Episode Details
Back to Episodes
When Your Symptoms Do Not Fit the System – Why Lyme and Tick-Borne Illnesses Are Often Missed | Lyme / Chronic Infections | E119
Description
What if the reason your symptoms haven’t been explained yet is because the condition you’re dealing with isn’t something the system is designed to look for?
In this minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman discusses one of the major challenges in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and other tick borne infections. While the healthcare system is built to manage acute illness, many patients experience persistent symptoms that don’t fit standard treatment pathways.
He explains why chronic or complex infections are often overlooked, the limitations of standard testing, and why clinical context and symptom patterns matter. This short episode offers practical guidance for listeners who have ongoing symptoms and want to better understand when Lyme may be worth exploring.
Key Topics Covered
- Why chronic Lyme and tick borne illnesses are often overlooked in conventional care
- The difference between acute infection management and persistent symptom patterns
- Why infectious disease specialists typically focus on acute cases
- How current prevention and treatment guidelines may miss early or ongoing infection
- The role of the Horowitz Symptom Questionnaire as a screening tool
- Why exposure risk is higher than many people realize
- Limitations of standard two step Lyme testing
- How immune suppression can affect antibody results
- When advanced testing methods may be helpful
- Why Lyme may be considered in patients with chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune symptoms, or complex illness
Discover the book here: https://uncurablebook.com/
Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine
🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/
📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD