I am writing this to show why people get so ill with Lyme disease. Lyme infection rarely occurs on it’s own. Most insects that transmit Lyme carry other infectious diseases. Lyme disables the immune system making it difficult to clear out any type of infection. Lyme also has many ways of evading the immune system. It can take a variety of forms such as cyst or biofilm to protect itself from the immune system and antibiotics. Lyme disease has developed strategies to avoid almost all the things used by our immune system to fight infection including hydrogen peroxide. Lyme even infects the lymph’s and disables their ability to detect infection. Lyme has more methods of evading the immune system then the virus that causes HIV. Most who have Lyme disease experience Bell’s Palsy. This is where one side of the face become paralyzed and drops. It sometimes takes months to heal.
This is a good article that gives a small summary of just some of the things Lyme can do.
Something to take note of the test for Lyme disease has a very high failure rate at detecting it. Not only that there are a variety of species of Borrelia and as far as I know the test only test for one so if a person has any of the other species of Lyme disease the test will not detect it. Also those infected with Lyme are rarely test for the coinfections which are almost always present when the infection occurs.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6963229/
Lyme causes systemic inflammation. Systemic inflammation also inhibits the immune system and can cause the body to turn on itself. Lyme can cause a variety of symptoms such as joint swelling, neurological issues, brain damage, myocarditis, thrombosis, organ failures and many other health issues. The systemic inflammation caused by Lyme disease damages the heart in many ways which reduces it’s ability to supply blood to the body. This is why often times those with Lyme will experience numbness in hands and feet. When left untreated death can occur. This is so common with Lyme disease that if a person experiences Bell’s Palsy then they should find a medical professional to treat them that is very knowledgeable about Lyme disease and the coinfections that occur with it. Sudden temperature changes often times can set Bell’s Palsy off or make it worse.
Lyme can damage the joints in a variety of ways. Lyme can cause high ammonia levels which lead to metabolic issues which causes soft tissue to break down in the body. Lyme can cause synovial fluid to build up in the joints and could cause them to eventually start leaking. Lyme can also break down the soft tissue in the joints and body causing fluids to leak into surrounding areas which causes joint swelling and arthritis. Lyme cause high urease levels which can lead to gout. Some suffer from more then one of those. Lyme also causes bone loss in some.
Lyme disease can cause autoimmunity . A person with Lyme can experience autoimmune issues that cause them to develop many food intolerances, they could develop things such as Lupus, Psoriasis or interstitial cystitis among many other autoimmune related illnesses.
Lyme damages the heart and cardiovascular system in a variety of ways. Many Lyme sufferers are learning from experience that many medical professionals and cardiologist do not know how to identify the cardiac issues caused by Lyme. Sad when those who have become ill learn to read test better then those who are supposed to know how to interpret the results of test but experience has taught many of us that they rarely know how to interpret the results of test accurately. Lyme can cause damage to the blood vessels and cause excess blood clotting. The excess blood clotting if not addressed can lead to stroke, heart failure and death. Many push themselves too hard when they start feeling better and will set themselves back in their healing for weak. I myself made this mistake many times before I learn to only do a certain amount and to slowly increase the stressors in life whether physical or emotional because emotional stress can often times take more of a toll on the heart then physical stress.
Lyme can cause brain damage and other neurological damage. My experience has shown my that people are very resilient. I have seen many maintain their composure even though the Lyme was effecting their brains especially their memory they still seem to maintain their composure and not react to the variety of emotions that occur while they are very ill. Not only that but Lyme causes pain beyond anything a person can imagine. I have learned this from personal experience and that takes it toll on the body by draining all our energy and it often times takes a lot of mental resources to deal with the pain a person with Lyme is experiencing.
Most have Lyme disease and do not know it. A large number of those suffering from interstitial cystitis go many years having Lyme disease and never get diagnosed because of the high failure rate of the test at detecting Lyme. Because Lyme takes so many forms and has many ways to stealth itself from the immune system the body may not have an immune response to the spirochete so a person can go for years with Lyme disease and the test will not detect it. Many who have lyme disease develop liver , kidney , bladder , gall bladder and many other health issues. Most I know who had Lyme disease found urinating was very painful.
Lyme disease also alters B cells status which effects the gut and can cause gut dysbiosis leading to leaky gut, inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea or constipation. This article summarizes what can happen to the gut when you have Lyme the things that can occur are complex and would take a whole separate article to discuss. The second article has links to research showing how Lyme effects the gut.
Lyme causes autoimmunity through molecular mimicry. It mimics proteins in the body. If the body detects that the protein is actually an infection then it will start attacking it. Because it is similar to proteins that are in the body it causes many types of autoimmunity from mast cell activation syndrome, to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Many infections can cause autoimmunity if systemic inflammation from a toxin or a drug has already occurred. Once this occurs it creates a positive feed back loop that is very difficult to break. These are the symptoms and illnesses that Lyme autoimmunity can cause. Myocarditis, thrombosis, erythema migrans, lyphocytoma, plexis nueritis, cranial nueritis, Bell’s Palsy, endotoxemia, hyperammonemia, proteinuria, gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, inflammatory bowel disease, interstitial cystitis and other renal diseases, Bannswoarth’s syndrome, muscular dystrophy, ALS, fibromyalgia, arthritis, dissassociative disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, disease that are caused by lesions in the body including Parkinson’s , cancer, myositis, acrodermatitis and many other skin disorders including Lupus, loss of fluids from the joints causing them to leak into the surrounding areas, depression, irritability, mental confusion, memory loss, polyneuropathy encephlomyelitis, memory deficit disorder, somnolence (excessive sleeping), adrenal fatigue, some will go the other way and will have difficulty sleeping, I alternated between somnolence and insomnia, anorexia, flu like symptoms that will not go away, night blindness, sensitivity to light which causes a person to be easily blinded by light, and nerve palsy. These are the symptoms and health issues I have seen occur the most though Lyme causes many other health issues.
The severe headaches caused by Lyme can be caused by many things. Lyme can enter the brain and cause meningitis, Lyme causes high ammonia levels which damages the blood brain barrier leaving excess glutamate enter the brain which can effect the NMDA and leaving toxins enter the brain that would not normally enter the brain. The endotoxins from Lyme itself can cause the blood brain barrier to become porous leaving it enter the brain causing brain inflammation and effecting many receptors.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320932/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6963551/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4489802/
https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12974-018-1381-4
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199401273300401
https://www.jrheum.org/content/46/8/871
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5278181/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5679706/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6336510/
https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12974-018-1381-4
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6206025/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165408/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151210/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477530/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6963229/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7054245/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5851570/
Chronic heart failure.
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article-abstract/12/suppl_D/73/398738?redirectedFrom=fulltext
http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.1992.47.249
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00508-014-0622-5
https://www.bioscience.org/2003/v8/s/1065/fulltext.htm
https://sites.google.com/site/virginialyme/treatment/lyme-babesia–hypercoagulation
https://idsa.confex.com/idsa/2003/webprogram/Paper18421.html
Lyme and the renal system and IC.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8417211/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26664404/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3797892/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4076487/
Lyme and digestion
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4496901/
Lyme autoimmunity
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC548028/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6800627/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6800627/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1198743X14628871
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