What are the Symptoms of Lyme disease?

Lyme disease symptoms occur in a person due to tick bites.



Any tick bite may not make a person infected however if the person is bitten by an infected tick he can develop Lyme disease. This disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia and is spread through the bite of the ticks on humans and animals. Two types of ticks known to cause the infection are Deer ticks and Western black legged ticks.



It is very essential to remove the ticks as soon they attach to the human body. The infected ticks can spread Lyme disease symptoms if they remain on the human body for 36 hours.

One sign of Lyme disease is formation of red and round rash on the site of the insect bite and it can get larger with time if left untreated. A very familiar symptom of this disease is flu like symptoms.



At an early stage of the tick bite, the person may have fever, headache, weakness, sore muscles and sore joints. The symptoms of Lyme disease may start from 3 days to 1 month from the day of the tick bite. Some people may not even have any symptoms in the early stage and hence may forget about the tick bite.

What are the Symptoms of Lyme disease?

Lyme disease may progress from the mild symptoms to serious long term disabilities that can affect the life of the individuals. The three stages of Lyme disease symptoms are: early localized infection, early disseminated and late persistent.

Early localized infection
This infection occurs within 1 to 4 weeks of the tick bite.  People with Lyme disease may develop a rash called erythema migrans at the site of the tick bite. This rash is circular at the early stage and it becomes bigger with time. Some people may not even develop rash or any other symptoms during this stage.

Some people may develop flu like symptoms with or without the presence of rash. These symptoms of lyme disease are:

• Fever and chills with headache
• No energy
• Pain in the Joint and muscle.
• Lymph nodes that are swollen.

Some people may not even develop these symptoms at the early stage.

Early disseminated infection.
These symptoms occur within 1 to 4 months of the initial stage. This stage occurs if the early symptoms are not detected on time or if there were no such early symptoms at all as a result of which the need for treatment didn’t trigger. This stage can affect the skin, heart and nervous system within a month or few weeks of the infection.

The symptoms of lyme disease are:

• Pain, weakness and numbness in the arms and legs.
• Unconsciousness and headache with fatigue.
• Lack of concentration as well as poor memory.
• Conjunctivitis in the deep tissue of the eye.
• Paralytic Facial nerves
• Heart problem that tends to be serious.
• Development of various skin rashes that can spread in the body as the infection spreads.

Late Persistent infection.
If the infection is left untreated for a longer duration of time, damage to the joints, nerves and brain occurs within few months or years of the infection.



The symptoms of lyme disease are:

• Pain and swelling in the joints.
• Neurological problem, memory problem, problem with sleep, mood and speech.
• Partial paralysis of the facial nerves
• Tingling and numbness in the hands, feet and back.
• Severe fatigue.
• Chronic lyme arthritis, swelling, redness and build up of fluid in the joints that can last up to 6 months to 1 year of the infection.

It is essential to consult a doctor as soon as the symptoms are identified for recovery from the disease.