Lyme disease occurs in all parts of the United States. Early treatment is important if more serious damage from Lyme disease is to be prevented. Lyme disease and hives can be confused with each other and this is an important mistake to avoid. In its early stages, Lyme disease resembles hives. Lyme disease can even cause hives in the first week or so and if the symptom is just shrugged off as hives, you may miss an important opportunity to treat the Lyme disease. Hives doesn’t mean you have Lyme disease and hives by itself usually doesn’t mean Lyme disease. But let’s take a look at some other early symptoms.

What Is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is an infectious bacterial disease spread by small ticks called deer ticks. It can be very serious if left untreated, but not fatal. The similarity of early symptoms of Lyme disease and hives means many people don’t get important early treatment that can prevent future problems. The disease can affect the joints, nervous system, and the heart, usually months after being contracted. More than half of those with untreated Lyme disease will develop chronic arthritis in the large joints. About 10 to 20 percent who don’t get treated will develop problems with their central nervous system. This damage can cause anything from headaches to facial paralysis. Heart problems of all varieties can develop with untreated Lyme disease. Most of these problems can be avoided with early antibiotic treatment but the similarity between Lyme disease and hives sometimes causes people to think they are just having an acute hives attack and won’t seek treatment right away.

So What Other Symptoms Should Be Looked For?

The first symptom is usually a rash where the tick was attached. The ticks are so small most people don’t notice them before they fall off. It starts small and spreads out. The red area often clears out in the center so it looks like a donut. This donut like appearance alone is one thing that can alert you to the difference between Lyme disease and hives. Other symptoms besides the hives are flu-like symptoms, like fever, sore throat, stiff neck, and headaches. Swollen glands are another early symptom. But Lyme disease and hives alone can show these same symptoms in certain hives types that are related to allergic reactions.

Best To Get A Blood Test

If you are not sure of the difference in your own symptoms and are not clear about the difference between Lyme disease and hives, your doctor can perform a blood test to look for Antibodies to the Lyme disease bacteria. This is the surest way to not confuse Lyme disease and hives and get the important early treatment for Lyme disease if you need it.

How Is It Treated?

Treatment is easy with antibiotics. Early treatment can prevent the later, more serious problems of Lyme disease. Don’t let confusion between Lyme disease and hives cause you to miss this window of opportunity that can save you months or years of problems later.

Some patients have been known to experience Lyme disease and hives simultaneously. Hence, the possibility of a connection between them is worth exploring. Sometimes the coincidence is seen as evidence that Lyme disease is a trigger for hives. Lyme disease also happens to be thought of as “the great imitator”: hence, it has been suggested that the Lyme disease rash occasionally mimics hives.

Notwithstanding the coincidences mentioned above, there are important differences between hives and Lyme disease. For one, Lyme disease is an infectious, tick-borne bacterial infection. Hives are not infectious, though. They tend to manifest as symptoms in a wide range of circumstances, including bacterial infections, viral infections, autoimmune diseases and allergic reactions. Thus, it is not entirely strange for one to speculate that, in some people, Lyme disease, a bacterial infection, might trigger hives.

Another difference between Lyme disease and hives is that Lyme disease has the capacity to provoke neurocognitive symptoms, while hives do not. Lyme disease is also unlike hives in the sense that it can result in miscarriages, joint pain and muscle pain. Hives are unlikely to be associated with any of these unless they occur simultaneously with other medical conditions or complications.

Parallels between Lyme Disease and Hives

There are some notable parallels between hives and Lyme disease: hives are often idiopathic, while Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose. In both scenarios, patients have to deal with the frustration of having symptoms whose triggers or causes they cannot identify.

Lyme disease and hives are also similar in the sense that their respective progressions vary from individual to individual. Hives can be chronic or acute, and they can manifest on different body parts. Lyme disease can manifest as any of a wide range of symptoms, and there is nothing predictable about the combination in which they appear.

Lyme disease and hives have another important thing in common: many people recognize them by a characteristic skin condition. Hives tend to be characterized by wheals, reddish bumps that disappear after a while, only to reappear elsewhere. Lyme disease is often characterized by a bull’s-eye-like rash called erythema migrans, which typically appears several days after the tick bite. Interestingly enough, sometimes the erythema migrans rash takes on the appearance of other skin conditions like eczema, hives, poison ivy or sunburn. Thus, some people may be under the impression that they have hives when, in reality, they do not. If they are lucky, they may ultimately figure out that they have been infected with Lyme disease.