TICK-BORNE DISEASES AND LYME DISEASE
Posted by Mike Sonneveldt - See Editorial Guidelines (Last Updated On: Tue Mar 19 2024)
Despite the lack of reporting, tick-borne diseases impact many Americans every year. Knowing the signs of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases, as well as Lyme disease medications can make all the difference in living a full life. Prescription Hope is here to help you get your Lyme disease medications or tick-borne disease prescriptions at a low cost every month.
What Are Tick-borne Diseases?
Most of us have heard of Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. However, the world of tick bites and how to treat tick-borne diseases may be confusing.
While many diverse types of ticks exist in the US, not all carry diseases. However, types such as the blacklegged tick (deer tick), Lone Star tick, American dog tick, or Rock Mountain wood tick can carry plenty of parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Knowing the wide array of tick bite symptoms and what to look for when diagnosing tick-borne diseases can help Americans get early diagnoses and treatment. Early diagnosis of diseases such as Lyme disease is vital to controlling symptoms of the illness.
When a tick burrows into the skin of a person or animal, it can transfer parasites, bacteria, and viruses as it feasts on the blood of the host. Because the tick is considered a vector of the disease, this process is known as the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Insects such as mosquitoes and fleas are also vectors that transmit vector-borne diseases.
In 2019, over 50,000 cases of tick-borne diseases were diagnosed in the US. However, Lyme disease accounts for over 80% of tick-borne diseases in the US. Unfortunately, the CDC suspects massive underreporting of Lyme disease cases due to the difficulty in diagnosing the illness. The CDC suspects that actual cases of the disease are around 300,000 annually.
These diseases can have many different symptoms that cause inflammation, including inflammation of the brain, physical pain, neuropsychiatric complications, and in some cases can even be fatal. Knowing the signs of tick-borne diseases is vital to getting proper medical treatment immediately.
Symptoms of Lyme disease
The symptoms of Lyme disease, as reported by the CDC, include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Muscle and joint aches
- Swollen lymph nodes
- EM rash
Erythema migrans or EM rash appears in different ways, however EM often presents as a bulls-eye rash. This rash appears with a ring of rash surrounding it, looking similar to a target, hence the name bulls-eye rash. EM rash occurs in approximately 70 to 80 percent of infected people. The CDC also reports that the rash begins at the site of the tick bite in 3 to 30 days following the event of the bite. The average time from bite to rash is 7 days. The rash expands over several days and can reach up to 12 inches or more.
Oftentimes, if a rash is not present a Lyme disease diagnosis can be difficult. Due to symptoms mirroring many other conditions, getting the right treatment can be hard for those who have contracted Lyme disease. Medical professionals from areas not known for tick-borne diseases tend to avoid diagnosing symptoms stemming from Lyme disease. Most do not consider Lyme disease or other tick-borne diseases to be a cause of the symptoms, leading medical professionals to misdiagnose the cause of the illness.
How to treat tick-borne diseases
Early recognition of the illness can be vital in reducing and controlling Lyme disease symptoms that could persist long after infection. Not diagnosing and treating the illness early means the possibility of the illness spreading into the joints, heart, and nervous system.
This means a case of Lyme disease can lead to a condition called Persistent Lyme disease or Chronic Lyme disease. While treatments exist for PLD/CLD, the diagnosis can be much more difficult to obtain, and controversy still exists as to whether PLD/CLD exists or if the symptoms are the result of other illnesses. In one case, over three-quarters of chronic manifestations of Lyme disease received a fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis.
Some people suffer from persistent infections, autoimmune responses, and lingering inflammation. Not only this, but tick-borne diseases may trigger other conditions such as arthritis, foggy brain, and even alpha-gal syndrome, a food allergy that causes allergies to red meat in people.
The standard treatment for tick-borne diseases
A standard Lyme disease medication or prescription for tick-borne diseases does not exist, but even a single dose of doxycycline within 72 hours after a bite can prevent Lyme disease. Plus, doxycycline remains a first choice of treatment for many other bacterial diseases contracted from tick bites. Variations of doxycycline exist, such as Oracea or Alodox, which Prescription Hope can access.
In 1998, the FDA-approved a vaccine to reduce the possibility of contracting Lyme disease by 76%. Unfortunately, the manufacturer ended the vaccine’s production and a new formulation never became available in the United States.
Viral tick-borne diseases do not have a standard treatment, as no drugs that specifically target viral tick-borne diseases exist yet.
Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii bacteria cause Lyme disease, meaning a course of antibiotics can often resolve Lyme disease, though its ability in prevention has yet to be studied.
Do I Have Lyme disease?
In the Tick-borne Disease Working Group’s 2022 Report to Congress, lots of complaints came from patients who felt their medical professional ignored or downplayed their belief that they had contracted Lyme disease. Worse yet, plenty of medical professionals do not believe in Persistent Lyme disease or Chronic Lyme disease, making treatment of the symptoms and underlying illnesses more difficult. Bayarealyme.org reports that over a million patients struggle with Persistent Lyme disease.
