Lyme Disease

The signs and symptoms of Lyme Disease vary depending on how far along someone is in the course of their infection. Early signs include fatigue, muscle aches, chills, fever, headache, neck stiffness, joint pain or swelling, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash known as erythema migrans (EM). This rash usually looks like a bulls-eye pattern with red rings around an area of clear skin. If left untreated for too long it can lead to more serious complications such as arthritis, nerve pain, or inflammation of the brain or spinal cord.

To diagnose Lyme Disease your doctor may ask about your medical history and any possible exposure to ticks before doing a physical exam and some blood tests. If it is correctly diagnosed (which isn’t always the case) treatment typically includes antibiotics given orally or intravenously depending on how far along the infection has progressed. Some people start feeling better within days if they receive antibiotics if caught early in the acute phase. In other cases, patients only feel extreme nausea with the antibiotic treatments and not the benefits promised. Lyme Disease, if not properly treated, can also become chronic and conventional methods fail to help.

Lyme Disease is often misdiagnosed because its symptoms are similar to other illnesses such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Unfortunately lab testing is often unreliable and it may take some time before people discover that they have Lyme Disease. This is why it’s so important to be aware of symptoms and to also share with your doctor if you live in a wooded area or suspect you might have been bitten by a tick or multiple ticks.

Another thing that’s important to understand is the life cycle of the Borrelia bacteria that actually causes the illness. One of the reasons Lyme disease is considered a stealth infection is that the Borrelia bacteria hide out in the host after being transferred by the first tick bite. It waits to “reboard” a new tick when the host is bitten again. But if the host is never bitten it reaches the end of its life cycle and the host will not contract the illness.

If the Borrelia bacteria is activated in the host by the second bite, then they will experience symptoms.

Symptoms usually follow in three stages:

Stage 1 is typically a rash but may not appear. It may become clear in the center and look like a target or characteristic bull's-eye. Other stages can include fever, headache, extreme tiredness, joint stiffness, and swollen lymph nodes.

If Lyme isn’t treated, within 3 to 10 weeks, then it can be more widespread and is called “disseminated”. Symptoms can include neck pain and stiffness, muscle weakness, multiple rashes, swelling in tissues around the eyes or eyelids, and pain or numbness in hands and feet.

In the third stage (the late disseminated stage), which can happen months or years after the initial infection, you may have symptoms from the earlier stages and other symptoms like fluid in the joints which typically impact your knee joints.

When it comes to Lyme disease, it’s important to work with a practitioner trained in dealing with chronic Lyme disease who can examine all the ways to help you rebuild your body so that it can recalibrate and heal naturally.

When treating Lyme, we look at multiple areas not just trying to “kill the bacterial infection” which often doesn’t work as it is a stealth infection and is only part of the equation for healing Lyme.

We examine and help people to heal in these three areas:

• Optimizing the immune and detoxification system while meeting any nutritional deficiencies that keep your body from healing
• Directly targeting the infection with protocols that don’t harm your gut microbiome or have intense side effects as antibiotics do
• Identifying co-infections as ticks can carry multiple bacteria as well as any triggers

In order to determine the correct treatment plan and properly treat each individual and specific case, Dr. Anderson conducts an in-depth evaluation also considering any infections in the gut that have gone untreated. Covering multiple aspects of a patient’s body helps determine exactly what is happening and provides necessary information to determine the proper treatment for each specific case.

At Premier Health Of Summit, our team takes a holistic approach to any chronic disorder – including peripheral neuropathy. In fact, it’s less about managing symptoms and more about investigating the underlying “WHY”.

That’s why it is important to have a metabolic workup to check blood chemistry as well as other potential testing for infection.

It will indicate if there are nutritional deficiencies, blood sugar problems, anemia, adrenal issues, and many other imbalances that can keep you from healing Lyme disease. Knowing your blood chemistry helps facilitate effective nutritional changes that can be sustainable and encourage proper body functions.

Once we do the correct testing, we craft a precise treatment plan unique to your needs that includes all the elements you need to finally leave your peripheral neuropathy behind and you may even experience a complete reversal.

So if you’re ready to explore how to approach fibromyalgia, then claim your free 10-minute phone consultation with Dr. Brian Anderson to help you map out an effective, technologically-advanced treatment strategy based around…

• without mind-altering pain medications
• without surgery
• without injections.

We’ll explore your desired treatment goals, and we go over what’s expected and whether our functional neurology approach to peripheral neuropathy is right for you.

We offer these short phone consults for FREE so you can get more clarity & confidence on how to reverse your peripheral neuropathy before it’s too late.

We believe you can't make new decisions without new information, so this phone consult is your chance for a personalized assessment.

Click here to claim your free phone consultation or call or text our office at 908.913.7508 to schedule.