Lyme Disease Symptoms, Signs and Prevention

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. This disease-causing infectious bacterium is transmitted to humans by a bite from an infected black-legged or deer tick, which itself becomes infected after feeding on infected deer, birds, or mice.

 

Traditional forms of treatment of Lyme disease involve targeting and killing the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium. While this approach may be effective, many people still fail to see results from this approach. There is an alternative approach to treating Lyme disease that was developed by herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner that has seen great success in many Lyme disease patients.

 

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Lyme disease, including Lyme disease symptoms, Lyme disease prevention, and these two forms of Lyme disease treatment.

 

What Is Lyme Disease?

 

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria in the Borrelia genus, with four main species of these bacteria causing Lyme disease. Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii cause Lyme disease in the United States. Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii are the leading causes in Europe and Asia.

 

The disease is characterized by neurological issues, aches and pains, among other symptoms. You are more likely to get this disease if you are in tick-infested areas like tall grasses and woodlands. You can check for information on your local area to learn more about ticks or Lyme-carrying ticks, that may be present.

 

What Are the Signs of Lyme Disease?

 

The first sign of Lyme disease is the development of a small, red bump at the site of the tick bite. This tick bit resembles a mosquito bite and disappears in a few days. This is not a sure sign of Lyme disease, but it is a sign of a tick bit, which is the first early sign of Lyme disease.

 

Within 3 to 30 days after being bitten by an infected tick bite, you will begin to see an expanding red area around this bite, forming a pattern that resembles a bull’s eye. This Lyme disease rash expands slowly over a period of several days and can spread up to 12 inches across. Typically, it is not painful or itchy, but may feel warm.

 

Lyme disease rash, known as Erythema migrans, does not develop on everyone that has Lyme disease, but it is a common sign of Lyme disease. Other common early signs of Lyme disease include:

 

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Body aches
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Fatigue
• Neck stiffness

 

If untreated, further symptoms of Lyme disease may develop, such as:

 

• Severe joint pain and swelling (especially in your knees)
• Severe fatigue
• Neurological problems. Inflammation of the membranes surrounding your brain (meningitis), impaired muscle movement, numbness or weakness in your limbs, and temporary paralysis of one side of your face (Bell's palsy) are all potential neurological symptoms of Lyme disease.
• Heart problems
• Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
• Eye inflammation

 

How Do You Treat Lyme Disease?

 

There are a few different approaches to treating Lyme disease. It also depends how far along the infection is. If it is in its early stage, you will likely be prescribed antibiotics by your doctor to kill the bacteria. Antibiotics for early stage Lyme disease have a high success rate.

 

If you do not treat your Lyme infection in time, your doctor may recommend you take oral antibiotics for symptoms like weakened face muscles, irregular heartbeat, and meningitis, some of the common symptoms of later-stage Lyme disease.

 

According to the CDC: “Although most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with a 2- to 4-week course of oral antibiotics, patients can sometimes have symptoms of pain, fatigue, or difficulty thinking that lasts for more than 6 months after they finish treatment. This condition is called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS).”

 

There is said to be no known treatment for Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, though some people have seen results from following alternative methods.

 

One such alternative method that has seen a lot of success is a protocol developed by herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner.

 

Most approaches to treating Lyme disease focus on killing the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, and in the case of Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, many health professionals simply say there is no treatment. According to Buhner, the best way to treat Lyme disease and Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome is to:

 

• Support collagen structures so that the damage being caused to the body’s tissues and systems ceases
• Enhance immune function to support the body’s own ability to fight off the bacterial infection
• Shut down the inflammatory pathways the bacteria initiate, especially in the central nervous system. For our best recommendation for shutting down inflammatory pathways, take a look at our Liposomal Curcumin Tonic.
• Treat the symptoms that the patient has.
• Then, once the other 4 steps have been addressed, kill the bacteria with antibiotic herbs.

