What Happens if Chronic Lyme Disease is Left Untreated?

When you think you have been bitten by a tick, it’s important to schedule an appointment at Kotsanis Institute of Functional Medicine with Dr. Constantine Kotsanis. When left untreated, chronic Lyme disease can cause memory loss, inflammation around your heart and throughout your body, nerve damage, autoimmune disease, and other long-term heart problems. The good news is that Lyme disease is treatable, especially when we catch symptoms early in Grapevine, TX. We have successfully administered medication with Lyme disease treatment to our patients to rid their bodies of this infection.

Symptoms of untreated Lyme disease

Most patients experience flu-like symptoms of untreated Lyme disease. Other common symptoms of Lyme disease include:

Bullseye pattern rash that slowly expands
Fever
Chills
Chronic fatigue
Body or muscle aches
Headache
Stiff neck
Swollen lymph nodes
Memory or concentration problems
Sleeping issues

Most of the time, your symptoms occur a few days or weeks after being bitten by an infected tick. Dr. Kotsanis uses the western blot test and other specialty tests to detect the presence of Lyme disease. However, this can take several weeks to detect after your initial bite in Grapevine, TX.

Effects of untreated Lyme disease

When left untreated, Lyme disease can be debilitating. When it isn’t treated early, it can spread and go into hiding in different parts of your body. Weeks, months, or years later, it can cause problems with your brain, nervous system, heart and circulation, digestion, muscles or joints, reproductive system, or your skin. While symptoms may disappear randomly, other ones may appear at different times. This is known as post-treatment Lyme disease or chronic Lyme disease.

Lyme disease treatments

When you’re diagnosed with Lyme disease early, Dr. Kotsanis usually starts treatment with antibiotics. This helps clear the infection and relieve some of your symptoms quickly. However, when Lyme disease isn’t diagnosed early, it can require a full month of antibodies and, in more severe cases, IV antibiotics too. Some other Lyme disease treatments offered at Kotsanis Institute include:

Gut supplements: Dr. Kotsanis helps his patients restore the balance in their gut with antifungals, digestive enzymes, nutritional supplements, and probiotics.
Hormones: We use hormones to normalize hormone function.
Insulin potentiation therapy: Special forms of antibiotics are given to more at-risk patients.
Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy: This therapy is used for pain management and to help recharge cells in someone with untreated Lyme disease.
Ultraviolet blood irradiation therapy: This intravenous therapy successfully absorbs bacteria or viruses in the blood.

Does Lyme disease ever go away on its own?

Some people can clear the infection on their own without treatment, but this isn’t recommended. This is because of the severe complications that can occur when you leave Lyme disease untreated. The infection itself can hide in the body for a long time and cause serious health problems later on.

Is Lyme disease deadly?

While Lyme disease is rarely life-threatening, delayed Lyme disease treatment can result in more severe symptoms. This is why it’s imperative to seek medical care when you suspect you’ve been bitten by a tick to determine if it infected you.

Learn more about Lyme disease treatment

When you’re experiencing Lyme disease symptoms, schedule an appointment with Dr. Constantine Kotsanis at the Kotsanis Institute of Functional Medicine. He has years of experience treating Lyme disease, and he understands the seriousness of Lyme disease treatment. Best of all, he is committed to ensuring his patients stay as healthy as possible. Lyme disease is curable, so getting effective Lyme disease treatment will help resolve your symptoms and ensure your health remains intact.