Lyme Disease is an inflammatory disease that's spread through deer tick bites. Late stage Lyme Disease is chronic and persistent. It's also called Stage 3, or tertiary Lyme Disease.
Symptoms
Late stage Lyme Disease (LD) is more severe than early stage, and it's also potentially debilitating. Symptoms of late stage LD can crop up weeks, months or, in some cases, years after a tick bite. Some of the symptoms of late stage LD include fatigue, headaches, sleep disorders, chronic arthritis, joint inflammation in the knees and other joints and memory loss. More severe symptoms include:
• Decreased consciousness
• Confusion
• Numbness and tingling
• Abnormal sensitivity to light
Treatment & Early Diagnosis
If LD is diagnosed early, it's treated with antibiotics and pretty easily cured. And most of the time, even late stage LD can be treated effectively. But part of the problem with LD is the way the disease progresses or gets worse, and the way people respond to treatment can vary from person to person; which can make treatment more challenging. It also means some people can have symptoms that linger for months or even years following treatment. Also, it's important to note that in rare instances, LD can cause permanent damage. The crucial thing about LD is to get treatment immediately after being bitten by a tick; the longer treatment is delayed, the worse the disease can be.
Late Stage Joint Pain & Treatment
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after several months, approximately 60 percent of people who don't get treatment for the infection will begin to have sporadic bouts of arthritis, with severe joint pain and swelling. The large joints are the ones that are most often affected, particularly the knees.
There are three oral antibiotics that are recommended to treat virtually all the symptoms of LD, including late stage---doxycycline, amoxicillin and ceftin. For joint pain and arthritis from late stage LD, doctors usually prescribe medicine that reduces swelling and pain. And if necessary, excess fluid can be drained from the affected joints.
Tags: Lyme Disease, late stage, stage Lyme, stage Lyme Disease