After 37 years treating Lyme disease, I’m often asked: has anyone survived Lyme disease? Yes—absolutely. Surviving Lyme disease is possible, and many people have gone on to live full, healthy lives after infection. Some recover quickly, especially when Lyme disease is identified and treated early. Others face a longer, more complicated journey. But in my […]
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A panic attack without anxiety can appear suddenly, with waves of fear accompanied by chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations, or a sense of impending doom — despite no worries, stressors, or anxious thinking. This phenomenon reflects limbic system–driven panic, in which the sensation of fear is generated before conscious awareness has time to
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Intrusive thoughts and derealization in Lyme disease can make thoughts feel unfamiliar and the world feel unreal. If you are experiencing intrusive thoughts, depersonalization, or derealization related to Lyme disease, you are not imagining it — and you are not losing control. Some patients with Lyme disease describe a deeply unsettling change in how they
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A woman with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) underwent routine dental extraction of four molars. Despite an uneventful surgery and aggressive multimodal pain management, the procedure triggered severe, widespread full-body pain that required ICU admission. Lim from the University of California in San Francisco documented this case, which illustrates the extraordinary pain vulnerability that PTLDS
After 37 years treating Lyme disease, I’ve learned that misdiagnosis isn’t the exception—it’s often the rule. Patients are labeled with MS, Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, bipolar disorder, or a dozen other conditions before Lyme disease is even considered. The consequences are devastating: delayed treatment, progression to chronic illness, loss of trust in medicine, and years
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Lyme Disease Recovery: Timeline, Challenges, and Long-Term Outlook Lyme disease recovery is possible—but it rarely follows a straight line. Early Lyme disease recovery may occur within weeks when infection is recognized promptly and treated appropriately. When diagnosis is delayed, recovery may involve a longer and more individualized process. Lyme disease recovery depends on accurate recognition
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Why Doctors Dismiss Chronic Lyme Disease If you have been told your persistent symptoms are “all in your head,” that “Lyme disease doesn’t last that long,” or that you simply need to “accept” your diagnosis of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) and move on—you are not imagining the dismissal you are experiencing. Over 37 years
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Exercise and Physical Activity During Lyme Disease Recovery “Should I push through and exercise, or will it set me back?” It’s one of the most confusing questions in Lyme disease recovery. Some patients are told “exercise will help you feel better”—only to crash for days after a short walk. Others are told “you just need
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After 37 years treating Lyme disease, I’ve seen patients recover in weeks and others struggle for years. “How long will I be sick?” is the first question patients ask after diagnosis. Some are told they’ll recover in a few weeks with antibiotics. Others watch months turn into years while doctors insist their treatment “should have
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How I Became a Lyme Disease Doctor How did I become a Lyme disease doctor? It’s a question I’m asked often, and the honest answer is that medicine—let alone Lyme disease—was not my original plan. I didn’t set out to become a physician. And I certainly didn’t imagine that Lyme disease would become the focus
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