Like many other illnesses, the symptoms of tick-borne diseases, including Lyme disease, often follow a specific timeline. Having an idea of these timelines can help you and your healthcare providers gauge what stage of the condition you’re at and what an appropriate treatment plan is.
As nerve-wracking as it can be to think about these symptoms, some of the most essential pieces in your recovery tool belt are education and awareness to better advocate for yourself or your loved one.
When do Lyme disease symptoms start? Let’s take a look at the timeline.
The stages of Lyme disease
Lyme disease is often divided into three different stages: early localized, early disseminated, and late disseminated. Here is a quick overview of these stages and what symptoms are common during them:
- Early localized: Symptoms in this stage can start anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks after being bitten. During the first stage, the infection has not yet spread to the rest of the body.
- Flu-like symptoms like fever and chills
- An erythema migrans “bull’s eye” rash
- Fatigue
- Joint pain
- Muscle soreness
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Stick neck and headache
- Sore throat
- Early disseminated: Lyme disease symptoms start to develop several weeks or months after the initial onset of infection. Some people experience the same or similar conditions as they did in the first stage, but an increased amount.
- Continuation of flu-like symptoms
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Lyme carditis (heart problems) like chest pain or palpitations
- Weakness, pain, or numbness in the legs and arms
- Rash on the body
- Bell’s palsy (facial rash)
- Late disseminated: People who don’t receive prompt or effective treatment in the first two stages may develop late disseminated Lyme. This can look like post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, neurological Lyme, or chronic Lyme. These symptoms can develop weeks, months, or years after the initial infection. This may lead to increased symptoms affecting the heart and nervous system.
- Severe or chronic fatigue
- Difficulty with cognitive tasks like concentration
- Brain fog
- Arthritis near the point of infection or in large joints
- Migraines or severe headaches
- Insomnia or other sleep disturbances
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Numbness in the hands, arms, legs, or feet
- An achy, stiff neck
Many of the symptoms are similar throughout the different stages of Lyme disease. For people who develop the later stages of Lyme disease, these symptoms often worsen and start to affect other parts of the body.
Timelines for other Tick-Borne Diseases
Lyme disease isn’t the only tick-borne disease that you can contract from a tick bite. Other tick-borne infections include Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF), Bartonellosis, Babesiosis, and Anaplasmosis.
Here’s a quick overview of the symptoms and timelines for these diseases:
Tick-borne Relapsing Fever:
Initial symptoms often include a high fever, muscle and joint aches, and headache. Without treatment, these symptoms typically reappear every seven days, lasting three days at a time, and can lead to long-term complications like seizures and meningitis.
Babesiosis:
Approximately 25% of adults and 50% of children infected with babesiosis experience symptoms. These symptoms may include gastrointestinal issues, dark urine, fatigue, fever and chills, headache, and jaundice. In untreated cases, people may develop more symptoms months later or experience recurring symptoms. These symptoms can be very similar to that of malaria.
Bartonellosis
The symptoms of Bartonellosis will usually begin 5-14 days after an initial infection. Someone may experience such symptoms as muscle pain, fever, headaches, swollen glands around the head, neck, and arms, brain fog, poor appetite, and fatigue.
Some other symptoms can include photophobia, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, anxiety, pain behind the eyes, tachycardia, psychiatric problems, rapid relapse off of antibiotics and no response to previous antibiotic treatments.
Anaplasmosis:
Symptoms usually start within 1-2 weeks after getting bit by an infected tick. Early symptoms may include muscle aches, intestinal symptoms, severe headache, fever, and chills. Without treatment, anaplasmosis can cause severe symptoms like respiratory failure, organ failure, and bleeding problems, and can be fatal in some cases.
Unsure of what certain symptoms could be indicating? Use IGeneX’s Symptom Checker to determine your likelihood of having Lyme disease or other tick-borne illnesses.
Treat infections ASAP
In many cases, tick-borne infections can be treated with antibiotics when caught early on, at least for those infections caused by bacteria. But, unfortunately, one of the biggest obstacles when it comes to treating tick-borne diseases is getting a proper diagnosis. This is especially true for people who may not have realized that they were bitten by a tick in the first place.
The longer that Lyme disease or another tick-borne disease goes on, the more difficult it can be to treat. This is why it’s vital to understand your testing options at different stages of these infections.
Time-dependent testing
Another benefit of understanding these symptom timelines is picking a diagnostic test that is more likely to be accurate depending on what stage of the disease or infection you’re in.
Certain testing methods are more accurate at the initial onset of infection, while others can be used on people who are at a later stage in the infection or have developed a chronic disease.
Early after infection is when T-cell response is highest, making IgXSpot the most effective test. IgM and IgG antibodies develop soon thereafter, at which time the Western Blot, ImmunoBlot, ELISA, and LSA tests become most effective. T-cells also reappear in the late stage of the disease. Direct tests, such as PCR and FISH, can be positive at any time of disease.
IGeneX has the most accurate and reliable tests available for Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. These tests, along with any symptoms you may be displaying, can be used to help determine the best treatment plan for your specific needs.
