Identifying Lyme Disease: Symptoms

Identifying Lyme

• If systemic Lyme, a blood test
• To identify a neuro Lyme, you need to show specific intraspinal intrathecal production of antibody to Lyme, as done through a spinal tap
• Spinal taps can be done under fluoroscopic guidance with sedation; a Gertie needle with a blunt tip doesn’t shear the meninges; postlumbar puncture symptoms are fewer
• We offer people a spinal tap if needed in a nonurgent setting under X-ray or fluoroscopic guidance
• The patient will be numbed with local anesthetic
• Spinal taps can be done in an outpatient ambulatory; we watch people afterward for several hours, to make sure they’re hydrated and comfortable before they go home

Lyme disease symptoms may be quite painful and range from acute to chronic:

• Joint pain and stiffness
• Localized arthritis
• Fatigue
• Flu-like symptoms
• Sleep problems
• Radicular pain
• Neuropathies
• Facial pain