Can Lyme disease cause neurological problems?
Can Lyme disease cause neurological problems?
Neurological complications most often occur in the second stage of Lyme disease, with numbness, pain, weakness, Bell’s palsy (paralysis of the facial muscles), visual disturbances, and meningitis symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, and severe headache.
Can you recover from neurological Lyme disease?
How is it treated? Facial palsy is treated with oral antibiotics and Lyme meningitis/radiculoneuritis can either be treated with oral or intravenous antibiotics, depending on severity (see tables below). Most people with Lyme disease respond well to antibiotics and fully recover.
What is late stage neurological Lyme disease?
The neurologic abnormalities of stage 3 Lyme disease involve both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Typical presentations include subacute encephalopathy, chronic progressive encephalomyelitis, and late axonal neuropathies, as well as symptoms consistent with fibromyalgia.
Can neuropathy from Lyme be reversed?
This neuropathy presents with intermittent paresthesias without significant deficits on clinical examination and is reversible with appropriate antibiotic treatment.
Does Lyme disease show up on brain MRI?
Lyme disease symptoms may also have a relapsing-remitting course. In addition, Lyme disease occasionally produces other abnormalities that are similar to those seen in MS, including positive findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Can Lyme cause permanent brain damage?
However it is extraordinarily rare for there to be any permanent damage to the brain itself. More importantly, there are many symptoms that occur in patients with Lyme disease and most other infections that may make one think there is a problem with the brain; however, that is not the case.
How do you treat Lyme neuropathy?
For Lyme neuroborreliosis without brain or spinal cord involvement, including peripheral neuropathy, there is evidence and consensus that oral doxycycline (100-200 mg twice a day) or amoxicillin (500 mg three times a day) for three to four weeks are both safe and highly effective.