Thankfully, the 2022 Report to Congress offers some solutions. Using telehealth options gives individuals access to trained clinicians who understand and are well-versed in PLD/CLD. Patients benefit from discussing their symptoms and finding a treatment plan with those clinicians who understand what to look for.
If you are suffering from lingering symptoms that may be attributable to tick-borne diseases, then finding a clinician who can recognize the signs is necessary. Great resources such as the government’s Access to Care report, lymedisease.org globallymealliance.org, and treatlyme.net can help people who suffer from Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases get relief.
These organizations can direct you towards resources, planning, clinicians as well as Lyme disease medications or prescriptions for tick-borne diseases. Lymedisease.org dedicates a section of its website to finding a Lyme disease specialist. Find a specialist through Lymedisease.org here.
Medications for tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease
No single medication or prescription exists to take care of vector-borne diseases. Ticks cause many different diseases and illnesses, making development of a medication difficult. If you are looking for a low-cost Lyme disease medication or prescription for Persistent Lyme disease, you have most likely had a difficult time finding the right solution.
Researchers have tested various drugs, with a few having some success in overcoming tick-borne diseases.
Doxycycline has become the CDC-recommended prescription for bacterial tick-borne illnesses, such as anaplasmosis, Borrelia Miyamotoi, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Some people have difficulty obtaining doxycycline through insurance when prescribed for issues such as Lyme disease, however, organizations like Prescription Hope may be able to help secure doxycycline for $60.00 a month through Prescription Hope’s medication access service .
However, doxycycline is not the only drug useful for tick bites and associated conditions that can come from tick-borne diseases. Some of those diseases that can come with Lyme disease require other medications for tick-borne diseases. Many have found success using prescriptions such as Coartem or Malarone when dealing with certain coinfections.
One coinfection includes babesiosis, also known as Nantucket fever. Mice and other rodents carry Babesiosis. These animals, referred to as reservoirs, receive bites from ticks, and then transmit the illness to humans.
Most people infected with babesiosis do not show symptoms, however, some will develop flu-like symptoms such as:
- Fever
- Chills
- Body aches
- Sweats
- Loss of Appetite
- Nausea
- Fatigue
For those who are elderly, have a weak immune system, do not have a spleen, or have other serious health conditions, babesiosis can be life-threatening. This means that a babesiosis medication can be vital.
Since parasites cause babesiosis, several drugs also used for malaria and other parasites can be quite effective. Malarone and Mepron are considered effective for the Babesia parasite.
What about my Persistent Lyme disease?
Those who suffer from Chronic Lyme disease may wonder if there are any treatments available to them. PLD medications are not readily available and treatment methods can be complex. However, some doctors are finding some success with using Dapsone to treat the slow-growing persister bacteria. Using Dapsone as a Chronic Lyme disease prescription is something only your doctor can determine is right for you.
Dapsone is used to treat leprosy and skin inflammation and has even been used to treat malaria, meaning it can double as an effective agent against a Babesia coinfection. Considering its use includes battling inflammation in lupus, the drug has been known to help control inflammation in Lyme disease. Using Dapsone is not necessarily right for everyone, and consultation with an expert is a must.
How can I afford my Lyme disease medications?
If you have trouble making ends meet and know you need a Coartem, Doxycycline, Malarone, or Dapsone prescription, then Prescription Hope wants to help!
Unfortunately, these drugs can be expensive and/or difficult to obtain through insurance.
However, you have options. If you struggle to pay for your tick-borne disease medication and are looking for ways to save, then check out Prescription Hope. For $60.00 per medication each month, Prescription Hope offers relief when it comes to the strain of paying for expensive medications.
First, you and your doctor must determine whether one of these tick-borne disease prescriptions is right for you. Then, simply go to our website and learn more about how we can offer our customers affordable prescription medications. After you have become familiar with our services, you are welcome to fill out an enrollment form. Once submitted, we will determine based on the information you provided whether we can pre-qualify you.
Once you qualify and we have received all of the requested paperwork from you and your healthcare provider, your order typically delivers within 2-4 weeks. Not only that but once you are approved and signed up, we manage your refills!
Medication typically delivers in a 90-day supply directly to your home or healthcare provider.
Prescription Hope
Prescription Hope is dedicated to helping those with Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases get the affordable prescription medications that they need at a reasonable monthly rate of $60.00 per medication. We desire for every member to live without the stress and worry of paying too much for vital prescriptions, but to always have access to low-cost drugs. No one should have to choose between their medication or bills.
We provide a simple, consistent monthly rate of $60.00 per medication for over 1,500 medications. This means that not just people with Lyme disease or tick-borne diseases can benefit from what we offer.
If you have been diagnosed with a tick-borne disease and are looking to get low-cost Doxycycline or other affordable medications, then please visit us at www.PrescriptionHope.com to learn more about how we can save you money every month!
