Lyme Disease Management

About Lyme Disease

Lyme disease was first documented in 1977. It’s transmitted by the bite of a tick. This tick is known as the “deer tick” or “blacklegged tick”. It frequently carries many bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa, including Borrelia, Babesia, Bartonella, Rickettsia and Ehrlichia, to name a few.   

Since 2011, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Lyme disease cases reported to public health authorities in Quebec, North America and worldwide.

Ticks often carry a large number of infectious agents that cause several inflammatory symptoms. These infectious agents first act at the time of the bite and cause initial symptoms between the 3^rd and 30^th day. Symptoms of Lyme disease can vary from person to person but most patients initially present with fatigue, fever and body aches (flu-like symptoms).   

If the disease is not detected and treated quickly, these infectious agents can be dispersed in the bloodstream and lead to further symptoms, which occur over the following weeks and months. The disease then progresses to a chronic and sometimes persistent phase, causing problems that affect several organs or systems of the human body. The patient then presents symptoms ranging from joint pain, neurological symptoms, fatigue, mood disorders, skin problems, etc.   

The first challenge is to determine through clinical examination, questionnaires and sophisticated laboratory tests whether your symptoms are the result of Lyme disease and, above all, to identify the infectious agents that are primarily responsible for the symptoms you are experiencing. The second challenge is to adequately treat these infections, which cause disabilities that can sometimes be significant.   

It’s important to know that many patients are misdiagnosed, resulting in delays in the management of their health and a worsening of their condition. Care protocols are complex. The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) is one of the international references of excellence. It is precisely this approach that guides the management of patients at the CMIE clinic, advocating a multidisciplinary intervention and integrating a medical approach using antibacterial agents, as well as complementary functional medicine approaches (nutritional supplements, detoxification, and immune support). This optimal approach requires the collaboration of several health professionals with complementary fields of practice to optimize your treatment plan and aim for a cure or significant improvement of your symptoms, while respecting recent and constantly evolving scientific data.