What Causes Persistent Symptoms Of Lymes Disease?

Posted on Mon, 13 Jan 2014

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

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 Answered on

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm living in XXXXXXX for three mos. I am 60 and have osteo. arthritis. The pain is worse than usual. Was diagnosed with Lyme's back in Wis. in 2011. Kept checking positive for it. Was sent to a infectious disease Dr. and he told me I'll always check positive for it. Is this true? I haven't received an answer to what I submitted 45 minutes ago. I asked about Lyme's Disease. I see that I was put in "user selected category": Lupus. Ive been checked many times over the years and do not have Lupus. Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Shruti Rijhwani (4 hours later)

Brief Answer: Follows. Detailed Answer: Dear Sir, Thank you for posting your query on XXXXXXX Well looking into your problem I would like to tell you that since you have osteoarthritis , you are bound to have flares of pain that will come and go , it may not be due to lymes disease . Your doctor is right in saying that many people test positive for spirochetes antigens whole life because once the body is sensitised the antibodies will be present throughout in some patients although not universal . Lymes disease generally subsides with treatment but approximately 10 to 20 per cent of patients have lingering symptoms of fatigue, pain, or joint and muscle aches., these can last for more than six months. This is termed as "Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome" (PTLDS). It is believed to be the result of residual damage to tissues and the immune system that occurred during the infection. That is for your doctor to decide whether it is related to osteoarthritis or PTDLS .kindly follow your treating doctors advise. Take care. Dr. Shruti

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar