Children
Cognitive problems can also come and go
throughout the day. Concentration and memory
problems can make math especially difficult.
Slowed thinking can make it difficult to
comprehend oral and written language. A child
with Lyme can suddenly not recognize familiar
places and can get lost in the school. The
disease can cause learning disabilities and low
IQ scores. Word, number and letter reversals in
written and oral speech (dyslexia) are common.
Sometimes IQ scores jump after a child begins
antibiotic treatment.
Children with Lyme can be too tired to go to
school and may need to go part-time or receive
home schooling. The symptoms and severity of
symptoms can vary from day to day. A child may
feel well enough to go to school one day, but not
the next. Absences may be frequent. The
children can also have social problems, being
too tired to play with friends, and being teased if
they have trouble walking, talking, or learning.
Other children may avoid them, because of an
unfounded fear that the disease is contagious.
Lyme disease can cause a child to have sudden
panic attacks, and to be irritable and to have
mood swings. Children with Lyme may have only
mild problems, or the effects can be severe
enough to put a child in a wheelchair. Children
whose mothers have active Lyme disease during
pregnancy can be born with damage to the brain,
heart, liver, and other organs. They can have a
variety of problems, including frequent illness,
speech delays, other developmental delays, or
severe multiple disabilities. Antibiotic treatment
during pregnancy can often prevent congenital
Lyme disease. Children born with congenital
Lyme disease can benefit from antibiotic
treatment.
Diagnosing Lyme disease in children can be difficult,
because: they may not look sick; children may be
unaware that a constant headache, ringing in the
ears, and numbness and tingling aren’t normal, and
may not report it; they may be unable to describe
their symptoms; and frequent complaining may
cause adults to think they are just trying to get
attention. Pains can come on suddenly and be very
intense, and then suddenly be gone. This may be
difficult for adults to understand and believe.
Children with Lyme disease often complain of
headaches, stomach pain (sometimes accompanied
by an ulcer), chest pain, earaches, sore throat, and
joint and muscle pains. Swelling of joints is less
common in the central states than on the east coast.
There can be episodes of stiffness. Headaches can
be frequent or constant, lasting months or years.
They can be mild, or so severe that medication
doesn't’t totally relieve them. Sunlight can cause eye
pain and make headaches worse. Children with Lyme
disease may need to wear sunglasses at recess,
even on cloudy days. They may need to go to the
bathroom frequently and suddenly, and may not be
able to wait for the teacher’s permission. There may
be vision and hearing problems, which may come
and go.