Originally Posted by
hikeandbike
Has anyone had experience with Lymes and can you share what the after effects can be?
My wife went undiagnosed for 8 months after being bitten. Our PCP denied that Lyme Disease was in our county. After being seen by a sports medicine doc and a neurologist to no avail, a very detailed history taken by a rheumatologist finally got my wife on the right track.
In the meanwhile, her physical condition deteriorated markedly. Initially, she developed an arthritis-like condition in her knees which slowly spread to her other major joints and spine. Between the pain of that and the energy sapping of the disease, she was essentially only able to get up, shower, go to work, come home and crawl into bed.
Extensive and lengthy antibiotic treatment has brought much of her health back, but her knees have not fully recovered, although she is able to enjoy cycling again, but at a limited endurance/distance level.
Other effects of untreated Lyme can include neurological deficits and cardiac involvement. It can reflare. There's much debate in the medical community on the necessary length of treatment for Lyme. My kid was bitten this summer and had the classic "bulls-eye" rash. She is still under treatment three months later. Other than the rash, she has exhibited no other symptoms.
-Edit-
We knew that both bites occurred in our local area - either in our yard, school yard or soccer field. All of which teem with deer after dark.