Lyme Disease Symptoms

About Lyme Disease Symptoms

Lyme disease symptoms begin 3 to 30 days after a tick bite with erythema migrans, a characteristic expanding rash at the bite site, often with central clearing creating a bulls eye appearance. The rash occurs in approximately 70 to 80 percent of cases. Early symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes. If untreated, the disease can progress to disseminated stages affecting the joints Lyme arthritis typically affecting one large joint like the knee, nervous system facial nerve palsy Bell palsy, meningitis, radiculopathy, and heart Lyme carditis causing heart block. Post treatment Lyme disease syndrome PTLDS involves persistent fatigue, pain, and cognitive difficulties lasting over 6 months after treatment, affecting a minority of treated patients. Diagnosis is made through two tiered testing ELISA followed by Western blot. Antibiotics such as doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime, prescribed by a clinician, are usually curative for early disease.