How To Treat Lyme Disease

By Etta Bowen


Treating lyme disease requires antibiotic intervention as early as possible. It takes several weeks to a month to see the first symptoms. On the area where the tick bit, a small bump will appear and later the rash will spread to other parts of the body. It has a bulls eye characteristic with a clear area and a red circle surrounding the area bitten. The patient experiences body and head aches, fatigue, fever and chills, among other flu like symptoms.

Some of the signs develop weeks or a month after the bite. It is necessary to understand the symptoms at each stage since they develop progressively. Experts who understand how to treat lyme disease point at the spread of the rush to other body parts. This happens weeks or months after the bite.

When tests confirm that the bacteria are present, antibiotics are used in treatment. The best way is to seek treatment at the earliest opportunity. This will hasten recovery. At the earliest stages, antibiotics are administered orally.

Adults and children over 8 years are given as dose of doxycycline or amoxicillin. Cefuroxime is the best option if children are below 8 years. Pregnant and breast feeding mothers are also treated using cefuroxime. The duration of treatment ranges between 14 and 21 days though there are cases where 10 to 14 days of antibiotic administration have proven effective.

The use of intravenous antibiotic injection is only necessary when the nervous system is affected. The injection will be administered over a period of 14 to 28 days. An infection that has spread or affected the nervous system takes longer to eliminate. Expected side effects include reduced white blood cells count, colonization by organisms that are resistant to antibiotics and severe to mild diarrhea.

After being treated, some patients will still display symptoms such as fatigue and muscle aches. The symptoms do not go away despite continue antibiotic use. This is attributed, to some extent, to the development of autoimmune response by the body. Studies are on going to unravel the mystery.

Food and Drug Administration has warned against using Bismacine. This is an injectable compound commonly used by alternative practitioners. It contains high levels of bismuth, a harmful metal to the body. Its use in injections is said to be poisonous by exposing the patient to such conditions as heart ailments and kidney failure.

Prevention measures include avoidance of tick infested areas. Such are patches with long grass, wooded sections and bushes. You are advised to use long sleeved shirts and pants when working or walking around bushes and areas that are possibly infested.

The market has insect repellants that are helpful in reducing exposure. A higher concentration of DEET makes repellants more effective. They should not come into contact with the hands, mouth and eyes of children during application. There are pretreated cloths for use in the farm or permethrin may be applied locally.

Precaution should be taken to keep the yard tick free. This involves keeping woodpiles in the sun as well as clearing bushes. All pets and the entire living area should be disinfected on regular basis. A person who has had the disease is likely to catch it again. You should remove the tick as fast as possible using tweezers. Antiseptic should be applied on the bitten area.




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