Antibiotics Used For Lyme Disease Treatment

Lyme disease is a condition that is passed on through the saliva of deer ticks. It is not the bite of the tick that causes the disease but the bacteria that are found in the tick’s saliva. It does not infect the bitten area immediately and only manifests itself from 3 days to a month from the time of the bite. Initially, the infection will present itself as a skin rash that takes the form of a bulls-eye mark. Eventually, if not treated, the lyme disease will spread throughout the body and will be responsible for complications affecting the heart, the nervous system, and various other conditions including arthritis. This is the reason why it should be tended to in its early phases with the right antibiotics, whether oral or injected.
The Antibiotics

Doctors will usually prescribe antibiotics to battle any disease and it works just as well for lyme disease, but only if the condition is in its early phases and not too widespread throughout the body. There are many types of antibiotics used to battle the disease. The antibiotics are actually designed to fight the bacteria that are known as Borrelia which is the cause for lyme disease. You may already be familiar with many antibiotics that doctors will prescribe as you may have used them in the past to combat other illnesses. These antibiotics include Amoxicillin, Penicillin, E-mycin and many other common brands. These are just a few examples of the antibiotics that can be prescribed or bought over the counter to battle lyme disease in its early phases.

Why Antibiotics?

Antibiotics are designed to cure different diseases. The drugs can kill the Borrelia bacteria and stop any further infection and spread of lyme disease. It must be made clear, however, that antibiotics will only really work in the early stages of lyme disease infection. Also, they can be used in later phases of the condition but only to battle other symptoms such as the spread of the initial rash, joint pains, nervous system complications and heart conditions. The kinds of antibiotics that are prescribed really depend on the kind of person you are. This means that there are certain antibiotics that are prescribed to people according to age, the symptoms, and stage of lyme disease. Antibiotic treatment length is also determined by the severity of the infection but is generally only prescribed for a month at most. The stronger the antibiotic, the lesser the amount of time a person has to be take it.

Most antibiotics are taken orally and that is the safest way to take the drugs. For children, antibiotics like Doxycycline or Erythromycin are taken orally for about 20 days. This dosage effectively kills the lyme disease bacteria but should not be taken by children under the age of 8 nor should it be taken by pregnant women. Children younger than 8 and pregnant women are usually prescribed the safer antibiotic known as Amoxicillin. Overall, it is best to treat lyme disease in its early phases to completely get it out of your system and antibiotics help do that effectively.