Lyme Science Blog

Missed Lyme Disease: When Headaches Don’t Respond to Treatment When Headaches Hide Missed Lyme Disease In my practice, I’ve seen patients suffer for months—sometimes years—with headaches that don’t respond to migraine treatments. Missed Lyme disease is a common cause of chronic headaches that do not respond to standard migraine treatment. They’re told it’s hormonal. Or […]

Lyme Disease Misdiagnosed as OCD: When Psychiatric Symptoms Have an Infectious Cause Quick Answer: Lyme disease can be misdiagnosed as OCD when neuropsychiatric symptoms—such as obsessive thoughts, anxiety, and insomnia—are caused by infection rather than a primary psychiatric disorder. Clinical Insight: When psychiatric symptoms appear suddenly, worsen rapidly, or fail to respond to treatment, an

Ethical Lyme Disease Care: When Clinical Judgment Matters This post already links to the ethics hub. Let me add cornerstone links and a proper Related Articles section. These clinical decisions raise broader ethical questions about diagnosis when medical certainty is limited. Clinical judgment in Lyme disease isn’t just a medical decision-making skill—it’s a moral compass.

Lyme Disease and Early Menopause: When Symptoms Are Misdiagnosed Lyme disease can mimic early menopause, causing fatigue, night sweats, and mood changes that are often misattributed to hormones. Lyme disease can mimic menopause symptoms in women—fatigue, night sweats, and mood swings aren’t always hormonal. One of my patients came to me in her late 30s,

Alcohol and Lyme Disease: When One Drink Hurts After 37 years treating Lyme disease, I’ve learned that alcohol and Lyme disease don’t mix—and for many patients, even one drink can stall recovery. In my practice, I’ve seen this pattern often. A patient is making progress, then suddenly crashes after what seemed like a harmless toast

Delayed Lyme Treatment: Why Waiting Can Be the Wrong Call In my clinical experience, some of the most difficult cases I’ve seen began with one decision: “Let’s wait and see.” Delayed Lyme treatment is often framed as cautious or conservative. But for many patients, it’s the start of a long, complicated illness. Let’s look at

Babesiosis Treatment: My Go To Clinical Tips Babesiosis treatment is often overlooked—especially in patients who also have Lyme disease. Babesiosis is a malaria-like illness caused by microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells. It’s frequently found alongside Lyme, but just as often, it’s missed. Unlike Lyme, which is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, babesiosis

Chronic Lyme Disease Controversy The chronic Lyme disease controversy centers on one question: can Lyme infection persist after standard treatment, or are lingering symptoms something else? The answer has divided clinicians, researchers, and public health authorities for decades. For many patients, the consequences are personal. They are told their tests are negative, their symptoms should

Lyme disease misdiagnosed as Long COVID After 37 years treating Lyme disease, I’ve seen an increasing number of patients diagnosed with Long COVID when infection was the underlying cause. A woman was told her fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, and poor sleep were just viral aftereffects. Some reassured her it would fade. Others told her it

What to Do After a Tick Bite: Wait or Treat? If you’ve been bitten by a tick, one of the first questions that comes up is: What should I do now? Deciding whether to wait or start treatment early is one of the most important decisions after a tick bite. Knowing what to do after