The Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments for Lyme Arthritis
Written by Dr. Kyle Warren and Meghan Feir Walker
Whether you are experiencing an acute or chronic Lyme infection, joint pain (aka, Lyme arthritis) is the symptom most associated with Lyme. Lyme arthritis is difficult for doctors to grasp because they’re looking for regular types of arthritis, but the joint pain caused by Lyme jumps around. It can be a frustrating search for answers, but I’m going to explain more about Lyme disease and joint pain so you can better understand the signs of Lyme and what to do if you have these symptoms.
This information can get a little dry and technical at times, but stick with me!
What is Lyme disease and how do you get it?
Lyme is a bacteria, and humans are most often infected by getting bitten by disgusting, blood-sucking ticks. They’re like the vampires of the forest—and your lawn—but instead of killing you, they just make your life a living nightmare.
Debunking Lyme myths: Why people slip through the cracks
Myth #1: You only need to test Borrelia burgdorferi for Lyme disease
Lyme disease is often caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, but it’s of dire importance to note that other species of Borrelia can cause Lyme as well. When doctors do test for Lyme (and most doctors don’t think to test for it), they’re still missing at least a quarter of Lyme patients who walk through their doors.
Different types of Borrelia include B. mayonii, B. garinii, B. spielmanii, B. californiensis, etc. These and other species of Borrelia must be tested as well.
Myth #2: Lyme is the only tick-borne infection you need to test
Lyme disease isn’t the only infection ticks can carry and transmit. In fact, 93% of people with long-term Lyme symptoms also have co-infections like Bartonella, Babesia, Anaplasma, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Powassan virus, etc. You can also be fighting one or more of these co-infections without Lyme being present.
Several of these infections can also cause “arthritis.” They can empower the Lyme so it is better able to get into the joints, which causes more severe Lyme arthritis.
Lyme is not the only tick-borne infection you need to check. You must test for multiple species of these co-infections as well.
Myth #3: Only deer ticks spread Lyme
In the past, it was thought that only deer ticks could transmit Lyme disease to humans and animals, but Lyme can be transmitted through other vectors as well, such as other types of ticks.
Deer ticks might be the most common, but saying other ticks can’t transmit Lyme is pretty crazy, and a lazy oversimplification.
Myth #4: You only need to worry about ticks in certain areas
It’s commonly assumed that only people living in northern, forested regions need to worry about tick bites and that ticks in other areas don’t carry diseases. I hate to break it to you, but that’s false information.
Trans-Atlantic speciation has proven that the particular species of tick infections that were once found only in Europe or Asia are now in North America and vice versa. Not only do ticks hitch a ride on deer, but they also latch on to other animals and birds. The spread of tick-borne illnesses is inevitable.
Deers are cute, but they aren't that special. If we had done this research 300 years ago, humans probably would have called deer ticks "buffalo ticks." At that time, buffalo were plentiful and they roamed around with ticks riding their backs like a rodeo. Ticks can grab on to any mammal.
The maps that show the presence of Lyme are bad. Trust me, they are bad—like me doing stand-up comedy levels of bad (lame dad jokes anyone?). If you look up maps of where deer are located, those maps are also showing where ticks are hanging out. And where there are ticks, there’s Lyme.
Recognizing the symptoms of Lyme arthritis
Since Lyme and other co-infections can be found in any part of the country, it’s important to recognize the signs of an infection.
In the early (localized) and late (disseminated) stages of Lyme disease, symptoms can vary, change, and intensify, but Lyme is especially known for causing these particular symptoms.
Common Lyme symptoms:
- Headaches
- Neck aches
- Joint pain
- Joint swelling
- Flu-like symptoms
- Fatigue
- Neurological symptoms
While Lyme disease can activate a surprising number of symptoms and it doesn’t present the same in everyone, joint pain is a staple of Lyme disease and can occur in any stage of a Lyme infection. Joint pain is a problem for 50-60% of Lyme patients. It’s more common than not to have it with a Lyme infection, and the chances of developing Lyme arthritis rise significantly if the infection becomes chronic.
When you first get infected with Lyme disease, you might not develop joint pain right away. But if and when you do, it looks and feels like a type of inflammatory disease or arthritis, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. This is often paired with fatigue and other neurological symptoms that affect the rest of the body.
The main difference between other types of arthritis and Lyme arthritis is the way Lyme arthritis migrates from one area of the body to another. If you go to the doctor for your shoulder but the pain then pops up in your elbow, then your knee, and then your ankle, it can be difficult to find. Asking your rheumatologist why you have pain when you secretly have Lyme is like a game of Whac-A-Mole. They keep trying to nail down whether you have RA or another type of arthritis, but they keep swinging and missing.
Lyme is one of the only things that causes migrating joint pain.
While it can impact every joint, it especially affects the knees and exacerbates symptoms of old injuries. Do you have an old back or neck injury that’s usually at a 2-3 out of 10 level of pain? Lyme can amplify that pain level to an 8-10. It goes from being a mild annoyance to debilitating. Thank you, Lyme disease, for making life miserable.
Lyme disease and joint pain: Why does it happen?
Joint pain can occur in the acute stage. However, joint pain is especially common once it enters the disseminated stage of Lyme (late-stage Lyme/chronic Lyme/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS).
Newsflash: Lyme is hungry and it’s eating you. You’re on the breakfast, lunch, supper, and dessert menus because Lyme loves collagen. Guess what the main ingredient in your joints is. It's collagen, and it contains many of the nutrients Borrelia needs to survive and thrive.
The second reason you get Lyme arthritis and joint pain is that the immune system creates inflammation in an effort to fight the bacteria and protect the body. When it’s too much for your immune system to handle, chronic symptoms like pain and swelling develop and majorly affect the function of your joints.
