What happens if you test positive for Lyme disease?

Your provider will prescribe antibiotic medicine if you are likely to have Lyme disease. Most people who are treated with antibiotics in the early stage of disease will recover completely. Learn more about laboratory tests, reference ranges, and understanding results.


What do you do if you test positive for Lyme disease?

Contact your health care provider immediately.

Provide them with a copy of your TickCheck tick test report, and tell them when and where you were exposed to the infected tick.

Should I be worried if I have Lyme disease?

More serious symptoms may develop if Lyme disease is left untreated or is not treated early. These can include: pain and swelling in the joints. nerve problems – such as numbness or pain in your limbs.


What happens after being diagnosed with Lyme disease?

Although most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with a 2- to 4-week course of oral antibiotics, patients can sometimes have symptoms of pain, fatigue, or difficulty thinking that lasts for more than 6 months after they finish treatment. This condition is called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS).

Does a positive Lyme test mean you have Lyme disease?

A positive test only indicates that a person has most likely been infected with the agent of Lyme disease in the past or quite recently. The immune response has a long memory; therefore positive tests results may last for many years after the infection is gone.


When do you test for Lyme disease?



How long will I test positive for Lyme disease?

Your immune system continues to make the antibodies for months or years after the infection is gone. This means that once your blood tests positive, it will continue to test positive for months to years even though the bacteria are no longer present.

Does Lyme disease ever go away?

Without treatment, Lyme can cause permanent damage. But most people with late-stage Lyme disease can recover if they get treatment with antibiotics. The longer you wait before treating Lyme disease, the longer it can take for symptoms to go away. A small subset of people may have symptoms that persist after treatment.

What are at least 5 early signs of Lyme disease?

  • Intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones.
  • Heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
  • Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath.
  • Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
  • Nerve pain.
  • Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet.


What is considered early stage Lyme disease?

Stage 1, or early localized Lyme disease, occurs within one month of the tick bite. You may have an expanding, circular red rash (erythema migrans), and/or flu-like symptoms. Some people do not have symptoms. Stage 2, or early disseminated infection, can develop days to weeks after you become infected.

What happens if you have Lyme disease and don't get treated?

If Lyme disease is not diagnosed and treated early, the spirochetes can spread and may go into hiding in different parts of the body. Weeks, months or even years later, patients may develop problems with the brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, heart and circulation, digestion, reproductive system, and skin.

Is Lyme disease serious if caught early?

If diagnosed in the early stages, Lyme disease can be cured with antibiotics. Without treatment, complications involving the joints, heart, and nervous system can occur. But these symptoms are still treatable and curable.


How urgent is Lyme disease?

If you experience any signs of Lyme disease, you should seek an evaluation as soon as possible, especially if you've recently found a tick on your body.

Can Lyme disease be cured if not caught early?

It's certainly possible for people to get Lyme disease and to clear the infection on their own, without treatment, said Dr. Kuritzkes. "But it's better to be treated because some of the complications—like arthritis and myocarditis and damage to the central nervous system—can be very serious," Dr. Kuritzkes said.

What are late stage signs and symptoms of Lyme disease?

Symptoms of late stage Lyme disease

Facial palsy, also known as Bell's palsy – paralysis of one side of the face. Arthritis or joint pain and swelling, especially of large joints (such as the knee) Intermittent tendon, muscle, joint, nerve, or bone pain. Heart palpitations or arrhythmia.


What does the beginning of Lyme disease feel like?

Early Lyme disease may feel like the flu: fever, sore muscles, headache and fatigue. Some people may develop a highly distinctive rash, which may look like a bull's-eye. However, many people with Lyme never knew they were bitten and never developed a rash. The CDC reports that rashes occur in 60-80% of cases.

What is the first and most obvious symptom of Lyme disease?

The first and most obvious symptom of Lyme disease is a localized rash that begins as a pink or red circle that expands over time and may become several inches or larger. It may appear from 3 to 30 days after the bite occurred. Some people may have a single circle, while others may have many.

How long after exposure do you get Lyme disease?

Incubation period is typically 3–30 days. Approximately 80% of people infected with B. burgdorferi develop a characteristic rash, erythema migrans (EM), within 30 days of exposure.


Does Lyme disease show up in blood work?

The Lyme disease blood test looks for antibodies in the blood to the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The test is used to help diagnose Lyme disease. There are many species of ticks. Of these, a large proportion are capable of carrying disease.

Can Lyme disease spread from person to person?

Are there other ways to get Lyme disease? There is no evidence that Lyme disease is transmitted from person-to-person. For example, a person cannot get infected from touching, kissing, or having sex with a person who has Lyme disease. Untreated Lyme disease during pregnancy can lead to infection of the placenta.

Can I donate blood if I have Lyme disease?

Ultimately, if you have chronic Lyme disease or any co-infections, or are unclear about your health status, you should not donate blood. If your symptoms have resolved, most donation centers will allow you to donate blood. Please consider speaking to your Lyme specialist to make the most informed decision.


What does a positive IgG Lyme test mean?

Most of the time, the IgG western blot must be positive in order to indicate a potential infection with Lyme disease. The IgM antibodies are the first antibodies to be produced in the body in response to an infection.

What happens if you wait too long for Lyme disease?

Delayed treatment can lead to disseminated infection and serious complications (2, 3). Longer time between symptom onset and treatment (time-to-treatment) has been associated with poor Lyme disease outcomes (4–7).

What are the long term effects of Lymes disease?

In a study of 61 people treated for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Johns Hopkins researchers conclude that fatigue, pain, insomnia and depression do indeed persist over long periods of time for some people, despite largely normal physical exams and clinical laboratory testing.


What causes false positive Lyme test?

Infection with other diseases, including some tickborne diseases, or some viral, bacterial, or autoimmune diseases, can result in false positive test results. Some tests give results for two types of antibody, IgM and IgG. Positive IgM results should be disregarded if the patient has been ill for more than 30 days.

How is Lyme disease treated if caught early?

Early localized Lyme disease — Early localized Lyme disease (the erythema migrans rash, with or without flu-like symptoms) is treated with oral antibiotics, usually doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime, taken daily. Doxycycline is given for 10 to 21 days, and amoxicillin and cefuroxime are given for 14 to 21 days.