Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

10–20% of Lyme Patients Develop Chronic Post-Lyme Syndrome — One Patient Had It for 30 Years #shorts

6 Aug 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:53

In this YouTube short, Dr. Aaron Hartman describes a common but often missed presentation of Lyme disease that mimics a “summer flu” – fever, body aches, fatigue without a cough. He recounts a patient who, after hiking the Appalachian Trail, experienced these symptoms and was initially unaware of a tick bite, yet responded rapidly to doxycycline. Hartman highlights that only about 50‑60% of patients recall a tick bite because ticks can bite and detach like a regular bug bite. He cites U.S. data estimating roughly 476,000 Lyme cases annually, with 10‑20% progressing to chronic post‑Lyme syndrome, an autoimmune‑inflammatory condition causing persistent pain, brain fog, hormonal issues, and fatigue that can last decades, as illustrated by a patient who suffered for over 30 years before diagnosis. Hartman emphasizes that Lyme disease is frequently overlooked and patients are often dismissed, leading to misdiagnoses such as chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, especially among women. He urges viewers to share their experiences, directs them to resources on his website, and calls for collective education on tick‑borne illnesses.

Chapters

Have you ever had summer flu before? It's the middle of summertime and you get a fever, you get achy all over, you're tired, but you don't cough. I saw a person just like this about 15 years ago. I knew exactly what it was. They'd just been hiking along the Appalachian Trail. It had to be a tick bite. They had no idea what was going on. They swore they had no tick bite. Yet after a day or two of doxycycline, all their symptoms went away. Lyme disease from tick bites is super common and it's commonly overlooked. Why are one of the reasons for that? Well, first of all, maybe half to 60% of people actually remember a tick bite related to their symptoms. Commonly happens in the summertime when people outside and sometimes the ticks will bite you, go off and you have like a bug bite. It looks like a bug bite, right? But it was actually a tick that crawled, bit, crawled and bit. Of those people who get Lyme disease, of the 476,000 people who get Lyme disease every year, about 10 or 20% will actually develop chronic Lyme disease or post-Lyme syndrome. This is an autoimmune inflammatory condition of your innate immune system, a part of chronic inflammatory response syndrome or biotoxin illness where you basically hurt, ache, brain fog, muscle aches, hormone irregularities, body aches, etc. It can be going on for years and years and years. One of my patients actually had this for over 30 years before he diagnosed her and treated her. The point is, is in our country today, Lyme is an overlooked, commonly overlooked disease. People get gaslit. It's all in your head. They get— it's a blind spot. And ultimately, this can lead to a lot of issues, including chronic fatigue and fibro, which, you know, a lot of people who suffer with that are actually women. Point is, we have to know to look for these things. We have lots of resources on our website. If you or a loved one has had Lyme disease and it's been overlooked or know of tick-borne illness, I'd love to learn about it. Please share your story below. This is how we can actually start to educate each other. I learn from patients, people all the time. I'd love to learn from you today. So share your story below and let's learn together.