CHRONIC FATIGUE, ARTHRALGIAS, MYALGIAS, DYSESTHESIA, DEPRESSION

This recent research article is a start in the right direction looking at Chronic Lyme Disease, so far most research concentrates on the early acute form only.

The recent Institute of Medicine workshop highlighted that more studies need to be done in this later chronic state of illness with or without positive serology.

Abstract can be found on Pub med here

The diagnostic spectrum in patients with suspected chronic Lyme neuroborreliosis - the experience from one year of a university hospital's Lyme neuroborreliosis outpatients clinic.

Most common symptoms in all categories were arthralgia, myalgia, dysaesthesia, depressive mood and chronic fatigue. Conclusion:  Patients with persistent symptoms with elevated serum antibodies against BB but without signs of cerebrospinal fluid inflammation require further diagnostic examinations to exclude ongoing infection and to avoid co-infections and other treatable conditions (e.g. autoimmune diseases). One patient with acute LNB, who was treated with ceftriaxone for 3 weeks suffered from LNB with new headaches and persistent symptoms 6 months later. These data should encourage further studies with new experimental parameters.

details also found on Prohealth here

I found the above interesting because it highlights that Borrelia infection may not be ruled out by lack of Cerebrospinal fluid inflamation, something that many Neurologists tend to do with people with Neurological illness or Multiple Sclerosis.

Also the study talks about 122 patients in one year with suspected Chronic Lyme Neuroborreliosis that in itself is interesting because 114 of these people had tested positive for Lyme Disease and all had received antibiotic treatment.

To have such a number suffering with Arthralgias, myalgias, Dysesthesia, Depression and Chronic Fatigue after the standard treatment has to raise some serious questions beyond what this study was aiming at.

Because current guidelines adopted from the IDSA guidelines suggest that these remaining symptoms are rare, all in your head or the aches and pains of daily life it would seem they are not so rare after all.

One has to wonder with the poor state of reliable testing for Lyme Disease how many more people with the above symptoms could infact be suffering from an undiagnosed case of Lyme Disease and may benefit from antibiotic treatment following such as the ILADS guidelines .