Lyme Disease a List of Symptoms

Now, it seems that everybody has a different experience with Lyme Disease.  So, you may have some or all of these, or very few but to a different level of severity.

I don't in any way intend this to be diagnostic.  It's just that I had a hard time trying to find a comprehensive list of symptoms when I was looking up information.  So, I have attempted to compile a lot of different symptom lists into one long one.  Again, I'm not a doctor, I'm just trying to share information and make it easier to find.  If you think you might have Lyme Disease go talk to a doctor now.  If not, I hope this is informative for those who have no idea what range of symptoms Lyme can give a person.

Also, if I've missed things and duplicated them, I'm sorry.  Lyme brain is really bothering me this week.  I'll try to fix it later.  But thank you for your patience in the meantime.  

Possible symptoms of Lyme Disease:

• rash (roughly 30% of people don't get this apparently)
• Fever
• Chills
• Fatigue
• Body Aches
• Headaches
• Neck Stiffness
• Swollen Lymph Nodes
• Erythema migrans (rash)
• Joint pain (migratory joint pain is fairly unique to Lyme Disease I believe)
• Neurological problems
• meningitis
• Bell's palsy
• numbness or weakness in limbs
• impaired muscle movement
• Heart problems, such as an irregular heartbeat
• Eye inflammation
• Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
• Chronic joint inflammation (Lyme arthritis)
• Severe fatigue
• Severe headaches
• Severe neck stiffness
• Sleep issues
• Cognitive defects such as impaired memory
• ADD (no really, it's a thing that can happen if you have Lyme Disease)
• so it's not actually normal ADD, just like the arthritis isn't normal arthritis, but you can absolutely get ADD symptoms with the way Lyme affects your brain
• Impaired attention
• Impaired Focus
• Impaired Concentration
• Impaired Judgement and Impulse Control
• Impaired Memory
• Impaired Speech Functions
• Disorganization and getting lost
• Poor problem-solving and decision making abilities
• Slower mental processing speed
• Symptoms similar to Dementia and Alzheirmer's Disease
• Cognitive defects, such as impaired memory

If this list doesn't leave you terrified of ticks I'm not sure what will.  I highly suggest using repellants anytime you're going to be somewhere you could encounter ticks.  

Ok, as I believe we have mentioned other places, the CDC sort of has it's own criteria for what counts as Lyme Disease.  Some people believe the CDC's narrow criteria and testing is seriously underreporting the number of Lyme Disease cases.  The speculation is that the count may in fact be ten times higher than the CDC says.  Nevertheless, I'm trying to provide information and be thorough.  Below is a list of what the CDC considers to be early and late symptoms of Lyme Disease.

According to the CDC these are early symptoms of Lyme:

• Fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes may occur in the absence of rash
• Erythema migrans (EM) rash 
• Occurs in approximately 70 to 80 percent of infected persons
• Begins at the site of a tick bite after a delay of 3 to 30 days (average is about 7 days)
• Expands gradually over several days reaching up to 12 inches or more (30 cm) across
• May feel warm to the touch but is rarely itchy or painful
• Sometimes clears as it enlarges, resulting in a target or “bull’s-eye” appearance
• May appear on any area of the body
• Does not always appear as a “classic” erythema migrans rash

According to the CDC these are later symptoms or symptoms that come with Chronic 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
• Heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
• Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath
• Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
• Nerve pain
• Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet

Believe me, if you do not have Lyme Disease, you do not want it.  Whether you have Lyme Disease according to the CDC or not, whether you have more symptoms than they say come with it or not, Lyme is extremely unpleasant.  And my case isn't even considered "that bad" as I've been told multiple times.  (Which isn't particularly reassuring, but anyway).  

Be safe.  Wear repellent when you go out in places that might have ticks.  Yes they can be smelly and irritating, but it's much better to have to smell repellent while hiking than have to deal with Lyme Disease.    

If you already have Lyme Disease, then keep fighting.  And if you want to talk to someone else about it, I'm here. 

References:

https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/lyme-disease-great-masquerader/#:~:text=Along%20with%20physiological%20symptoms%20like,Impaired%20memory%20and%20speech%20functions

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs_symptoms/index.html

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lyme-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20374651

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-basics/lyme-disease/symptoms/

https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/arthritis-lyme-disease

For Other Posts about Lyme Disease see the following:

How to Find the Right Doctor for Lyme Disease 

So, I have Lyme Disease

How can you be Certain you have LYME DISEASE?

How Did I Get Lyme Disease?

Memory Struggles with Lyme

I Feel Like I'm Playing Lyme Roulette

Lyme Disease the Great Masquerader of Diseases