Established in 2018, the Illinois Lyme Association was created to raise awareness of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Of the ticks that have been collected and tested in Illinois, approximately 34 percent test positive for Lyme Disease. Executive Director Jen Russell shares symptoms to watch for in the different stages:
“If you just got bit, you would have your typical flu-like symptoms, just general feeling of being unwell, tired, and nauseous just typical flu symptoms. Longer term, brain fog is very common, they call it chronic fatigue. Some people have neurological, some people have arthritic, really just depends on where the disease is congregating and attacking. A lot of people have mental clarity issues. Some kids will have rage or light sensitivity, sound sensitivity. Another symptom that we are trying to get the word out is mental health. Undiagnosed Lyme Disease can cause bi-polar and depression issues, especially in unregulated treatment. Those treatments that aren’t working and have tried every single depressant and none of it really seems to help, those people need to be tested for tick-borne disease.”
According to the CDC, nearly 476,000 new Lyme Disease cases are diagnosed each year.
**Photo Courtesy of the Illinois Lyme Association Facebook Page
