Symptoms Lyme disease

The most well-known symptom of Lyme disease is the bullseye rash. However, the other symptoms are not as widely known. Someone with a Lyme infection often has nonspecific symptoms. This means that the complaints don’t point to one specific illness, but are characteristic for multiple diseases. Symptoms of Lyme disease might, for example, be:

• Bullseye rash
• Irregular heartbeat
• Eye problems
• Flulike symptoms
• Itch
• Fatigue
• Long-term symptoms
• Symptoms children

Early diagnosis important

An infection with the Borelia bacteria often goes hand in hand with flu-like symptoms, like headaches, fever, and a stiff neck. A swollen knee can also indicate an infection. Just like facial paralysis. Therefore, it is important to be attentive to these symptoms after a tick bite. In most cases, the illness can easily be treated with antibiotics in an early stage. However, the longer the infection lasts, the more serious the symptoms get.

That is why, a timely diagnosis in the first few weeks or months of the illness is very important. Symptoms are the guiding principles for a diagnosis. During this process, the general practitioner will be supported by diagnostic tests. Read more on Lyme tests.

When the bacteria spread further through the body, the symptoms will change. Lyme disease is a so-called multisystem disease. Several different symptoms could be included with this type of diseases, like:

• neurological symptoms (e.g. loss of function)
• rheumatological symptoms (Lyme arthritis)
• dermatological symptoms
• heart problems (like arrhythmias)
• psychiatric complaints

Lyme disease in an advanced stage will be treated with the long-term use of antibiotics