38. Since Lyme is a multi-systemic disease, list some of the over 150 documented signs, symptoms, or indications that someone may have Lyme disease.

Lyme disease can have a wide range of symptoms, which can go dormant (sometimes for years), can migrate, return, disappear, or change day by day.

Symptoms can be aggravated by stress, medications, weather, and other outside influences.

Symptoms may tend to worsen on a four week peaking cycle.

SOME of the symptoms that may be found in those with Lyme disease include:

+ Flu-like symptoms,
+ Headaches (mild to severe),
+ Recurring low grade fevers or fevers up to 104.5 degrees. Usually in the first few weeks of Lyme disease fevers tend to be higher. (Patients with Lyme disease often tend to have a "normal temperature" below 98.6 degrees, therefore, a slight rise in temperature may be all that is noted.)
+ Often patients exhibit fatigue (mild to extreme),
+ Joint pain (with or without swelling),
+ Muscle pain,
+ Connective tissue pain,
+ Recurring sore throat (sometimes only on one side of the throat),
+ Swollen glands (come and go),
+ Varying shades of red on ear lobes and pinna,
+ Malar rash,
+ Cold hands and feet in a warm environment,
+ Weakness,
+ Lightheadedness,
+ Eczema and psoriasis,
+ Painful or itching skin,
+ Flushing, night or day sweats, inordinate amounts of sweating,
+ Anhydrosis (inability to sweat), or dermatitis (acrodermatitis chronica).
+ There may be a rash, but it isn't noticed or does not appear in all cases. The rash may be basically circular with outward spreading, however, other varieties are seen. The rash may be singular or multiple, at the site of a bug bite, or in another location, warm to touch, or slightly raised with distinct borders. In dark skinned individuals the rash may appear to be a bruise.
+ Numbness,
+ Sleep disturbances,
+ Vertigo,
+ Hearing loss,
+ Feelings of being off-balance,
+ Unexplained weight gain or loss, and
+ Feeling "infected" are also problems associated with Lyme disease.

Symptoms may develop that include:
+ Panic attacks,
+ Anxiety,
+ Depression,
+ Mild to severe cognitive difficulties,
+ Mood swings,
+ Coma,
+ Seizures,
+ Dementia,
+ Mania,
+ Bipolar disorders,
+ Vivid nightmares,
+ Stammering speech,
+ Confusion,
+ Memory loss (short or long term), "brain fog"
+ Vibrating feeling in head,
+ Topographical disorientation, and environmental agnosia.
+ Some patients have problems with numbers and sequencing,
+ Disorganization of thoughts,
+ Rambling on in great detail while talking,
+ Frequent errors in word selection or pronunciation,
+ Changes in personality,
+ Short attention span,
+ Tourette-like manifestations,
+ OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder),
+ Raging emotions, and
+ Cranial nerve palsies.

Other problems include:
+ Altered pregnancy outcomes,
+ Severe symptoms during pregnancy,
+ Abdominal bloating,
+ Irritable bowel syndrome,
+ Abdominal pain and cramping (may appear to be ulcers),
+ Loss of sex drive,
+ Testicular or pelvic pain,
+ Breast pain, and fibrocystic breast disease.
+ Diarrhea (which can come and go or last for months with no explanation),
+ Constipation (which can be severe enough to cause blockage),
+ Spastic colon,
+ Nausea,
+ Stomach acid reflux,
+ Gastritis,
+ Abdominal myositis, and
+ Indigestion are some of the gastrointestinal disorders reported.
+ Bladder dysfunction (neurogenic bladder with either hesitancy, frequency, loss of bladder awareness, urinary retention, incontinence or symptoms of UTI, and chronic pyelonephritis).
+ Intersitial cystitis,
+ Irregular or severe menstrual cycles with decreased or increased bleeding, early menopause, a new onset of P.M.S. symptoms, or disturbed estrogen and progesterone levels are documented in many cases.

In addition, patients demonstrate a higher occurrence of various types of cysts:
+ Liver,
+ Breast,
+ Bone,
+ Ovary,
+ Skin,
+ Pineal gland and
+ Kidney

+ Some Lyme patients are diagnosed by their eye care professionals and have been documented as suffering from one or more of the following disorders:
+ Conjunctivitis,
+ Ocular myalgias,
+ Keratitis,
+ Episcleritis,
+ Optic neuritis,
+ Pars planitis,
+ Uveitis, iritis,
+ Transient or permanent blindness,
+ Iritis,
+ Photophobia,
+ Temporal arteritis,
+ Vitritis,
+ Horner's syndrome,
+ Ocular myasthenia gravis, and
+ Argyll-Robertson pupil.
+ Often eye problems require a changing of prescription glasses more often than normal.

Heart-related problems are associated with Lyme disease and can include:
+ Mitral valve prolapse,
+ Irregular heart beat,
+ Myocarditis,
+ Pericarditis,
+ Enlarged heart,
+ Inflammation of muscle or membrane,
+ Shortness of breath,
+ Strokes, and chest pain.

Some Central Nervous System disturbances include:
+ Twitching of facial muscles,
+ Bell's palsy,
+ Numbness in arms, face, hands, feet, head and/or legs
+ Tingling of the nose, cheek or face are reported.

In addition, there may be:
+ Chest pain or soreness,
+ Enlarged spleen,
+ Liver function disorders,
+ Tremors,
+ Extreme sensitivity to being touched or bumped,
+ Burning sensations,
+ Stiff neck,
+ Meningitis, and
+ Encephalitis.

Patients may experience continual or recurring infections:
+ Sinus,
+ Kidney and
+ Urinary tract are most common
+ Recurring upper respiratory tract infections (causing, or worsening of pre-existing sinusitis, asthma, bronchitis, otitis, mastoiditis).

+ Patients may suffer from a weakened immune system,
+ Development of new allergies, and
+ Allergic or chemical hypersensitivityies.

Other noted problems include:
+ T.M.J.,
+ Difficulty swallowing or chewing,
+ Tooth grinding,
+ Arthritis (in small joints of fingers and larger, weight bearing joints),
+ Osgood-Schlatter's Syndrome (water on the knee),
+ Bone pain,
+ Gout-like pain in toe,
+ Muscle spasms to the point of dislocating joints and tearing muscle tissue,
+ Leg and hip pain,
+ "Drawing up" of arms,
+ "Growing pains" in children,
+ Tendonitis,
+ Heel pain,
+ Carpal tunnel syndrome, and
+ Paravertebral lumbosacral muscle strain/spasm.

++ Some patients tend to suffer from a monthly "flare-up" of symptoms as the spirochetes reproduce and/or die off.

FAQs BASED ON RESEARCH FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. CONSULT A GOOD DOCTOR FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.