Lyme disease is typically contracted from a bite from an infected tick. Deer ticks, lone star ticks and American dog ticks can all carry Lyme disease. Once you have been diagnosed with the illness, your physician will often prescribe a series of antibiotics to be taken for 10, 14 or 21 days. For advanced cases of Lyme disease, you may be prescribed intravenous antibiotics. Since it takes a while for the medication to work through your body, it takes time to notice improvements in your condition.
Instructions
1. Examine the circular rash you got from Lyme disease. This is usually around the site of a bite from an infected tick, though the rash can also be found other places on the body in severe cases, according to the CDC. If treatment is going well, you'll notice the rash subsiding.
2. Test your joints. Severe Lyme disease inflames joints, causing symptoms similar to arthritis. Your conditions are improving if you are able to move your knees and elbows easier than at the beginning of treatment.
3. Evaluate your mental state. For severe Lyme disease, memory loss and changes in mood are a common symptom, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you feel more alert and happier than you did in the beginning, you're improving.
4. Judge your improvement from treatment based on serious symptoms such as facial paralysis. An extended bout of Lyme disease can produce paralysis on one or both sides of your face. When this improves, you know your treatment is working.
5. Evaluate how you feel overall. Since Lyme disease can produce flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and a fever, keep an eye on these symptoms. Also note if other symptoms such as heart problems or eye inflammation has improved.
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