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Lyme Disease Long-Term Symptoms

The long-term symptoms of Lyme disease are the most serious, a fact that is troubling since they rarely appear until after the disease has advanced beyond the stages in which it is readily treatable. These symptoms can be extremely debilitating but are almost never fatal. The similarities between Lyme disease's long-term symptoms and those of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome make it particularly difficult to confirm a diagnosis of Lyme disease in its later stages.

  1. Cause of Lyme Disease

    • A spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi is the direct cause of Lyme disease. In North America, this bacterial organism is almost always transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected black-legged tick (previously known as a deer tick) or a Western black-legged tick. Also suspected---but not yet confirmed---as a carrier of Borrelia burgdorferi is the lone star tick. Although it was not named as a disease until 1975, the disease itself is believed to have been present in the United States for at least a century.

    Three Stages

    • MedlinePlus identifies three stages of Lyme disease: primary, secondary and tertiary. The symptoms of primary Lyme disease are relatively short-lived and, in some patients, so mild as to be overlooked. Many, but not all, victims of primary Lyme disease will develop a target-shaped rash at the site of the tick bite. Other symptoms of the disease's primary stage may include fever, chills, muscle pain, lethargy and headache. Symptoms of secondary Lyme disease, also known as early disseminated disease, include general malaise, fainting, fatigue, blurred vision, neck stiffness, lethargy, lightheadedness and heart palpitations.

    Chronic Persistent Disease

    • The symptoms of Lyme disease's tertiary stage---also known as chronic persistent disease---are long lasting, according to MedlinePlus. In its third and final stage, the disease has become systemic and may produce symptoms in various parts of the body, including the brain and nervous system, skin, cartilage, muscles and bones. Treatment at this stage of the disease may ease some symptoms but not others.

    Long-Term Symptoms

    • The long-term symptoms of Lyme disease---or those that manifest themselves during the tertiary stage---include frequent headaches, chronic arthritis, profound fatigue, difficulty sleeping, memory, extreme mood swings and inflammation of knees or other large joints. Extreme sensitivity to light, cognitive disorders, numbness, tingling and confusion are other symptoms sometimes seen in the late stages of Lyme disease.

    CDC Statistics

    • Because primary stage Lyme disease may pass with relatively mild or no symptoms, the disease may go undetected in thousands of patients. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 28,921 cases of Lyme disease were confirmed by state health departments in 2008, while an additional 6,277 cases were listed as probable Lyme disease. CDC also gathers data on the main symptoms seen in diagnosed cases of the disease. In the period between 1992 and 2004, erythema migrans, a distinctively shaped rash, showed up in more than two-thirds of all diagnosed cases, while arthritis was present in 33 percent of cases. Other symptoms included facial palsy, 8 percent; radiculopathy (pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in the arms and legs), 4 percent; meningitis or encephalitis, 1 percent; and heart block, 1 percent.

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