Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1471270
74 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k j u l y/a u g u s t 2 0 2 2 74 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k j u l y/a u g u s t 2 0 2 2 symptoms. ILADS suggests the label chronic Lyme disease (CLD), proposing that, like PTLDS, it includes aspects of fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and sleep disturbances. However, ILADS adds to the list some neurologic features, neuropsychiatric presentations, arrhythmia and other heart problems, and musculoskeletal pain. ILADS does not rely on blood tests that indicate exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi. Is chronic Lyme disease the same thing as post- treatment Lyme disease syndrome? It depends on whom you ask. Some scientists and researchers use the terms interchangeably. Others suggest that CLD is a broader umbrella. The term chronic Lyme disease is often discouraged by conventional health-care providers because it is considered to be so vague that it can encompass any number of other possible disorders, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and more. To further complicate matters, other pathogens may also be spread by the same species of ticks that carry Borrelia, but they require different treatment strategies. Therefore, a person's long-term experience of fatigue, brain fog, aching joints, peripheral neuropathy, and varying skin rashes might be related to some other tick- borne illness and may be why their symptoms persist after their Lyme disease treatment is finished. PTLDS/CLD TREATMENT This is a complex situation because two issues affect the patient's status: the pathogen and the person's responses to infection. One thing most experts agree on is that treatment for PTLDS or CLD must be carefully individualized. Conventional health-care providers who follow IDSA guidelines typically recommend combinations of graded exercise, sleeping aids, low-dose antidepressants, antiseizure drugs (for migraines and fibromyalgia- like symptoms), and cognitive behavioral therapy. By contrast, the ILADS recommendations include carefully monitored additional antibiotics, along with symptom control and other support. At this point, the data on prolonged antibiotic use for PTLDS or CLD are not consistent, and, in fact, specifically discourage some antibiotic regimens because they don't show benefit and demonstrate some important risks. Patients undergoing long-term antibiotic use for CLD have had serious, even deadly, complications related to their medical treatment. In addition, any time long- term antibiotics are in use, we raise the risk of developing resistant strains of bacteria. Especially with chronic, painful, hard-to-treat conditions, it is vital to track whether the choices we made were effective. This happens when we follow up—by communicating at the end of the session, the following day, or the following appointment—on if or how well the session we gave met the client's goals.