Can COVID reactivate Lyme disease? COVID-19 weakens the immune system and throws it off balance. This can trigger the reactivation of dormant infections, including Lyme disease, Bartonella, Epstein-Barr Virus, Varicella-zoster, and more. With the sudden return of symptoms weeks or months after, many assume that they are experiencing what is known as long COVID. However, it could very well be an old infection resurfacing. Proper diagnosis and personalized treatment are necessary.
While it may feel good to recover from COVID-19, the relief may be short-lived. Those with chronic infections, such as Lyme disease, often see a resurgence in their symptoms in their post-COVID era. Brain fog, unexplained pain, and persistent fatigue plague patients who thought they were feeling better, leaving them puzzled and confused.
More and more patients are finding themselves in this exact situation. So, as medical professionals who focus specifically on treating complex chronic infections, we will explain how COVID-19 may reactivate Lyme disease and other infections, and what you can do about it.
How Your Immune System Controls an Infection
The immune system plays a crucial role in controlling chronic infections. A healthy patient who has fought Lyme disease, Varicella-zoster (the shingles disease), or the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) will overcome their symptoms with treatment, but that doesn’t mean the pathogens that caused the infection have disappeared. Rather, they remain in check thanks to a balanced immune response, and you may never even feel their symptoms.
Unfortunately, things can change when COVID-19 arrives. The immune system is sent into overdrive, feeling exhausted, depleted, and deregulated. It may destroy healthy cells and cause inflammation throughout the body. And, as it becomes weakened, low-level, dormant illnesses that have been hanging around quietly will begin to become active.
Lyme Disease and Co-Infections: The Need for Balance
Patients with Lyme disease or other infections that may have been improved and under control may flare up with old, familiar symptoms after a COVID-19 infection. This happens more often than you’d imagine.
See, Lyme disease itself is a stand-alone condition, but it often comes along with other infections, too. These commonly include Bartonella, a bacterium known to cause neurological issues, as well as a malaria-type parasite known as Babesia, Mycoplasma, and more. These may not initially be found or treated with the Lyme diagnosis and, instead, lie dormant in the body for years. They will often be asymptomatic, so you won’t even know they are there.
When COVID-19 interferes with the delicate balance of the immune system, it can trigger a reaction from these pathogens. Before you know it, you are dealing with heavy fatigue, painful joints, and more. Could it be long COVID? Perhaps. But it could also be a reactivation of your Lyme disease or co-infections, too. Working with the right medical team can help you get answers and treatment quickly.
Reactivation Symptoms To Pay Attention To
Patients who have had their symptoms under control for some time often fail to recognize that they may be coming back. The entire situation can leave you perplexed and wanting answers. Understanding that there is a connection between COVID-19 and a reactivation can raise awareness that this is a situation that can arise and does warrant a fast response
How do you know that it may be more than just some post-viral fatigue? If you have any of these symptoms, be sure to seek medical treatment as soon as possible from a medical team skilled in Lyme disease and complex infections, like Lyme Mexico. Here are your red flags:
- Brain fog
- Cognitive difficulties
- Depression or anxiety
- Mood swings
- Muscle and joint pain
- Disrupted sleep, such as insomnia
- Night sweats
- Chills
- Digestive issues
- Nerve pain
- Heart palpitations
- Dizzinesss
Note that early intervention is key to managing these flare-ups, so once you begin experiencing symptoms, don’t delay in seeking help for them.
Comprehensive Treatment for Reactivated Infections
Ready for some good news? If you find yourself dealing with a reactivated infection, whether Lyme disease and co-infections, EBV, Varicella-zoster, or something else, treatment is available and healing is still possible. It requires that you address the infections in a way that is personalized for you, allowing you to get to the root cause. After all, simply treating the symptoms has never worked.
At Lyme Mexico, we combine precision diagnostics with targeted antiviral therapies that will help you feel the results. It will rebuild the strength of your immune system, detoxify and repair tissues, and restore your cellular function.
Don’t Get Discouraged
It is easy to be discouraged if you are on this journey. You may have successfully had treatment for your Lyme disease or other infection, and life was feeling pretty good—until it wasn’t. Sure, COVID-19 can wreak havoc and really knock you down, but having your old symptoms resurface months later can be very disheartening.
Know this: you are not back at the starting line. Do you need to read that again? You are not back at the starting line.
You know what to expect, and you know what works. You have a team of medical professionals who know how to tackle exactly what you are going through. Trust them to help you reclaim your progress and get back on your way to healing.
From Relapse to Recovery: Here is Your Path Forward
Have your symptoms returned after recovering from COVID-19? This is not your imagination—it happens. And, you are not alone. It has the means to destabilize your immune system and create the perfect storm for old infections to show up and reactivate. Many of the patients at Lyme Mexico are facing this challenge.
What you need is less confusion and more answers. Why is this happening? What can be done about it? Our team, led by Dr. Omar Morales, specializes in identifying the root cause of complex illnesses. Combining comprehensive testing with personalized treatment yields the greatest results. Travel outside the country, such as outside the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, or New Zealand, and find alternate treatments that will give you the relief you have been hoping for.
Don’t delay any longer. Let’s work together to get to the root of your pain. Schedule your consultation and become a patient today!
Check This Out!
For many, recovery from COVID-19 is just the beginning. Research continues to explore how a suppressed immune system may allow dormant infections—like Lyme disease or Epstein-Barr virus—to resurface, leading to new or returning symptoms.
If you’ve had Lyme disease or other chronic infections in the past and are noticing a return of symptoms, it’s worth checking in with your healthcare provider. Early care can make all the difference.
Watch the video below for further explanation and details.