Lyme Science Blog

Why Lyme Disease Persists and What Tuberculosis Teaches Us In the world of infectious disease, few organisms are as stubborn as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. But understanding why Lyme disease persists after treatment may require looking at what TB has taught us about bacterial survival. For more on latent TB, see the CDC’s tuberculosis overview. We call […]

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

One-Sided Symptoms in Lyme Disease 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 less responsive than

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. After years of fatigue, pain, and cognitive fog, his Lyme diagnosis finally explained what

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 Misdiagnosed as Conversion Disorder in Children When Lyme is misdiagnosed as conversion disorder, children can lose months or years to symptoms that might have been treatable. I see this pattern regularly in my practice. She was fourteen when the tics started. At first, her parents thought it was stress—ninth grade, new school, new pressures.

Lyme Disease and IBS: When Gut Symptoms Deserve a Second Look The connection between Lyme disease and IBS is more common than most patients realize. A patient developed bloating, abdominal pain, and unpredictable bowel habits. Certain foods worsened symptoms. Stress seemed to aggravate everything. She was told it was IBS. That explanation made sense—but it