Lyme Disease

[sknisley22]

Hi,

I'm not sure where it came from, but I got an email the other day and a lady was talking about having lyme disease and that her lyme disease doctor always tests his patients for celiac because the two are connected. I thought lyme disease come from an infected tick, though, so I'm really confused how the two could have any relations at all? Is there a different kind of lyme disease that I don't know about? I'm just curious because I have also noticed that some people on this forum have also listed lyme disease in their profile.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[CarlaB]

Hi,

I'm not sure where it came from, but I got an email the other day and a lady was talking about having lyme disease and that her lyme disease doctor always tests his patients for celiac because the two are connected. I thought lyme disease come from an infected tick, though, so I'm really confused how the two could have any relations at all? Is there a different kind of lyme disease that I don't know about? I'm just curious because I have also noticed that some people on this forum have also listed lyme disease in their profile.

Thanks,

Stephanie

The two aren't connected, but they have the same symptoms, so many Lyme docs screen for celiac disease (mine does). Both diseases are systemic, which is probably why the symptoms are similar. You can see a list of symptoms of Lyme at www.canlyme.com. Other good websites are www.Lame Advertisement and www.igenex.com.

Many people with Lyme eat gluten-free ... it's a relatively common topic on the Lyme boards, but there's not necessarily a connection unless someone were to have had their celiac triggered by Lyme since celiac can be triggered by an illness or other stress.

[mftnchn]

Glad to see this discussion because I have had lyme disease and also notice the diagnosis listed here in this forum.

I'd like to hear from people who are gluten sensitive and have lyme disease; what is your sense of the connection in your case?

My guess for me is that either I had celiac all along or it was triggered when I got lyme disease. This was also shortly after I had my two children, so pregnancy could have also been the trigger. Arthritis symptoms were bad for many years, but after 6 years of antibiotics and other things (notably "cat's claw" made a big difference for me), am finally beyond that with only minor joint /muscle symptoms remaining.