One tick bite.
Up to 300 symptoms.
Lyme complex is what happens when a single bite carries more than one infection. Here's how to recognize it, understand it, and find your way through diagnosis and treatment.
A single bite, several possible infections
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne infection in the United States, transmitted by the bite of a deer tick or Western black-legged tick carrying a bacterium called Borrelia. Four major Borrelia species have been identified in North America, Europe, and Asia. In the U.S., Borrelia burgdorferi is the leading cause, with Borrelia mayonii a less common second. Transmission has also been reported via other biting insects, congenital transfer, and sexual contact.
Acute Lyme is diagnosed from the onset of infection to no later than six weeks. Persistent or chronic Lyme is diagnosed past that window, and may represent ongoing infection or the lingering effects of remnants left behind in the monocytes. Working with a Lyme-literate DO, NP, MD, or naturopath can help you navigate proper testing and treatment. It's complex because it can involve up to 300 symptoms across multiple pathogens, not just Borrelia burgdorferi, the best known.
When Lyme disease is present, ticks are known to carry more than twenty microorganisms capable of causing bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection in humans. These are called coinfections. A typical tick bite transmits an average of three infections, which may include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, bartonellosis, anaplasmosis, or ehrlichiosis. Babesiosis, caused by a microscopic parasite, is another tick-borne coinfection that frequently accompanies Lyme. Together, this combination is what we call Lyme Complex.
Persistent / Chronic Lyme Disease: an evidence-based definition by the ILADS Working Group
Lyme disease, resulting from an active infection with any of several pathogenic members of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, often affects multiple systems and is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States and Europe. Many patients present with manifestations of late disease prior to receiving antibiotic therapy, and researchers have long known the illness can become chronic. Chronic manifestations are also linked to failed antibiotic therapy: patients with acute or long-standing Lyme frequently remain ill for prolonged periods, and quality-of-life scores from NIH-sponsored retreatment trials were consistently worse than those of healthy populations.
Published in Antibiotics 2019, 8, 269 — doi:10.3390/antibiotics8040269
Do you have any of these lingering symptoms?
Three of the most common infections behind Lyme complex, and what each tends to look like in the body.
Lyme
- Joints — arthritis-like joint pain & swelling, migrating joint pain
- Back pain
- Chronic fatigue
- Poor sleep
- Brain fog
- Poor concentration
- Inability to focus
- Headache
- Wooziness / lightheaded
- Vertigo
- Memory loss — especially short term
- Speech difficulties
- Word finding problems
- Facial paralysis
- Fibromyalgia
- Gait and balance problems
- Motion sickness
- Eyes — blurred vision, floaters, chronic conjunctivitis, light sensitivity
- Ears — ringing in the ears, hearing loss, noise sensitivity
- Cardiovascular — heart attack
- Muscular — impaired muscle coordination, impaired reflexes, aches, pain, weakness
- Nerve — numbness, tingling, burning, vibrating, shooting pains
- Gastrointestinal — chronic upset stomach, change in bowels
- Psychiatric — impulsivity, aggression, bipolar, depression, dementia, eating disorders, hallucinations, mood swings, panic attacks, paranoia, schizophrenia, suicide
Babesiosis
- High fever at onset
- Overall sick feeling
- Fatigue, excessive sleepiness
- Night sweats
- Chills
- Neurological — dizziness, feeling spacey
- Headaches (migraine-like, persistent, and especially involving the back of the head and upper neck areas)
- Lymph gland swelling
- Episodes of breathlessness ("air hunger") and/or cough
- Decreased appetite
- Nausea
- Spleen and/or liver enlargement
- Lab abnormalities may include: low white blood count, low platelet counts, mild elevation of liver enzymes, and elevated "sed rate"
- Psychiatric — anxiety, panic attacks, depression
- Muscular — severe muscle pains
Sarah Maxwell, Ph.D. — University of Texas
Studying how Lyme is perceived, reported, and missed
Sarah Maxwell, a University of Texas professor and social scientist, has published research capturing the lived experience of Lyme patients: how symptoms are reported, how diagnosis unfolds, and how quality of life compares across diagnostic pathways. Her work documents how Lyme's nonspecific symptoms mimic other illnesses, how controversy around early diagnosis contributes to missed cases, and how disease that progresses to later stages often involves multisystem, chronic symptoms.
Spatial and Temporal Comparison of Perceived Risks and Confirmed Cases of Lyme Disease: An Exploratory Study of Google Trends frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00395/full Tick-Borne Surveillance Patterns in Non-Endemic Geographic Areas: Human Tick Encounters and Disease Outcomes mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/6/771