Lyme Science Blog

Bad Signs After a Tick Bite: 7 Warnings You Shouldn’t Ignore Based on clinical experience caring for patients with tick-borne illness. It often begins with something easy to dismiss. A small rash that fades. A few days of fatigue. A headache that doesn’t quite make sense.These are the bad signs after a tick bite that […]

How to Test for Lyme Disease: Beyond CDC Guidelines When patients ask how to test for Lyme disease, they’re often surprised by the complexity—and the limitations—of the current testing system. While laboratory tests can be helpful, they do not tell the whole story. Clinical judgment is often just as important, especially when symptoms persist despite

Is It Too Late to Treat a Tick Bite? What Patients Need to Know Is it too late to treat a tick bite? Many patients worry the answer is yes—especially when symptoms appear months or even years after exposure. This concern is understandable, but the answer is more reassuring than most expect. It is never

When One Side of Your Body Feels Different One-sided symptoms in Lyme disease can be alarming for patients, especially when weakness or numbness affects only one side of the body during flare-ups. Some patients report that an arm, a leg, the face, or even an entire side of the body feels weaker, numb, heavier, or

Lyme Misdiagnosis Apology: When Silence Hurts More Than the Mistake My patient couldn’t understand why an “I’m sorry” never came. His experience captures the need for a Lyme misdiagnosis apology—the simple act of acknowledgment that can mean more than any prescription. Too often, persistent Lyme disease misconceptions lead to years of suffering before patients receive

Lyme Disease Second Opinion: What to Do When Specialists Disagree When specialists disagree about Lyme disease, patients ask me this question every week: should I get a second opinion? It usually comes at a breaking point—not because they have lost faith in medicine, but because no one is stepping back to connect the pieces. They

Misdiagnosed as Menopause: When Symptoms Deserve a Second Look A woman in her mid-40s noticed worsening fatigue, disrupted sleep, night sweats, palpitations, and rising anxiety. Brain fog interfered with her ability to focus. Exercise that once felt manageable now left her breathless. She was told it was menopause. That explanation made sense—but it did not

Lyme Disease and IBS: When It’s Not Really IBS Quick Answer: IBS-like symptoms in Lyme disease are often caused by autonomic nervous system dysfunction—not a primary gastrointestinal disorder—even when tests are normal. Clinical Insight: IBS-like symptoms in Lyme disease often reflect autonomic nervous system dysfunction rather than a primary gastrointestinal disorder. The connection between Lyme

Teenage Lyme Disease: When Symptoms Don’t Match Teenage Lyme disease often looks nothing like the classic case doctors are trained to recognize. A 15-year-old student came to my office after months of headaches, fatigue, and joint pain. Her pediatrician had told her family, confidently, “Your symptoms don’t match Lyme.” But her symptoms began weeks after