I guess, and *only* guess that alot of the people that know how long they have had lyme are going off of either

1.) they saw the tick bite ( or rash ) ( or just the tick in their skin! ) and can give you the date and year perhaps

2.)They can trace all of their horrible symptoms back to that one certain "flu" that they never seemed to recover from

I've seen and wondered the same question myself, and as for me, I am still not sure, nor ever will be sure how long I have had lyme. I was bit on the top of my head at 12, had no symptoms until a camping trip at 26. Or... do do do.. did I have symptoms? Was that

sore throat REALLY a sore throat?

Ok, now Im just messing with you.

BUT, I can tell you this: If you are trying to kinda conjur up or think up just when you may have possibly been bitten in an effort to "scale" yourself on the late stage, etc...

don't. You will drive yourself nuts!

In my son's case, his LLMD reviewed ALL of his past medical records and was able to pin point a time frame when he began making regular visits to the doctor for "strange" and recurring ailments (ie. sore throats, fevers, ringing in the ears, migraines, nosebleeds, severe fatigue).

We can only assume, since he too had no EM rash, that this time frame is correct (roughly 5 years ago).

I might add that my son was an avid fisherman during the course of those 5 years and had NUMEROUS tick exposures from hanging around the local ponds, rivers and lake.

Hope this helps. Take care!

I did have terrible headaches, fever, stiff neck, other rashes, fatige, NMH, flu-like muscle aches, severe allergic reactions, my eyes swelled shut repeatedly, chronic diarhhea.

My GI doc even suggested Lyme to my PCP, but nobody ever checked. The symptoms lasted for a year and a half, with no diagnosis made.

I've been a camper, hiker, and gardener my whole life, always in tick endemic areas, though I don't recall ever seeing a tick. I do have a CDC positice WB.