Contracting Lyme disease during pregnancy is incredibly dangerous and can have a dramatic affect on the unborn child. This can cause a variety of complications and even result in a stillbirth in some scenarios. Although there are heavy consequences for contracting the disease, this article is going to look at what you need to do and how to manage Lyme disease whilst pregnant.
How to know if you might have Lyme disease
If you do contract Lyme disease and it goes untreated, there are a whole host of disastrous consequences for both you and your baby. Any symptoms of Lyme disease can cause complications with your pregnancy and put both you and your baby at risk.
The most recognisable symptom is a bull’s-eye type rash. This is a round red rash with a red ring around it and is very easy to identify. Not everyone experiences this rash and so other symptoms can include fever, fatigue, joint pain, headaches and muscle aches.
What to do if you suffer from these symptoms
If you do think you’ve contracted Lyme disease during pregnancy then you must see a doctor. The sooner you see a doctor, the sooner it can be treated and minimise the risk of causing damage.
How is Lyme disease treated when you’re pregnant?
If your doctor believes you have Lyme disease during pregnancy then it’s likely you will be prescribed a two week course of antibiotics.
Generally speaking, the course of treatment is very much the same for those who are pregnant and those who are not. The main difference would be the type of antibiotics prescribed based on the interference with foetal development.
How do you know if you’re cured?
Unfortunately, there is no way to determine if your Lyme disease during pregnancy has been cured. When it comes to fighting off infections, your body produces antibodies – this is what your doctor will look for in your blood test – and so it could be that these antibodies are in your system for months or even years after the initial infection as your body is remaining prepared should the infection come back.
As you complete your course of antibiotics, the only indicator of your condition improving will be the absence of symptoms. This means it’s particularly important that you note down any of the symptoms previously discussed with your doctor as a course of antibiotics is not always guaranteed to cure Lyme disease.
Important things to remember
Identifying Lyme disease during pregnancy as early as possible is vital to ensuring the health of both mom and baby. If you find an engorged tick on your body, it’s important that you remove it right away and then visit your doctor as soon as you can.
It may be that you have a blood test and it comes back negative but in some cases, it is recommended that you return for another test within a month or so to ensure that if you have contracted the disease, then it is treated early enough to minimise the damage.
Resources:
http://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-pregnancy/
https://www.thebump.com/a/lyme-disease-during-pregnancy
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