In recent years, Lyme disease diagnoses have become more prevalent.  Still Lyme is commonly mistaken for other ailments.

What makes Lyme disease the great imitator?  First of all, Lyme is one of those illnesses, which takes on many different shapes.  Symptoms can vary from one person to the next.  Children often have different symptoms than adults.  It is also believed that Lyme is left undiagnosed in women more than men.  As long as Lyme has been around, there is still so much confusion surrounding the disease.

Lyme is mistaken for Alzheimer’s.

A few years ago, we learned that Kris Kristofferson had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  He was treated for the disease for years, only to then be found to have Lyme disease.  Once his Lyme was treated, he began to lose the Alzheimer’s symptoms.  It’s not just Alzheimer’s, though!  Lyme is often mistaken for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and chronic fatigue syndrome.  Symptoms of Lyme mimic those of other illnesses, and many doctors are not informed enough to do proper testing to make a Lyme diagnosis.

Where you live could have an effect on your health when it comes to diagnosing Lyme disease.

For a very long time, certain regions of the United States were not believed to have Lyme-carrying ticks.  For this reason, many patients were never even considered for Lyme testing when they began to show symptoms that mimic other ailments.  In recent years, especially with highly-publicized cases of misdiagnoses, doctors in these areas are starting to test for Lyme when symptoms common among other illnesses show up in patients.  To say that there has been a learning curve in diagnosing Lyme is an understatement.  People, who live in the south and other supposed less-affected areas might still find themselves fighting for proper Lyme diagnoses.

What can you do if you think you have Lyme symptoms?

If you have been outdoors and believe you might have been bitten by an infected tick, and begin to show signs of illness, seek immediate medical attention.  Explain your potential exposure or known exposure if you actually found an embedded tick.  Look for the Lyme rash, which presents in bull’s eye pattern.  Explain your symptoms to your doctor, and if they are not equipped to perform proper Lyme testing, ask help finding a practitioner, who is.  If Lyme is diagnosed early, there is a great chance it can be cured with antibiotics.  If you believe you suffer from chronic Lyme symptoms, also seek the aid of a Lyme specialist, who can properly diagnose and treat the disease.

Also read: Can Lyme disease be cured?

What are common symptoms of Lyme, which mimic other diseases?

Because Lyme symptoms range from extreme fatigue, headache, and joint pain to cognitive impairment, it can be mistaken for the disease mentioned above, as well as others.  These include ALS, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia.  In children, hyperactivity and other cognitive impairments lead to misdiagnoses of ADD and even learning disabilities.

Also read: Lyme Disease in Children and Teens

Protect your home and family in Central Massachusetts with year-round tick control.  This is your single best bet in prevention of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Also read: 3 Stages of Lyme Disease