Unfortunately, the symptoms of lyme disease in women are more difficult for a doctor to recognize than when they are working with a male patient. this is due to a few different factors, but it is primarily related to the monthly hormonal cycles that a woman experiences. They are often overlooked because symptoms tend to flare during the hormonal decline at the end of the cycle. some doctors have a tendency to look on this as nothing more than the “female problems” that accompany the menstrual cycle. this effect is particularly pronounced in the case where the woman already experiences problems associated with PMS.
Tick Bite – Photo Credit: Flickr / KitAy's
Sexual Discrimination and Lyme Disease
Much as we might like to think otherwise, sexual discrimination is still all around us, even at the doctor’s office. Lyme disease is often underdiagnosed in women because not everyone who contracts it develops the familiar “bull’s eye” lesion, which has long been associated as the main identifying factor of lyme disease. Much of the time, the patient will not even realize that a tick bite has even occurred, making diagnosis that much more difficult.
When hormonal levels drop at the end of the menstrual cycle, the symptoms of lyme disease in women become that much more pronounced. While many doctors who are very familiar with the appearance of lyme disease symptoms and how they affect women will be able to discern whether or not the discomfort and other symptoms are related to lyme disease, many doctors are unable to do this and simply point the finger at “female problems.”
Lyme Disease and Pregnancy
The first choice antibiotic in the treatment of lyme disease is doxycycline because of its high level of effectiveness in this case. Since it is also harmful to the fetus, it is not administered in the case where the patient is pregnant. instead, if the disease is caught early enough, erythromycin will be administered because even though it is not as effective, it has the benefit of not being harmful to the fetus. Antibiotics are given orally in the case of early detection, as it is believed that lyme disease does not cross the placental barrier, but some doctors prefer to give antibiotics intravenously as an added precaution.
If the lyme disease has progressed to the later stages before a diagnosis has been made, the treatment regimen is going to be somewhat different. Rather than simple taking the oral antibiotic and possibly an IV antibiotic, late stage lyme disease treatment in pregnant women will almost always rely on intravenous injections of antibiotics. this is done to provide a more intense treatment in order to help protect the fetus.
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