Lyme Science Blog

Popular Lyme Disease Articles and Symptom Guides Popular Lyme disease articles and symptom guides. Topics include rashes, flare-ups, testing, and coinfections. Explore diagnosis, treatment, and recovery resources. These Lyme disease articles cover many of the questions patients commonly ask about tick-borne illness, including symptoms, rashes, flare-ups, diagnosis, coinfections, treatment complications, and recovery. The articles below […]

Persistent Lyme Symptoms: Why Patients Feel Dismissed/h1> Persistent Lyme symptoms remain medically controversial Patients may feel dismissed when tests are negative or symptoms continue Careful evaluation matters when illness does not resolve Many patients with persistent Lyme-related symptoms report feeling dismissed when their illness does not improve as expected. Fatigue, pain, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbance,

Can Lyme Disease Cause Hearing Loss? Lyme disease hearing loss may occur in some patients Tinnitus, vertigo, and imbalance may suggest neurologic involvement Early recognition may improve treatment opportunities Lyme disease hearing loss is uncommon but may be one of the more concerning neurologic complications associated with Lyme disease. Patients may report tinnitus, instability, ear

Can Lyme Disease Cause Fainting? Lyme Carditis and Sudden Heart Block Can Lyme disease cause fainting or sudden collapse? Yes. Lyme carditis can disrupt the heart’s electrical system within weeks of infection — leading to dangerous heart block and repeated fainting episodes that require immediate medical attention. This case illustrates how quickly Lyme disease can

Can pets harbor ticks, even in the winter? In their article, “An analysis of companion animal tick encounters as revealed by photograph-based crowdsourced data,” Kopsco and colleagues found, “The percentage of reports of ticks found on companion animals is more than doubled in the fall and winter seasons from what was reported in the spring and

Borrelia Mayonii: Atypical Lyme Disease in the Midwest Borrelia mayonii is a recently discovered species that causes Lyme disease with atypical features. Since the species was first identified 7 years ago, there have been only 7 reported cases of Lyme disease caused by Borrelia mayonii. In Open Forum Infectious Diseases Correspondence, McGowan and colleagues describe

Lyme Disease Heart Palpitations Heart palpitations may occur with Lyme carditis Normal cardiac MRI may not exclude rhythm problems Early recognition can reduce cardiac complications Lyme disease heart palpitations can occur when Lyme carditis affects the heart’s electrical system. Patients may describe an uneasy feeling in the chest, skipped beats, slow heart rate, exercise-related symptoms,

Bartonella Psychiatric Symptoms: Anxiety, Mood Changes, and Misdiagnosis Bartonella psychiatric symptoms can resemble primary psychiatric disease before anyone considers infection. Sudden panic attacks, rage, agitation, depression, or personality change may initially be treated as psychiatric illness alone—especially when the connection to tick bites, flea exposure, rashes, or swollen lymph nodes is overlooked. That is one

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Diagnosis: Why Early Treatment Matters Rocky Mountain spotted fever may present atypically Delayed treatment increases mortality risk Clinical suspicion often matters more than early testing Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) remains one of the most serious tick-borne infections in the United States because delays in diagnosis can rapidly lead to severe

Combination Antibiotics for Lyme Co-Infections: Study Findings Coinfections may complicate recovery Multiple pathogens may overlap symptoms Fatigue may persist despite treatment In their article “A Longitudinal Study of a Large Clinical Cohort of Patients with Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Co-Infections Treated with Combination Antibiotics”, Xi and colleagues looked at 140 individuals who tested positive for