How Is Chronic Persistent Lyme Disease Diagnosed?

When I was a child, my family and I were visiting my grandma. After a day of climbing trees and being in the woods we all went to sleep. The next morning my back was itching intensely and my mom discovered a tick had burrowed into my back. My dad removed it as he had removed many from himself and friends during his childhood. They kept an eye on me because the nearest hospital was about 75 to 100 miles away. I was perfectly fine. No rash or any symptoms at all so we thought nothing of it. However, about 15 years later I started experiencing odd symptoms that just did not make any sense. I never in a million years would have thought that a tick bite from 15 years before would have been the cause. I had chronic persistent Lyme disease, but how did my doctor diagnose it?

What Symptoms Did I Have?

This was something my doctor really focused on. I already had a confirmed MS diagnosis so making the diagnosis of chronic persistent Lyme disease was incredibly difficult. Thinking back I am also amazed that my doctor didn't just write my symptoms off as an MS relapse because most were quite similar. The primary difference was the fact that my knees and elbows were very stiff and swollen. My MS never caused this. The fatigue, headaches, memory loss, light sensitivity, numbness and tingling and sleep issues were all something my MS caused so without the joint involvement, I probably would have never even said anything to my doctor and my doctor probably would have never thought that something more was going on.

Then, my doctor asked the million dollar question, "have you ever been bitten by a tick?" It took me a few minutes because it had been more than a decade and then a light bulb went off and I almost screamed, "yes!"

Diagnostic Testing

Once we discussed the symptoms, my doctor wanted to do a blood test known as ELISA. If I had chronic persistent Lyme disease, the bacteria that causes it will have antibodies present in the test. In my case the test indicated Lyme disease so to confirm the diagnosis, my doctor performed a Western blot test.

Was I Treated?

We did a month-long course of antibiotics. Since I have MS, it is hard to tell how effective treatment was. I still experience fatigue that often borders on exhaustion, light sensitivity, numbness and tingling, frequent headaches, memory loss (especially short term), a variety of sleep issues and arthritis throughout my body. My doctor says I likely have what is known as post-Lyme disease syndrome because the bacteria was in my body for so long and there is no known treatment for this that is effective. Of course, the majority of my issues could be my MS coupled with this too. I may never know, but I have a good team of doctors and with the constant advances in medicine, we can only hope that a cure is around the corner for me and everyone else.

Resources

Ochsner Health System: Lyme Disease '" Chronic Persistent