Potential Best Practices for Managing Lyme Disease Symptoms with Cannabis

Lyme Disease and its lingering effects can take a serious physical and mental toll on those who suffer from it. Lyme disease is the most commonly transmitted tick-borne disease in the U.S., and its infection rates continue to rise each year. 

Cannabis helps manage a wide range of related symptoms (e.g., joint pain, fatigue, insomnia), many of which Lyme disease patients commonly experience. Let’s explore some cannabis applications that could potentially help Lyme disease patients manage their symptoms.

What Exactly Is Lyme Disease & How Does It Get Contracted?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lyme disease is “an illness caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and spread by blacklegged ticks”. People who live in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and north-central regions of the U.S. are most at risk of contracting Lyme disease from ticks in forested areas. Some forested regions along the Pacific Coast are also at risk. 

Preventing Lyme disease isn’t always as easy as it sounds, but the main ways to do so are to simply avoid tick bites as much as possible and remove them immediately if bitten. Ticks are most active from April to September, or sometimes early fall.  

Lyme Disease Symptoms Are From Infected Blacklegged Ticks

A blacklegged tick transmits infection to its host approximately 24 hours after it attaches. Not every single blacklegged tick has Lyme disease to spread to hosts–according to the CDC, infection rates of blacklegged ticks can range from 0%-50% of the entire population. 

Symptoms of Lyme disease can manifest themselves a few days after contraction in several ways:

• A rash that resembles a bull’s-eye target wherever bitten
• Muscle and joint fatigue and inflammation
• Arthritic pain
• Nerve pain
• Severe headaches
• Additional rashes
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Irregular heartbeat
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath 
• Dizziness
• Brain inflammation
• Numbness, tingling of the extremities
• Brain fog
• Insomnia & sleep disorders
• Fever

How Cannabis Can Potentially Help With Lyme Disease

One of the most remarkable features of cannabis is the synergy it has with the human body. Each one of us has a human endocannabinoid system (ECS) that helps regulate a majority of our internal processes and functions. The ECS has neurotransmitters that include endocannabinoids, which correlate to receptors in the brain and body. Cannabinoids from cannabis consumption in the body react with specific endocannabinoid receptors – as well as dozens of others in the broader endocannabinoidome (eCBome) – to provide the purported medicinal effects of marijuana.

Many symptoms that lead doctors to prescribe medical marijuana also appear in Lyme disease patients. Specific products, strains, cannabinoids, and terpenes familiar to the medical marijuana community may still be unfamiliar to those suffering from Lyme disease. Still, there are no clinical studies directly examining cannabis for Lyme disease patients. 

There isn’t a cure for Lyme disease. However, the reported efficacy of cannabis in research studies to provide therapeutic benefits for relevant symptoms and improve quality of life can potentially be a reasonable add-on option to manage it.

Inflammation, Muscle Fatigue, & Chronic Pain

Lotions, balms, and creams containing whole-plant cannabis compounds are a great option to apply to a specific pain area or muscle group. A product containing a good mix of cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) will target pain receptors most efficiently as a result of the entourage effect, along with any beneficial terpenes present. 

Edibles and tinctures rich in those pain-managing cannabinoids and terpenes may also reportedly help cushion the blow of pain flare-ups. Taking these products regularly also helps reduce inflammation and boost mood over a few weeks.

According to a 2018 survey, medical marijuana patients suffering from several forms of chronic pain reported their preferred strains, cannabinoid ratios, and terpenes found in cannabis to manage symptoms. 

Patients suffering from chronic pain prefer hybrid strains, followed closely by indica, then sativa, and then 3:1 CBD:THC. OG Kush crosses such as OG Shark, Pink Kush, Skywalker OG, and Master Kush all ranked high as preferred strains for pain management. These strains include myrcene and caryophyllene as primary terpenes, which may benefit muscle relaxation, inflammation, and chronic pain. 1:1 CBD:THC extracts (tinctures and capsules) were preferred for chronic pain sufferers using extracts. 

