Lyme Disease - The Great Masquerader
Which tick is the most infectious????
The smallest tick is the nymph (about 1mm in size), which is also the most infectious. Imagine trying to find a tick that small on your skin, especially if you have dark hair or skin!
I've been contacted by patients with difficult cases and who've had multiple visits to other doctors, with little to no success. In reviewing patient history and exploring all other possibilities, it occurred to me - could any of this be attributed to Lyme disease? I look back on my practice in Maine, where Lyme was common among my patients, and it piqued my curiosity that the disease could be making its way into Colorado. Sure enough, these patients tested positive for chronic Lyme disease (which IS treatable, by the way!) When we look at the fact that people move around all the time, it only makes sense that Lyme has very likely found its way to Colorado by way of Oregon, Washington, Northern California, Texas, the Midwest, and the Northeastern Seaboard, where it is most prevalent.
I encourage people to watch the documentary "Under Our Skin" (available on streaming through Hulu, Netflix and other providers. It offers an eye-opening view into the disease, how it impacts people, and why it's often cast aside in the medical community.
Here is a list of symptoms Lyme Complex can cause:
- Anxiety or panic attack
- Depression
- Mood swings, irritablility
- Confusion, "brain fog"
- Dementia
- Difficulty concentrating or reading
- Apraxia
- Memory loss
- Electrical sensations
- Tremors
- Lightheadedness or fainting
- Dizziness, motion sickness
- Fatigue
- Joint pains, chronic and severe
- Migraines
- Sleep disturbances, insomnia
- Pains that move around
- Headaches, sometime severe
- Myalgia, muscle cramps or spasms
- Heart palpitations
- Bladder problems, IC
And a list of things for which Lyme is frequently misdiagnosed:
- ALS
- ADD/ADHD
- Autism/Asperger's
- Bipolar disorder
- Epstein Barr/ Chronic Fatigue syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Menopause
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- MS
- Parkinson's Disease
- Psychiatric distubances
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosis
- Thyroid disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
Call us if you want to be tested with a lab test which can actually detect it.
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