Lyme disease is a type of bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans by deer ticks or black-legged ticks that have been infected with Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. Because the disease is caused by bacteria, the use of antibiotics can be highly effective in destroying the bacteria and reducing the risk of further complications from the disease. Antibiotics for Lyme disease come in many different forms depending on the stage of the disease that you are experiencing, and the personal circumstances surrounding any particular person.
Why We Use Antibiotics for Lyme disease:
Antibiotics are frequently used by doctors as a way to cure early Lyme disease and lower the risks associated with complications. In some circumstances, antibiotics are also used during the later stages of Lyme disease, when additional symptoms begin to develop involving the joints, skin, heart, and nervous system. The type of antibiotics for Lyme disease that are prescribed to you will depend on your symptoms, your age, any allergies that you suffer from, and the level of your disease.
Antibiotics can be given in oral form or as an injection, and the length of your treatment will vary according to the symptoms you are suffering from and the stage of the disease. In most circumstances, treatment will last for less than four weeks.
Antibiotics for the Stages:
For people over the age of eight, the length of time that an antibiotic is given to treat Lyme disease will depend on how bad the infection is and the antibiotic in question. Doxycycline should never be used to help children under the age of eight or pregnant women. If the child is under the age of eight, he or she should be given amoxicillin, or a different form of safe antibiotic if an allergy is present.
During the late levels of Lyme disease, or Lyme arthritis, antibiotics are often taken orally for a numerous weeks. If this option for treatment isn’t effective, the antibiotic may then be given to a patient intravenously. For people suffering from facial paralysis, but no other problems with the nervous system, a standard antibiotic may prove to be effective.
Does The Treatment Work?
If individuals receive treatment in the form of antibiotics for Lyme disease within the early stages of the disease, the problem can be quickly cured, and further issues with the heart, arthritis, and nervous system may be avoided. However, symptoms may not disappear immediately. Some symptoms can last weeks following treatment, but this doesn’t indicate that these antibiotics weren’t effective.
Antibiotic treatment for chronic Lyme can also be highly effective. However, once again, the joints that were been damaged badly as a result of the disease can take longer than usual to repair after the infection has been removed from the body, and in some cases they may not be cured by treatment
Most of the time, heart-related symptoms will begin to disappear before any antibiotics have been given, but if they are still present, they can benefit from antibiotic therapy in a matter of days.
