The Mysterious Chronic Lyme Disease Nightmare: Why It’s So Hard to Detect and Treat

My living nightmare started in February of 2019. That’s when my 2-year struggle with Lyme disease began. I never even saw the tiny, poppy-seed-sized tick that got me. And I never saw a bullseye rash. It was six months before I got a diagnosis. By then, the microscopic spirochetes that cause the illness had worked their way into my joints. A simple two-week course of antibiotics would not fix my problem. I didn’t know it then, but I had entered a struggle where constant joint pain, crushing insomnia, and a never-ending flu-like brain fog would haunt my every step.





Today, I’m older and a little wiser. After countless prescriptions and doctors’ appointments, and interviewing several of the top Lyme researchers in the field, I know a lot more about Lyme disease and ticks than I ever wanted to. I’m also largely symptom free.

But it didn’t come easy. The good news for you is, I can pass those years of knowledge on to you in a few minutes, so you can arm yourself against this damaging disease.

The Trouble With Detecting Lyme Disease

The real problem with Lyme isn’t that it’s hard to cure. It’s not — if you know you have it in the first month. In that case, a quick course of the right antibiotics is enough to cure you permanently. Or at least until you get another tick bite. The problem is what happens if you don’t catch it in time.

“We typically see manifestations of chronic symptoms occurring when there’s any sort of delay in diagnosis or treatment,” says Dr. Shannon Delaney, Lyme researcher at Colombia University.

Those chronic symptoms show up in what’s called post treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). They happen in about 20% to 30% of Lyme sufferers, making Lyme the painful elephant in the outdoor-lover’s living room. Many victims turn to Lyme specialists or “Lyme literate doctors.” Others suffer in silence. Still others may not even know they have it. There’s also no test that proves you’re cured. So, if you get the “cure” but you’re still sick, what then? The answer is a deep, wide trail of suffering for millions



much more in article and a very good read



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