I Was Wondering If I Might Need To Test For Lyme Disease

Posted on Tue, 22 Dec 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 Answered on

Fri, 4 Apr 2025 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, I was wondering if I might need to test for Lyme disease. I had optic neuritis in oct 2018, and had a clear mri with no lesions found. The past few weeks I have developed different symptoms that made me scared:
- numbness in my fingers
- numbness on my cheeks
- intermittent muscle ache, random spots of my legs or arms.
- eye twitching a lot
- today, developed an aching dull pain behind the same eye that had optic neuritis which got me scared.

I had another mri last week to which it came clear once again.

I started researching different conditions that could be related and I am just so tired of this feeling. I have a neurologist appt in XXXXXXX but I am tired of being in pain.

I did travel to Kenya in 2017, for bit by a tick and didn’t realize the tick was on me for about 3 days. Could this be related or am I reading too much into this? Should I get tested for Lyme disease?

Answered by Dr. Olgeta Xhufka (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Get further evaluated.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear,
Lyme disease symptoms can last for weeks , month or even years if it goes untreated.
It is a good news that you are having normal MRI .
I think you should do ELISA test for lyme and also check vitamin B 12 levels, do a total blood count with formula .
Also other viral infections may cause these symptoms.

Hope I have answered the question.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng