Hard to confirm, hard to rule out
Most often the situation is that the patient comes to the so called "LLMD" because they have good reason to suspect Lyme, but are denied help.
I am sure there are some who get wrongfully diagnosed.
Seventy percent who are infected can't recall a tick bite. And that's a quote from our ultra conservative government health officials.
About 50% of those who find out that they are infected have had a bulls eye. Again, a government quote.
There does not exist a sensitive and specific blood test to reveal if you have Lyme when you have been sick for more then a year. All the tests are for the initial phase of the illness. None of the test suppliers for serologic tests have any data on how those who've had it for a long time responds.
What works for early disease, is not proven to work for late disease. All which is standardized is for early disease.
The mistake everyone does is to mix late and early disease.
Here's some symptoms of early disease:
Fatigue, headache, flu-like feeling.
Here's some symptoms of late disease:
Persistent swollen glands
Sore throat
Fevers
Sore soles, esp. in the AM
Joint pain
Fingers, toes
Ankles, wrists
Knees, elbows
Hips, shoulders
Joint swelling
Fingers, toes
Ankles, wrists
Knees, elbows
Hips, shoulders
Unexplained back pain
Stiffness of the joints or back
Muscle pain or cramps
Obvious muscle weakness
Twitching of the face or other
muscles
Confusion, difficulty thinking
Difficulty with concentration,
reading, problem absorbing
new information
Word search, name block
Forgetfulness, poor short
term memory, poor attention
Disorientation: getting lost,
going to wrong places
Speech errors- wrong word,
misspeaking
Mood swings, irritability,
depression
Anxiety, panic attacks
Psychosis (hallucinations,
delusions, paranoia, bipolar)
Tremor
Seizures
Headache
Light sensitivity
Sound sensitivity
Vision: double, blurry, floaters
Ear pain
Hearing: buzzing, ringing,
decreased hearing
Increased motion sickness,
vertigo, spinning
Off balance, tippy feeling
Lightheadedness, wooziness,
unavoidable need to sit or lie
Tingling, numbness, burning
or stabbing sensations,
shooting pains, skin
hypersensitivity
Facial paralysis-Bell's Palsy
Dental pain
Neck creaks and cracks,
stiffness, neck pain
Fatigue, tired, poor stamina
Insomnia, fractionated sleep,
early awakening
Excessive night time sleep
Napping during the day
Unexplained weight gain
Unexplained weight loss
Unexplained hair loss
Pain in genital area
Unexplained menstrual
irregularity
Unexplained milk production;
breast pain
Irritable bladder or bladder
dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction
Loss of libido
Queasy stomach or nausea
Heartburn, stomach pain
Constipation
Diarrhea
Low abdominal pain, cramps
Heart murmur or valve
prolapse?
Heart palpitations or skips
Heart block on EKG
Chest wall pain or ribs sore
Head congestion
Breathlessness, air hunger,
unexplained chronic cough
Night sweats
Exaggerated symptoms or
worse hangover from alcohol
Symptom flares every 4 wks.
Degree of disability
These are just some of the symptoms. I have never found a ME/CFS symptom which is not also a Lyme symptom. And never have I seen such a overlap before.
It's very, very hard to rule out Lyme. And it's equally hard to confirm Lyme.