One of the hardest parts of being a parent is watching your child struggle while the “basic workup” comes back normal.
Your child may look fine on paper—normal labs, normal physical exam, maybe even a reassuring specialist visit—yet you’re still seeing real changes: fatigue that doesn’t match their activity level, headaches, body aches, mood shifts, sleep disruption, school decline, or a child who just isn’t acting like themselves.
When we talk about pediatric Lyme disease, I want families to understand this: Lyme is often not a tidy, single-problem diagnosis. In many children it’s better understood as part of a broader tick-borne / vector-borne illness picture, where microbes can trigger immune dysregulation and downstream inflammation.
At Restorative Medicine, we don’t build a plan around labels alone. We dig deeper to look for root causes—because symptom-chasing is exhausting, expensive, and often ineffective. No bandaids. No gimmicks. The goal is to identify what’s driving the immune dysfunction and address it at a pace your child can actually tolerate.
We see families from Rochester Hills, Metro Detroit, and across Michigan who are looking for a thoughtful, stepwise approach when the usual answers haven’t added up.
Why Pediatric Lyme Disease Often Looks Different Than Adult Lyme
Kids rarely read the textbook.
In pediatrics, symptom patterns can be subtle, inconsistent, or feel “all over the place.” Some children don’t present with the classic story of a known tick bite, a bullseye rash, and a clear timeline. Instead, what parents notice is a gradual shift—or a sudden change—that doesn’t fit neatly into one box.
Common pediatric presentations can include:
- Fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and sleep changes (trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or feeling unrefreshed)
- Joint or muscle pain that may migrate, come and go, or show up as activity intolerance
- GI symptoms like nausea, abdominal pain, appetite changes, or new food sensitivities
- Sensory sensitivity (light/noise intolerance) or a child who becomes easily overwhelmed
- Mood and behavior changes such as anxiety, irritability, emotional lability, or “short fuse” reactions
Another reason Lyme can be missed in children is the waxing and waning pattern. Symptoms may flare, calm down, then return—often after a virus, a stressful event, travel, a growth spurt, or environmental changes. That variability can make families (and clinicians) doubt the pattern. But in functional and integrative medicine, pattern recognition is part of the work.
Our Clinical Approach to Pediatric Lyme Disease Care
A detailed history that actually guides decisions
In pediatric tick-borne illness, the timeline is often the diagnosis. Not because it’s “all in the story,” but because patterns tell us what lab tests can’t.
In our office, we build a working timeline that includes:
- Symptom onset: what changed, how fast, and what the child looked like before
- Flares: what makes symptoms spike (illness, travel, school stress, weather/season shifts, workouts, sleep loss)
- Infections: strep, viral illnesses, “just a cold,” recurrent sinus/ear infections, pneumonia history
- Antibiotic exposure: what was tried, when, what changed, and what didn’t
- Stressors: family stress, academic pressure, social changes, sports load, sleep disruption
- Environmental factors: mold/water-damage exposure, musty basements, leaks, chronic humidity, symptom improvement when away from home
- School and function: stamina, attendance, grades, mood, sensory tolerance, behavioral changes, extracurricular drop-off
What we ask parents to track (and why it matters):
- A simple symptom + trigger + intervention log (daily or flare-based)
- Sleep quality (not just “hours,” but restorative vs wired/tired)
- Mood/behavior shifts and when they happen (morning vs evening, school days vs weekends)
- GI patterns (appetite, nausea, stool changes)
- Activity tolerance (what a “crash” looks like for your child)
- Response to treatments/supplements/meds (including “it helped for 3 days then stopped”)
This isn’t busywork. It prevents guesswork. If we don’t track patterns, we end up chasing symptoms—and that’s where families get stuck.
Root Cause Triad lens: the “why” behind symptoms
We organize complex cases using a Root Cause Triad framework. Most chronic pediatric symptom clusters aren’t random. They’re downstream effects of immune dysregulation—often driven by some combination of:
1) Microbes
- Tick-borne infections (Lyme and possible co-infections)
- Other chronic or recurring infections that keep the immune system activated
2) Toxins
- Biotoxins (especially mold/water-damage exposure)
- Internal microbial toxins and inflammatory byproducts that amplify symptoms
3) Stress response
- Chronic fight-or-flight physiology that alters sleep, gut function, immune signaling, and detox capacity
- Kids don’t need to “feel anxious” to be physiologically stuck in survival mode
When these stack together, the result is often immune imbalance and chronic inflammation—which can show up as fatigue, pain, anxiety, sensory issues, GI symptoms, and school/function decline. Our job is to identify which drivers are present and then build a plan that’s effective and tolerable.
Testing strategy: targeted, not random
Testing should clarify decisions—not create a bigger mess.
