I am going through a second fight with lyme (and other co-infections) and I will just say that these symptoms are also symptoms of MANY other medical problems...
rarely will you have most everything on the list of symptoms. Joint pain/swelling has been the biggest for me, followed by memory/cognitive/balance issues. Fatigue wasn't a huge problem for me this time around (last time it was #1 on the list) and I've never had a rash - not even the slightest bit of redness around the original tick bite 10 years ago.
It is always good to know the lyme symptom list - many doctors will listen to your symptoms and lump you into one of the 'more common' diseases/ailments when they diagnose you. For some reason, lyme isn't on the radar around here as much as it should be - and YOU the consumer can change that by bringing it up to your doctor. Ask for the Elisa and Western Blot, then ask for your test results so you can look at it (CDC guidelines on what constitutes a 'negative' test are way off - I hate to say you should go to the internet to research it more, but you really should, in this case there is more knowledge on the internet than the CDC has at the moment). Not everyone has lyme - it may be something simple or more complex - but the bottom line is that lyme should at least be investigated as a very real possibility because of the area.
Also know that chronic lyme can cause SEPERATE medical issues - things above and beyond *just* lyme disease, that need to be treated seperately. I am dealing with this right now. Chronic lyme has led to heart problems and back problems for me - things that were caused specifically by the lyme, but that won't be *cured* by antibiotics, they are now seperate things I have to have care for my entire life.
Catching lyme in the early stages can be critical - and catching co-infections is JUST as critical. In my case, I did treat my lyme infection 10 years ago, but if you don't treat the co-infections as well, the lyme is never really killed off - the co-infections offer the lyme a place to 'hide out' or 'feed' off of, and it slowly starts to invade your body again. Eradicating each and every co-infection along with lyme is really important. I don't think they knew how to effectively test for or treat the co-infection that I have 10 years ago - so if you had lyme years ago and still do not feel well, don't hesitate to go back to your doctor or a lyme-literate doc. It could indeed be the lyme rearing its ugly head again.
sorry that was long - this is a topic I can get a little flustered about. Lyme has affected me and my family in so many ways, yet it is a disease that is largely ignored by many.
