lyme disease or anxiety?
so i worry 24/7 i worried that i had heart problems for a while,had panic attacks went to to the ER,did tests all was normal besides my heart skipped beats but i do smoke,im 21 years old. I went to the cardiologist they did tests on my heart,all came back normal…when i was about 10 years old,my mom found a tick on my head,3 days layer i had a rash,went to the doctor he said i had lyme diseases, i read the symptoms of lyme disease and it says that can cause depression,and anxiety and i have both of those,and i get really bad head aches sometimes,My mom told me they gave me medicine,then it went away…but i thought once you had lyme disease you have it for the rest of your life!!! somebody help me out here,i don’t know if its anxiety or if i still have lyme disease,even tho my mom said i don’t have it anymore! and can lyme disease kill you? i can’t afford to get tested for it either! somebody please tell me whats going on here,hopefully its just anxiety
August 29th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial infection of the species borrelia. Since you say you were treated for it, and got better, your anxiety symptoms are probably unrelated. I have read a study that mentioned recurrring or chronic borrelia infections, but these were on patients that were inadequately treated or not treated at all. It sounds like your fatigue/anxiety treatments are recent, if they were caused by the borrelia infection then they would have been ongoing since you were 10. You can always ask your doctor to have blood drawn for definitive labs, these are DNA or RNA sequencing tests and are usually very expensive, but can be done. I would think your anxiety is from some other source however.
laboratory scientist.
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August 29th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Eddie, I’m sorry you are having a hard time. Yes, Lyme disease can cause depression and anxiety and headaches. And a laundry list of other symptoms too. Since you have a history of tick bite…and a rash…and a Lyme diagnosis, you are right to be concerned about these symptoms. Many people relapse with Lyme symptoms years after they were supposedly “cured” by initial treatment.
Here is a link to a brochure called “What Psychiatrists should know about Lyme disease.”
http://ilads.org/PsychiatristBrochure.pdf
Here are other useful links about Lyme:
http://www.lymedisease.org
http://www.canlyme.com
http://www.lymenet.org
http://www.lymeinfo.net
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org
http://www.ilads.org
http://www.betterhealthguy.com
http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/lymeArticles.htm
laboratory scientist.
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August 29th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Anxiety and panic attacks can be symptoms of late neurologic Lyme and research has shown that the currently recommended treatments don’t always cure. In fact, research shows that as many as half the patients who are treated develop more symptoms later – even after aggressive treatment with intravenous antibiotics. Some experts say these folks don’t have Lyme any more, but researchers have cultured the bacteria from various tissues of treated individuals.
Get some more support and information from people in your area by joining your online state group. Go to the statenamelyme website for instructions on how to find it.
Lyme disease rarely kills outright but it can sure make life unpleasant.
http://www.lymedisease.org
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/statenamelyme
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