{"id":5465,"date":"2019-08-14T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=5465"},"modified":"2020-07-13T20:46:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T00:46:18","slug":"atypical-lyme-disease-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/atypical-lyme-disease-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"How to spot Lyme disease\u2014without the red bull\u2019s eye rash"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my son Evan was in sixth grade, he went on an overnight camping trip with his class. He had a great time with his friends and didn\u2019t recall being bitten by anything. Weeks and weeks later, we were down at the Delaware shore on vacation, and Evan began to complain of head and muscle aches. One evening as we drove out for ice cream, he told us that the cars\u2019 headlights were really bothering his eyes. All those symptoms seemed to add up to Lyme disease\u2014but he didn\u2019t have the infamous red bull\u2019s-eye rash.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next morning, I called our pediatrician, Dr. Bruce Lockman of <\/span>Lockman and Lubell Associates<\/span><\/a> in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. He urged me to drive Evan home, where he was tested for Lyme. The test came back positive, and he was immediately put on a course of <\/span>tetracycline<\/span><\/a>. We concluded that he must have been infected for almost two months at this point (probably bitten by a deer tick on that campout), so the doctor kept him on antibiotics for six weeks. Eventually, the symptoms abated, and life returned to normal for Evan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Lyme sufferers are not as lucky and endure serious long-term medical issues. This is more common the longer the disease goes untreated. There are several complicating factors that can lead to a delayed diagnosis. The deer tick itself is tiny (a \u201cnymph\u201d tick is the size of a poppy seed) and its bite often goes unnoticed. The bull\u2019s-eye rash is the commonly known Lyme disease symptom, but up to 30% of sufferers never get the rash at all. Thus, many infected people have no idea there\u2019s a problem until they\u2019ve had Lyme for weeks (or even months).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most common initial test to diagnose Lyme is an ELISA (<\/span>enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay<\/span>). It tests your blood for Lyme antibodies. Your immune system makes antibodies in response to Lyme infection. However, these antibodies often take weeks after the person becomes infected to show up in your blood. Therefore, interpreting the result can be tricky. <\/span><\/p>\n

Atypical Lyme disease symptoms<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve been feeling under-the-weather after spending time outdoors, these are some lesser-known Lyme disease symptoms:<\/span><\/p>\n