassion, and personalized care to help you live your best life despite Lyme disease. Together, we can work towards a future where Lyme disease is better understood, more effectively treated, and ultimately, conquered.
We offer both in-person and telemedicine consultations to help you find your path toward wellness. Schedule an appointment with Forum Health providers and contact us today.
FAQs and Additional Information
Is Lyme disease curable?
If detected early on after the initial infection (preferably within 14 days), then yes, Lyme disease is curable with a proper protocol of antibiotics. However, many people do not know they are infected and it could take months or even years to get a later-stage diagnosis, which causes a wide range of symptoms. This is why early diagnosis is emphasized.
Is Lyme disease contagious?
No, Lyme disease is not contagious. Lyme disease is contracted through a tick bite that’s infected with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It cannot be passed onto others unless through the saliva or as an air-borne illness.
How do you get Lyme disease?
There is only one way to contract Lyme disease, and that is through getting a tick bite that carries the Lyme disease. This disease comes from a bacteria of the Borrelia burgdorferi species, where ticks pick up the bacteria from infected animals, and can then pass it onto humans.
Does Lyme disease go away?
In most cases, Lyme disease clears up through early detection and an appropriate round of antibiotics. However, if it goes undetected or the antibiotics do not clear the illness, it can continue to spread in the body, causing a slew of other health conditions – from fatigue, to brain fog, to arthritic symptoms. Early detection is key.
How to test for Lyme disease?
There are several standardized tests that are not proven effective in detecting Lyme disease, such as the ELISA test and the Western blot test. For a more thorough analysis, we recommend RGCC testing and SOT Therapy for detecting and treating hard-to-diagnose illnesses such as Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis, and more.
What are the challenges of diagnosing + treating Lyme Disease?
Unless you were knowingly bit by a tick and saw the hallmark bulls-eye rash, Lyme disease can be very difficult to detect and diagnose. A conventional Lyme disease test, such as the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and the Western blot test, may not pick up the disease, as antibodies can take several weeks to develop following the infection, leaving patients testing negative when they may in fact be positive.
Various doctors and health establishments debate on the duration of antibiotic treatment and, successful antibiotic treatment is only proven for a very early detection (within 14 days), leaving many other cases of Lyme disease untreated. When relying on conventional medicine alone, many patients do not get the appropriate and successful treatment they need.
How long does Lyme disease last?
If detected and treated in the initial stages, Lyme disease can clear up in 2 to 4 weeks with antibiotics. However, in some cases, or if it goes undetected and is tested at a later stage, Lyme disease can last for months to even years until the illness is treated. We recommend SOT Therapy as well as other holistic methods to help clear the illness and heal the body.
