LymeHQ · Clinical Reference

Treatment Protocols Reference

Standard-of-care approaches for the eight major tick-borne diseases — what's typically used, why, and how coinfections change the picture. Toggle between a plain-language patient view and a clinical detail view.

Educational reference only — not medical advice. This page describes which treatments are typically used and why. It does not provide dosing. Specific doses, durations, and treatment decisions are determined by your provider based on your situation and current guidelines.

Review statePending clinical review

Every drug named and the rationale given for it. No dose or duration appears on the page, deliberately — that absence is part of what needs checking. A clinically-informed reviewer has not yet signed this off, and it stays marked until one does.

Two sets of guidance, and where they part

Three questions, and what each set of guidance says in answer to them.

Where two sets of tick-borne disease guidance differTwo sets of guidance answer the same questions differently, and neither is presented as the settled answer. On how long to treat, IDSA and CDC guidance describes a defined course and holds that longer courses have no proven benefit, while ILADS guidance allows longer or repeated courses, decided case by case. On whether infection can persist, IDSA and CDC guidance holds that persistence is not established and calls continuing illness post-treatment syndrome, while ILADS guidance considers persistence possible and says it may explain ongoing symptoms. On how much the test decides, IDSA and CDC guidance has serology guide the diagnosis, with two-tier testing as the standard, while ILADS guidance allows the clinical picture to outweigh the test, given known test limitations. Both positions are held by practising clinicians.IDSA / CDCguidanceILADSguidanceHow long to treatA defined courseLonger courses:no proven benefitLonger orrepeated coursesDecidedcase by caseWhether infection can persistNot establishedCalled post-treatmentsyndromeConsideredpossibleAnd may explainongoing symptomsHow much the test decidesSerology guidesdiagnosisTwo-tier testingis the standardClinical picturecan outweigh itGiven known testlimitations

Both columns are the same size, in the same type, in the same colour. That is deliberate: this figure records a disagreement; it does not settle one.

Knowing which of the three questions is actually in front of you — how long, whether it persists, or how much the test decides — is what makes the next conversation a shorter one.

Both positions are held by practising clinicians. This shows where they differ; it is not a recommendation. Your treatment is a conversation with your own clinician.

Orientation only. No figure on this drawing is a measured quantity: the columns paraphrase the shape of two published positions in plain language, and carry no dose, no duration and no guideline version.

Tick-borne diseases are treated differently because they are biologically different organisms — bacteria, parasites, and viruses each require a different approach. The same antibiotic that treats Lyme has zero effect on Babesia, a parasite. This reference organizes the standard-of-care approach for each disease — which treatments are typically used and the reasoning behind them. It intentionally does not include doses or durations — those are determined by your provider. This page documents the structure of care, not a prescription.

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Where to read next

Looking for integrative and supportive approaches used alongside conventional treatment? See the Integrative & Natural Approaches guide — with honest evidence labeling for what's clinically studied, preclinical, and community-reported.