Lyme Arthritis: Treatment Options and Antibiotic Therapy

Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, spread by tick bites. Untreated Lyme disease can lead to arthritis, and even some patients in the early stages of this disease can experience arthritic symptoms. Antibiotics are the preferred medicine.

Antibiotics

• All stages of Lyme disease are treatable with oral or intravenous antibiotics, according to the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center. Additional medications can help if antibiotic therapy is not sufficient.

Initial Treatment

• The recommended initial treatment for either intermittent or chronic arthritis symptoms associated with Lyme disease is oral doxycycline at 100 mg twice daily for one to two months, as noted by Johns Hopkins.

Additional Initial Options

• Amoxicillin at 500 mg four times daily for one to wo months also is an option for Lyme disease treatment, or cefuroxime axetil at 500 mg twice daily for 28 days.

Subsequent Strategies

• If the patient does not respond to the oral antibiotics or has severe early arthritis symptoms, the physician may prescribe daily injections of cefotaxime, ceftriaxone or penicillin for two to four weeks.

Anti-inflammatory Drugs

• The Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center recommends avoiding routine antibiotic therapy for patients who still have symptoms after these treatments. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen can provide symptom relief, and corticosteroid injections may be prescribed.

Autoimmune Medications

• Other drugs, commonly prescribed to treat autoimmune disorders, can help patients with Lyme arthritis. These include hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate and TNF-alpha inhibitor drugs.