Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia mayonii and Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. Although the disease is fairly common in the US and Europe, the three-legged deer tick associated with this disease is only found in heavily forested and grassy areas, meaning you are unlikely to get Lyme disease if you spend most of your time in urban areas. In the US, the disease is transmitted by the lxodes pacificus and lxodes scapularis tick species. Below is some more information about Lyme disease treatment options.
Treatment Options
According to the Mayo Clinic and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lyme disease is treatable, meaning patients who receive prompt medical attention typically make a full recovery from the disease. In most cases, doctors prescribe oral or intravenous antibiotics to patients diagnosed with this disease.
1. Oral antibiotics
Oral antibiotics are the first line of defense largely because they are easy to administer, especially to young children. For adults and children over the age of eight, doctors typically prescribe a course of doxycycline antibiotics. The International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS) recommends a single dose of doxycycline to be no more than 200 mg. Amoxicillin or cefuroxime antibiotics are prescribed to pregnant or breastfeeding women as well as younger children (less than eight years old). An antibiotics course lasts anywhere from 14 to 21 days depending on a patient’s age, overall health condition and symptoms.
2. Intravenous antibiotics
In cases where Lyme disease infection is so entrenched it has affected the central nervous system, doctors usually prescribe intravenous antibiotics to eliminate the infection from the body. An intravenous antibiotics course lasts between 14 and 28 days. Nevertheless, intravenous antibiotics have side effects including mild to severe diarrhea, infections caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms, and lower white blood cell count.
Early Stage Lyme Disease Treatment Precautions
According to a scientific article published in the Oxford Journals’ Clinical Infectious Diseases, it is not advisable to treat early stage Lyme disease with macrolide-based antibiotics because theyare less effective compared to other types of antibiotics. Doctors only prescribe macrolides in cases where patients cannot take amoxicillin, cefuroxime axetil or doxycycline.
Ultimate Lyme Support system is broad-spectrum supplement that enhances the functioning of the immune system. Moreover, this supplement is effective in killing bacteria associated with Lyme disease including Borrelia burgdorferi and expels toxic heavy metals, VOCs, and free radicals from the body
Conclusion
Physicians usually prescribe a course of oral or intravenous antibiotics lasting anywhere from 14 to 28 days to patients suffering from Lyme disease. Such antibiotics include amoxicillin, doxycycline, azithromycin, clarithromycin, cefotaxime, erythromycin and cefuroxime axetil. It is worth noting that patients may experience negative side effects such as muscle aches, fatigue, as well as mild-to-severe diarrhea during or after treatment.