top of page
Symptoms

Tick-borne Illnesses typically begin with flu-like symptoms and high fever, often followed by joint pain and extreme chronic fatigue. After the initial onset of symptoms, depending on the particular illness and coinfection(s), patients will often experience a variety of often debilitating and excruciating set of symptoms that can be a combination (or even all) of the symptoms listed below.  

General

  • Decreased interest in play (children)

  • Extreme fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion

  • Unexplained recurring fevers (high or low grade)

  • Flu-like symptoms (early in the illness)

  • Symptoms come and go (vary daily, or even hourly)

  • Too much or too little sleep 

  • Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

  • Unexplained weight loss or gain

  • Brain "fog"

  • Unexplained/odd rashes (not always recognized, not always the "classic bullseye" rash)

Vision related

  • Oversensitivity to light (Uveitis)

  • Floaters/spots in the line of sight

  • Sudden changes in vision

  • Double or blurry vision 

  • Wandering or lazy eye

  • Conjunctivitis (pink eye)

  • Eye pain or swelling around eyes

  • Red eyes

 

Ears/Hearing

  • Sound sensitivity (often extreme)

  • Ringing or buzzing in ears (tinnitus)

  • Decreased hearing

  • General ear pain

Neck (and above)

  • Headache (migraines), often with no prior history of headaches

  • Facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy)

  • Tingling sensations 

  • Stiff neck

  • Sore throat, swollen glands

  • Heightened allergic sensitivities

  • Twitching of facial/other muscles

  • Jaw pain/stiffness (like TMJ)

  • Change in smell, taste

Digestive

  • Upset stomach (nausea, vomiting)

  • Irritable bladder

  • Loss of appetite, anorexia

Cardiovascular

  • Difficulty breathing

  • Night sweats or unexplained chills

  • Heart palpitations

  • Diminished exercise tolerance

  • Heart block, murmur

  • Chest pain or rib soreness

  • Heart skipping

Psychiatric

  • Mood swings, irritability, agitation

  • Depression and anxiety

  • Personality changes

  • Malaise

  • Aggressive behavior

  • Impulsiveness

  • Suicidal thoughts (suicide is believed to be the leading cause of death for Lyme patients)

  • Overemotional reactions, crying easily

  • Suspiciousness, paranoia, hallucinations

  • Feeling as though you are losing your mind

  • Obsessive-compulsive behavior

  • Bipolar disorder/manic behavior

  • Schizophrenic-like state (including hallucinations)

Cognitive 

  • Dementia

  • Forgetfulness, memory loss (short or long term

  • Poor school or work performance

  • Attention deficit problems, distractibility

  • Confusion, difficulty thinking

  • Difficulty with concentration, reading, spelling

  • Disorientation: getting or feeling lost (even in previously familiar locations)

Muscular/Joints

  • Joint pain, swelling, or stiffness

  • Shifting joint pains

  • Muscle pain or cramps

  • Poor muscle coordination, loss of reflexes

  • Loss of muscle tone, muscle weakness

     

Neurologic System

  • Numbness in body, tingling, pinpricks

  • Burning/stabbing sensations in the body

  • Burning in feet

  • Weakness or paralysis of limbs

  • Tremors or unexplained shaking

  • Seizures, stroke

  • Poor balance, dizziness, difficulty walking

  • Increased motion sickness, wooziness

  • Lightheadedness, fainting

  • Encephalopathy (cognitive impairment from brain involvement)

  • Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)

  • Meningitis (inflammation of the protective membrane around the brain)

  • Encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord)

  • Academic or vocational decline

  • Difficulty with multitasking

  • Difficulty with organization and planning

  • Auditory processing problems

  • Word finding problems

  • Slowed speed of processing

Various other

  • Unexplained menstrual pain, irregularity

  • Reproduction problems, miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, neonatal

  • Death, congenital Lyme disease

  • Extreme PMS symptoms

  • Testicular or pelvic pain

  • Benign tumor-like nodules

  • A variety of possible skin rashes including a Erethyma Migrans (bullseye) rash, 

  • Thyroid (Hypo or Hyper active thyroid glands)

  • Liver inflammation

  • Bladder & Kidney problems 

Think you may have Lyme or some other tick-borne disease? Take Dr. Richard I Horowitz's Lyme-MSIDS Questionnaire here>

bottom of page