Fibromyalgia and Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is a bacterial illness caused by the bite of a tick, usually a deer tick. It has a high instance in those states where deer are prevalent, and has been reported most often in the Northeastern US, though all 50 states have cases, and it has even been reported in China, Europe, Japan, Australia, and parts of the former Soviet Union.

Lyme disease is generally first noticed through a bulls-eye rash at the site of the tick bite, followed by flu-like symptoms (headache, fatigue, muscle and joint stiffness, swollen glands), though one in four Lyme patients never gets the bulls-eye rash. The symptoms will resolve on their own, usually in about a month. Weeks to months later, the disease will begin its second phase, and will attack the joints, heart, and nervous system. In this phase, Lyme can affect the heart, causing everything from simple arrhythmia to heart failure. The disease can attack the nervous system, causing Bell's palsy (facial nerve paralysis), peripheral neurophathy, meningitis, and confusion. It can attack the joints, causing arthritis, most commonly in the knees. The arthritis caused by Lyme mimics other inflammatory arthritis illnesses and can become chronic.

Lyme disease, unlike fibromyalgia, is curable and highly treatable with antibiotics. Once a diagnosis of Lyme is made, it is imperative to begin treatment quickly and to take all the antibiotics prescribed.

The arthritis may remain- but the Lyme will likely be cured.

If, however, the Lyme has triggered fibromyalgia in your body, you may be left with body-wide aches and pains that do not go away like the Lyme did. If this is the case, then you may have fibromyalgia on top of your Lyme disease. It is likely that you will need to be tested for fibro, and you may feel some of the same confusion that you did as you searched for an answer to why you were so fatigued before you discovered the answer of Lyme.

Fibromyalgia causes the same kind of flu-like symptoms that Lyme caused in the beginning- headache, fatigue, muscle stiffness and pain, swollen glands, but it also causes the secondary symptoms of confusion and "fibrofog," anxiety, weight gain, sleep disorders, dizziness, skin problems, depression, myofascial pain, sensitivity to various chemicals, dysmenorrhea, muscle twitches, and often temporomandibular joint problems. You can go from feeling fairly good to weak and exhausted in a moment. It is very frustrating, and can be difficult to find answers unless you find a doctor with experience in treating fibro.

The worst part, I think, is that unlike Lyme, there is no real cure for fibro, only treatments that can help you learn to live with it.

However, with the right doctor, the right attitude, and the right plan of action, you can learn to live with fibro, and live well.