This excerpt is from the CALDA website (Please see Reference page and visit the site for more):
"The CDC says that Lyme disease is most common among boys aged 5-19. This age group is affected at three times the average rate of all other age groups. Around 25% of all reported cases are children.
Children with Lyme disease have special issues. Since they did not have much of a history of wellness prior to becoming ill, they don’t know what “normal” is. They can’t always explain what is feels wrong. Because the symptoms of Lyme disease can be non-specific, vague, and changeable, parents and teachers may suspect them of malingering or making things up to gain attention. It is also difficult for parents to discern when their child’s symptoms are worse or better, given the difficulties children have making that determination themselves.
Children with Lyme disease may miss important developmental stages, due to because of social isolation caused by chronic ill health, and the failure of their peers to understand the nature and degree of their illness. They may fall behind their peers in school because their brains are not functioning properly. Children suffer when their bodies hurt, when the illness causes them not to be able to have restorative sleep every night, when they must struggle in school, when they don’t even feel like playing. They may feel confused, lost, and betrayed by caregivers who fail to recognize that something organic is going on, but instead blame them.. Isolation from parents occurs when parents don’t understood the nature of the illness, and the implications for the child’s functioning.
According to research, children are bitten by ticks more frequently around the head and neck, making them more vulnerable to brain and central nervous system infections. The resulting neurologic symptoms of Lyme disease are often misdiagnosed. Lyme pediatric specialist Charles Ray Jones, MD, compiled a list of common symptoms of infection in his young patients:
* severe fatigue unrelieved by rest
* insomnia
* headaches
* nausea, abdominal pain
* impaired concentration
* poor short-term memory
* inability to sustain attention
* difficulty thinking and expressing thoughts
* difficulty reading and writing
* being overwhelmed by schoolwork
* difficulty making decisions
* confusion
* uncharacteristic behavior
* outbursts and mood swings
* fevers/chills
* joint pain
* dizziness
* noise and light sensitivity
