Lyme disease loneliness can be one of the hardest parts of living with chronic illness. One of my patients once told me, “No one really understands what this feels like.” That quiet sentence captures the emotional burden so many people with chronic Lyme disease carry. The physical symptoms—pain, fatigue, brain fog, burning sensations—can be relentless. […]
Lyme Disease Loneliness Read More »
Stopping Lyme treatment is often framed as a clinical decision based on guidelines—but what if it’s something more troubling? Many patients still experience symptoms like pain, brain fog, or fatigue long after standard antibiotics end. Yet they’re told, “There’s nothing more we can do.” Is stopping treatment at that point truly ethical—or does it cross
Lyme Treatment Abandonment: Ethical or Not? Read More »
One of the most common questions patients ask is: how do you get Lyme disease? Many are surprised to learn that Lyme is caused not just by one pathogen, but often involves multiple infections transmitted by the same tick. A teacher came to me after two years of fatigue and joint pain. She’d never seen
How Do You Get Lyme Disease: Ticks, Transmission, and Risk Read More »
Ethics of Lyme Disease Treatment: When Guidelines Aren’t Enough The ethics of Lyme disease treatment are increasingly under scrutiny—especially when patients remain ill after completing the standard 2–4 weeks of antibiotics. Some recover quickly. Others face ongoing fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, or pain long after treatment ends. When that happens, physicians are often caught between rigid
Ethics of Lyme Disease Treatment: Going Beyond Guidelines Read More »
Lyme Test Accuracy: Why Results Can Mislead A 35-year-old patient came to my office exhausted, achy, and struggling to think clearly. Six weeks earlier, she had developed a classic bull’s-eye rash. Her Lyme test? Negative. Questions about Lyme test accuracy arise early in cases like this—especially when symptoms and test results don’t align. But I
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Abandoning Lyme patients violates the core principles of medical ethics. A woman in her 40’s came to me after months of searching for answers. She had been a successful business executive, traveling weekly and leading a large team. Now, she could barely get through a video meeting without losing her train of thought. Fatigue left
The Duty to Stay: What Ethical Lyme Disease Care Requires Read More »
Nearly One in Five Individuals with COVID-19 and Lyme Disease History Developed Long COVID In my peer-reviewed study published in the journal Antibiotics (2023), I examined the experiences of 889 individuals with a history of Lyme disease who contracted COVID-19. The findings were striking: nearly one in five developed Long COVID.This rate is significantly higher
Lyme disease weight gain is one of the least talked about—and most misunderstood—symptoms of Lyme disease. For many patients, weight gain and weight loss become confusing and distressing parts of the illness. Some people lose weight quickly without trying. Others gain weight despite eating the same—or even less. These changes reflect how Lyme disease affects
Lyme Disease Weight Gain and Weight Loss: Why Both Happen Read More »
Many Lyme patients struggle to explain a tired but wired Lyme disease pattern that feels contradictory but deeply real: “My body is exhausted, but my brain won’t shut off.” This tired-but-wired pattern is common in early Lyme disease, during treatment, and often persists after treatment. It is not psychological or the result of poor sleep
Tired but Wired Lyme Disease: Why Your Brain Won’t Shut Off Read More »
When Back Pain Doesn’t Add Up You’ve tried stretching, therapy, or even imaging — but your back pain won’t quit.For some, this pain isn’t purely mechanical. Many Lyme disease patients report chronic back or hip pain that actually stems from sacroiliac joint inflammation — a form of sacroiliitis. Sacroiliitis occurs when the SI joints (where
Sacroiliitis in Lyme Disease as a Cause of Low Back Pain Read More »