We typically think in layers:
Baseline “safety labs” and inflammation markers
- General labs to establish safety, rule out common contributors, and set a baseline for monitoring over time
- Inflammation and metabolic clues that help explain fatigue, pain, and recovery issues
Immune function and inflammatory pattern clues
- When clinically appropriate, we may look for patterns consistent with chronic inflammatory physiology (often described as CIRS-style biomarkers in functional medicine circles).
- The point isn’t the label—it’s whether the immune system is stuck “on,” and what’s maintaining that state.
Tick-borne testing (interpreted in context)
- Tick-borne testing can be helpful, but it has limitations. Results can vary based on timing, immune suppression, prior antibiotics, and the test method used.
- We interpret results alongside symptoms and timeline—because the child in front of us matters more than a single data point.
When we consider additional workups
- GI evaluation (because the gut is often where immune signaling and tolerance begin)
- Nutrient status (energy production, methylation support, inflammation regulation)
- Endocrine patterns (stress hormones, thyroid patterns, pubertal/hormonal shifts that can change symptom intensity)
Pediatric Lyme Treatment Plan Components
Stabilize foundations first (to improve tolerance)
This step is not optional. If a child is depleted, inflamed, not sleeping, and living in constant physiologic stress, they won’t tolerate effective antimicrobial or detox strategies.
Foundations commonly include:
- Hydration and electrolytes (simple, but often a major lever)
- Sleep support (sleep is immune therapy)
- Nutrition that reduces inflammatory load and supports stable blood sugar
- Gentle movement matched to tolerance (avoid the push-crash cycle)
- Stress regulation (breathing, downshifting, nervous system support that a child can actually do)
And yes—clean indoor air and mold awareness matter when the history fits. If a child is reacting to a water-damaged environment, you can treat microbes aggressively and still lose ground.
Address microbial burden (individualized)
Once a child is more stable (or at least not spiraling), we address microbial drivers in a thoughtful sequence.
Education-level overview of options (not prescriptive):
- Herbal protocols (targeted, often used in staged approaches)
- Targeted antimicrobials (when appropriate)
- Pharmaceuticals (when appropriate and clinically indicated)
Sequencing strategies (what we often tackle first and why):
- We prioritize based on the child’s symptom pattern, tolerance, and safety labs.
- In many cases, the goal is not to “hit everything.” The goal is to reduce burden while keeping the nervous system and detox pathways online.
Co-infection-specific considerations (symptom-guided prioritization):
- Certain symptom clusters can suggest co-infection patterns. That doesn’t mean we assume; it means we prioritize intelligently and monitor response carefully.
Support detoxification and inflammatory regulation
“Detox” shouldn’t mean random supplements. It should mean supporting physiology so a child can process inflammation and treatment byproducts without crashing.
Support may include:
- Drainage pathway support (bowel regularity, hydration, lymphatic movement, sweating if appropriate)
- Binders when indicated (used carefully, not casually)
- Liver/gut support concepts to reduce recirculation of inflammatory byproducts
- Anti-inflammatory support tailored to the child’s response and labs
And a big one: nervous system regulation is a treatment multiplier.
A dysregulated nervous system amplifies symptoms and lowers tolerance. When we help the body shift out of fight-or-flight, treatments work better and flares become more manageable.
Track response to avoid guesswork
We don’t rely on vague impressions like “maybe a little better.”
We use:
- A symptom + intervention calendar (simple, consistent)
- Clear markers of function:
- Sleep quality
- Mood stability
- Stamina and recovery time
- School attendance and cognitive endurance
- Activity tolerance without payback
What progress looks like in real life
- Fewer bad days
- Faster recovery after exertion
- More stable mood and less sensory overwhelm
- Better sleep and fewer “wired but tired” patterns
- More consistent school function (even if not perfect yet)
Get Answers and a Plan You Can Follow
If you’re reading this and thinking, “This doesn’t sound like my child used to be,” you’re not crazy—and you’re not alone. Pediatric Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses often show up as patterns: waxing and waning symptoms, flares after stress or viral illnesses, and “random” complaints that are anything but random when you map the timeline.
Your child’s symptoms are real. And when the basic tests don’t explain what you’re seeing at home, it’s time to dig deeper—calmly, methodically, and with a plan your child can actually tolerate.
If you suspect pediatric Lyme disease or tick-borne illness in Michigan, the next step is to schedule a comprehensive evaluation so we can review the full story, identify likely drivers, and build a stepwise strategy focused on root cause.
And then—put your screen down and go do something in the real world. Get outside. Take a walk. Breathe. Come back and take the next step.
Contact Restorative Medicine Center
Restorative Medicine Center (Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal, MD)
705 Barclay Cir #115, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
Phone: 248.289.6349
Fax: 248-289-6923
Office Hours: Mon–Thurs: 9am–5pm | Fri: Closed
Website: restorativemedcenter.com