Q: Nancy H asks, “Do you treat Lyme patients any differently than a patient with ME/CFS or FM?”
A: While there is no known cause of ME/CFS or FM, it is well-acknowledged that infections trigger many cases. While EB Virus (mononucleosis) is probably the most common, I have also seen ME/CFS and FM apparently triggered by many other viruses, bacterial infections, mycoplasma, and even Lyme. Long and short, Lyme Disease may develop all the signs and symptoms of ME/CFS (see Steere AC, Taylor E, McHugh GL, Logigian EL,” The overdiagnosis of Lyme disease,” JAMA. 1993 Apr 14;269(14):1812-6). Thus, most cases of late or untreated Lyme are treated symptomatically just as CME/CFS and FM are treated.