Is Morgellons Disease A Form of Lyme disease?

There are some who believe that Morgellons is a form of Lyme disease. There are reports that some Morgellons patients test positive for the causative agent of Lyme disease, and the antibiotics used to treat Lyme disease leads to the remission of Morgellons symptoms. One nurse practitioner in Texas, Ginger Savely, claims that ten percent of the patients she treats for chronic Lyme disease also exhibit symptoms of Morgellons.

So what is Lyme disease? Well, Lyme disease is a bacterial disease that is spread by ticks. Symptoms of Lyme disease do not always present immediately. It can take from 3 to 30 days for the first sign of infection to appear. The first symptom is usually a circular rash at the site of the tick bite. Along with the rash, people could experience symptoms of fatigue, chills, fevers, headaches, and joint and muscle pains. Although antibiotics cure most cases of Lyme disease, there is a small group of patients whose symptoms last months or even years after their antibiotic treatment. These patients can suffer from muscle and joint pain, arthritis, sleep disturbance, or fatigue. Doctors are unsure why patients continue to have these symptoms, but there is some evidence that it is a continued autoimmune response in which the body's immune system continues to fight the infection even though it has cleared.

A doctor in Florida, Greg Smith, and his wife Judy are Morgellons patients who also tested positive for Lyme disease. The Smiths were both experiencing neurological symptoms characteristic of advanced Lyme disease. Their symptoms improved after they began taking antibiotics. In tying these diseases together, one doctor suggested that the neurological changes caused by the advanced Lyme disease may cause the crawling sensations characteristic of Morgellons disease. This once again suggests that Morgellons is a delusion instead of a real disease. Smith isn't buying that, calling the diagnosis of parasitosis a diagnosis of exclusion. As a doctor himself, Smith contends that this diagnosis should not be made until all other possibilities have been exhausted.

Ginger Savely, who specializes in Lyme disease, suspects those suffering with Lyme disease are more likely to contract Morgellons disease because of weakened immune systems that render them especially susceptible to infection. The Morgellons Research Foundation agrees that the link between Morgellons and Lyme disease is likely a matter of the unknown organism that is causing Morgellons taking advantage of the weakened immune systems of those suffering from Lyme disease.

An association with Lyme disease should give Morgellons patients some hope. At one time Lyme disease was also a disputed condition. It was often misdiagnosed and poorly treated. Those suffering from Lyme disease were called hypochondriacs. But in time, research proved that Lyme disease was a real condition. Hopefully diligent research can do the same for Morgellons disease.

Because Morgellons isn't recognized as an official disease, its research does not receive state or federal funding. However, with the CDC beginning an investigation on Morgellons, hopefully those funds will be available in the next future to uncover an effective treatment for Morgellons disease.