Diagnosing Lyme arthritis
As many people do, you might choose to get an MRI or X-rays done to check on areas of pain because you feel decades older than you are. You walk into the doctor with joint pain and they image you, which can confirm damage, but it unfortunately doesn’t tell you why you're in pain.
Where are you supposed to go from there? You want to learn why your knees feel like you’ve been crawling on them for 20 years straight. Why are you only 30 years old, yet you can barely open a jar because of the pain in your hands? You want answers, not just confirmation that you have damage. You need to find out why this damage has been done.
To diagnose Lyme arthritis, you must run a thorough Lyme and co-infections panel. Multiple species of Borrelia (Lyme) and Lyme co-infections need to be checked, not just Borrelia burgdorferi. I can’t stress that enough. Since 93% of people with long-term Lyme symptoms also have co-infections, you must also check for multiple species of each co-infection.
To accurately test for all these species, find a doctor who will run an immunoblot test, not just the western blot. Doctors also need to take into account your symptoms and history (including tick exposures), along with examining joint health.
Since standard Lyme testing is so rigid, inaccurate, and produces an overwhelming number of false negatives, your doctor needs to test for multiple species of Borrelia and co-infections. If they aren’t, they’re doing it wrong.
Treatment options: Antibiotics versus herbals
As with anyone suffering from pain, you’re probably wondering how long it takes for Lyme arthritis to go away.
Once you discover what species of Lyme and/or co-infections you’re dealing with, you need to go on an effective protocol. In my experience, it usually takes 6-18 months for most people to heal from chronic Lyme, but it can take shorter or longer for some people.
The effectiveness and speed of Lyme disease treatment options depend on the stage of the infection, how many coinfections are with the Lyme, and any other factor inhibiting your immune system's ability to fight this off.
Acute Lyme
The standard protocol for Lyme disease is largely effective when caught immediately (within the first 30 days). Taking doxycycline or cefuroxime for two to four weeks can take care of 80-90% of new Lyme infections.
According to standard protocols from the CDC, doctors are recommended to put patients on antibiotics for two weeks if they present a bullseye rash and four weeks if the patient is experiencing Lyme arthritis.
For the record, I don’t think this is a great protocol. However, if more doctors did even half of this recommended protocol, I believe that half of the people who develop chronic Lyme could be spared. There. I said what I said. *Mic drop*
While acute Lyme treated with antibiotics has a high success rate, 10-20% of people still develop a chronic Lyme infection.
After an infection has gone on for two months or longer, the success rate for this standard antibiotic protocol grows increasingly ineffective. In other words, it won’t help most people if you miss that window.
Chronic Lyme/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome
Taking antibiotics for a few weeks works well for acute cases—if you catch the infection and start treatment immediately (within 30 days). But if you've been infected longer than two months, this short round of antibiotics likely won’t be effective enough.
Last year, Tulane published a study where they infected mice with Lyme disease and waited 60 days to administer the antibiotic protocol. The protocol failed. By 60 days the Lyme bacteria entered the chronic, disseminated stage where it was being protected by biofilms. Biofilms make it nearly impossible for antibiotics alone to penetrate and kill Lyme bacteria.
Last week, a patient told me their previous doctor had declared them cured of Lyme, even though they still have symptoms. They got Lyme, got it confirmed through testing, took the prescribed antibiotics, and then went to the doctor and said it didn't work. This patient was unfortunately part of the 10-20% demographic of acute cases where treatment fails. The doctor told them, “No, you took the antibiotics, you're cured.” But if the patient doesn’t feel better, how can they be cured?
Almost all the patients I work with have had Lyme and co-infections for months or years—even decades—by the time they come to see me.
When Lyme becomes chronic, patients are often placed on a combination of antibiotics. This usually consists of three types of IV and/or oral antibiotics for 6-18 months. In the past, I worked with heavy antibiotic protocols, but it was a difficult protocol for my patients. It’s hard on your body to take that many antibiotics for such an extensive amount of time.
Over the past decade, I’ve had much better success implementing a scientific, natural approach. Our herbal and supplemental protocols are customized for each individual’s needs and produce far fewer side effects and recurrence of infection compared to antibiotic protocols. I have personally seen these herbs work effectively in my practice, and these studies explain why.
What every Lyme protocol needs
If you have persisting Lyme symptoms, you need an effective strategy for not only managing symptoms of chronic Lyme (PTLDS) but also killing the bugs, supporting your body, detoxing efficiently, and restoring your body to health.
Whether you choose to take antibiotics, herbs, or a combination, every protocol needs to address these three important areas.
- You need to effectively get through biofilms and kill the stationary form of Lyme bacteria and co-infections.
- You need to support your immune system. It’s been ineffectively fighting against these bugs and needs help.
- To start feeling better and mitigate symptoms, you must help repair the areas of your body that need extra support. Micronutrient deficiencies can significantly add to symptoms and delay your recovery. Checking levels and addressing deficiencies is imperative to your health.
At our clinic, this is exactly the strategy we take to help our patients recover. In my experience, using multiple antibiotics for months to years is inferior to the natural route. Antibiotics create or exacerbate symptoms, which can often cause patients to abandon their protocol altogether. But people with Lyme arthritis can recover using a scientific, natural, non-toxic approach.
You can heal from chronic Lyme
You can recover from Lyme arthritis by strategically attacking the bug, even in its chronic form, supporting your immune system, and repairing the parts of your body that are in distress. If you address these three areas in your protocol, you will be much more successful in helping your body heal from chronic Lyme.
At Restorative Health Solutions, we want you to be healthy. We want you to enjoy the life God has given you, and we can help you get there.
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