 

Buhner, as an herbalist, uses several key herbs in his Lyme disease protocol, including:

 

• Japanese knotweed root
• Cat’s claw bark
• Andographis
• Gou Teng, for patients that have neuroborrelliosis (a disorder of the central nervous system caused by Lyme disease)

 

For new tick bites, Buhner recommends that people take 3,000 mg of astragulus for 30 days, and 1,000 mg of astragulus afterwards indefinitely. Astragulus is a powerful immune-enhancing herb that is used as a daily tonic herb in Tradtional Chinse Medicine and Chinese herbalism.

 

Buhner also recommends taking astragulus daily for prevention of Lyme, especially if you live in an area where Lyme disease is prevalent or are going into an area that may have Lyme disease.

 

You can also get Lyme disease more than once, so even if you have had Lyme disease before, it is still important to focus on steps for preventing Lyme disease.

 

How Do You Prevent Lyme Disease?

 

Since Lyme disease is caused by a tick bite, the way to prevent getting Lyme disease is to avoid getting bit by an infected tick. The tick that causes Lyme disease in the United States is mostly found in the East Coast, particularly in these 15 states:

 

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

 

However, Lyme disease can occur in other states as well, as the tick has been migrating from the Northeast and upper Midwest into the Southern and Western United States, as well as Mexico and Canada. Still, cases of tick bites and Lyme are much less common in these areas.

 

People that spend a lot of time outdoors are more likely to get ticks, such as people that go camping or hiking, or work jobs like landscaping, farming, forestry, or in park or wildlife management.

 

Some of the steps you can take to avoid tick bites includes:

 

• Wear long pants and long-sleeve shirts when outdoors.
• Clear wooded areas in your yard to make it less attractive to ticks.
• Use insect repellent, preferably a natural insect repellent like essential oil of lemon or essential oil of eucalyptus instead of toxic DEET.
• Pay close attention when in tick-infested areas and check yourself, your children you’re your pets for ticks.

 

Is Lyme Disease Contagious?

 

There's no direct evidence that Lyme disease is contagious. However, there is an exception with pregnant women, as they can transmit Lyme disease to their child.

 

Summary

 

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria in the Borrelia genus, with four main species of these bacteria causing Lyme disease. Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii cause Lyme disease in the United States. Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii are the leading causes in Europe and Asia.

 

The first sign of Lyme disease is the development of a small, red bump at the site of the tick bite. Within 3 to 30 days after being bitten by an infected tick bite, you will begin to see an expanding red area around this bite, forming a pattern that resembles a bull’s eye. This Lyme disease rash expands slowly over a period of several days and can spread up to 12 inches across.

 

Other common early signs of Lyme disease include:

 

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Body aches
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Fatigue
• Neck stiffness

 

If untreated, further symptoms of Lyme disease may develop, such as:

 

• Severe joint pain and swelling (especially in your knees)
• Severe fatigue
• Neurological problems. Inflammation of the membranes surrounding your brain (meningitis), impaired muscle movement, numbness or weakness in your limbs, and temporary paralysis of one side of your face (Bell's palsy) are all potential neurological symptoms of Lyme disease.
• Heart problems
• Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
• Eye inflammation

 

There are a few different approaches to treating Lyme disease. It also depends how far along the infection is. If it is in its early stage, you will likely be prescribed antibiotics by your doctor to kill the bacteria. Antibiotics for early stage Lyme disease have a high success rate.

 

There is said to be no known treatment for Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, though some people have seen results from following alternative methods. One such alternative method that has seen a lot of success is a protocol developed by herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner.

 

Since Lyme disease is caused by a tick bite, the way to prevent getting Lyme disease is to avoid getting bit by an infected tick.

 

There's no direct evidence that Lyme disease is contagious. However, there is an exception with pregnant women, as they can transmit Lyme disease to their child.

 

If you have been bitten by a tick it is important to see to your doctor right away for treatment, as early treatment has the best rate of success.

 

 

 

 

References:

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/postlds/index.html

https://buhnerhealinglyme.com/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431066/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18452688/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3542482/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28613720/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532894/