Off-the-Charts Anxiety: Is a Tick Bite Making You Nuts?

Tick-borne infections aren't just causing sore joints and swollen knees. Some cause psychiatric symptoms that often go untreated, some experts say.

Here's how to gauge whether your anxiety is linked to Lyme disease or other tick-borne diseases:
• Know how different panic attacks work. Panic attacks spurred by Lyme disease or other tick-borne infections are generally different than non-infectious-based panic attacks, explains Dr. Bransfield. A regular panic attack lasts a few minutes, but he says those brought on by tick-related ailments can go on for more than a half hour. If your panic attack symptoms grow worse while on once-effective antianxiety treatment, it's another sign that Lyme or a related infection could be causing the attacks.

• Know when to consider tick-borne diseases. Don't rely on finding a tick attached to your body to gauge your Lyme disease risk: Many people don’t recall being bitten at all, while others notice migrating rashes or red or black-and-blue splotches shortly after being bitten. Other early Lyme symptoms sometimes pop up a few days to a month after infection and include fatigue, fever, and chills. If the disease becomes more established in your body, it could cause cardiac and neurological problems. If you think you've been recently infected with Lyme, ask your doctor to perform blood tests, and if negative, have them repeated about six weeks later. If the results are still negative and you still suspect Lyme, you may want to see a doctor who specializes in treating Lyme aggressively. Doctors should first test to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms.

• Fight with your doctor if you need to. Lyme disease is a contentious subject, with two different schools of thought: Some consider to be a short-term infection, others believe it can be chronic. Some doctors take the threat of chronic Lyme seriously, and believe it should be treated with longer courses of antibiotics; others believe chronic Lyme doesn't exist. Until more doctors recognize the severity of the disease, if you believe you have Lyme it's best to advocate for a clinical diagnosis using the strategy above.

Here are three steps to keep Lyme disease from driving you crazy in the first place:
• Scan daily. You slash your risk of developing Lyme disease if you scan your body daily for ticks. Use a mirror or a partner to check hard-to-see places, and pay special attention to areas where ticks like to hide—armpits, bra and panty lines, and the groin. And don't forget to keep your pet free of ticks naturally, too.

• Scrub-a-dub-dub. Bath time presents a great opportunity for Lyme prevention because of these three things:

1. It's another chance to focus on your body and check for ticks.
2. You can wash off ticks that haven't attached yet.
3. You may take off clothing ticks were hanging onto.
For the best protection, take a shower within two hours of being outside.

• Don't rely on a bull's eye or blood tests. While many people associate a bull's eye rash with Lyme disease, only about 30 percent of people who contract the infection show the telltale symptom. Blood tests are also unreliable, and many doctors specializing in Lyme treatment believe clinical diagnosis is more effective than blood tests alone. "The science surrounding testing and the interpretation of currently available tests is a complex subject," says Dr. Bransfield. "Negative tests may occur when infection is present; there is no currently available test that can reliably rule out the presence of tick-borne disease."

If your family doctor has ruled out other health issues and you still believe you have Lyme disease or another tick-borne disease, join Lyme support groups and ask for doctor recommendations.