Headaches Caused By Lyme Disease

The same survey indicates many of the medical marijuana patients also preferred OG Kush crosses to help manage issues related to headaches due to heavy myrcene and caryophyllene terpene levels. Patients preferred joints and vaporizing dry herb as their preferred methods of ingestion, while those who used extracts generally preferred a 3:1 CBD:THC ratio.

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This study’s participants also reported using several other strains listed below to manage headaches and pain, with hybrid strains leading the way. Many of these strains have the potential to help manage headaches, joint pain, neuropathy, and painful inflammation associated with Lyme disease. 

• Afghani
• Cannatonic
• Bubba Kush
• GSC
• Headband 
• Jack Herer
• Skywalker OG
• Sweet Skunk CBD
• Warlock CBD 

Lyme Disease Causes Insomnia & Sleep Disorders

Medical Marijuana patients who suffer from insomnia and sleep disorders were also polled in the survey. The majority of these patients preferred to medicate with indica strains, as a surprise to nobody. 

Indica strains with a lot of myrcene are beneficial for potentially inducing sleep and delivering more cannabinoids to the brain. Many of these strains contain OG Kush and its large extended family of gassy, lemony, and piney cannabis crosses that have it as a parent. Grandaddy Purple is also a classic sedative strain, supposedly great for nighttime use.  

However, when it comes to nighttime relaxation and a solid night’s sleep, cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, cannabinol (CBN), and cannabichromene (CBC) can reportedly be great options too. CBN and CBD–much like so many other cannabinoids–are still in need of more research, but preliminary studies conclude them to be potentially effective sleep aids. Study participants took 20mg of CBN and varying  CBD separately and were shown to wake up less during the night with no issues of fatigue the next day. 

Lyme disease patients can obtain hemp-derived tinctures or gummies with these cannabinoids at dispensaries, online, or even at the pharmacy in many states nowadays.

 READ: Top Conditions Treated by Cannabis Doctors in 2025

Avoiding Brain Fog & Providing Neuroprotection

Cognitive processing issues, commonly known as “brain fog,” can have a lasting effect on anyone dealing with Lyme disease, though sometimes it’s difficult for physicians to always diagnose correctly. However, brain imaging advancements can now recognize abnormalities in the brain associated with Lyme disease. 

According to the Johns Hopkins Medicine Lyme Disease Research Center, the cognitive effects from Lyme disease are a very real phenomenon and are related to “ongoing neuroinflammation”. Neuroprotection is another important function of the ECS, so cannabinoids that synergize with it can potentially help alleviate Lyme disease symptoms like brain fog, memory loss, and processing issues. 

CBD is shown to help manage inflammation and neurotoxicity in brain circuits. Findings from a 2024 study also show CBG to be a potential candidate to manage brain fog and processing issues from Lyme disease by showing a “neuroprotective effect against inflammation-driven neuronal damage…”. 

Oral administration of CBD oil has been shown to manage traumatic brain injuries and help with recovery to more functional processing, with the hope that it can also potentially work its magic with other neurological issues like Lyme disease-related brain fog. A whole-plant 1:1 CBD: CBG tincture or oil extract can help increase neuroprotective qualities highlighted by these studies.

Reducing Rashes Caused By Lyme Disease with CBD

The human epidermis, or skin, is the largest organ on the entire body. It constantly fights off infection and pain, courtesy of the ECS’s role in skin homeostasis. A 2023 examination of preclinical studies reports an anti-inflammatory potential for improving skin conditions like eczema, acne, pruritus, psoriasis, and skin cancer with CBD gels and ointments.  

Lyme disease-related rashes were not studied; however, the correlations between other skin disorders and topicals and tinctures containing cannabinoids like CBD provide potential relief that future research can hopefully confirm. As always, first confirm with a doctor before using any of these products or forms of cannabis. 

Find Potential Relief from Lyme Disease-Related Symptoms 

Hope can, unfortunately, sometimes be fleeting when you are dealing with a chronically severe affliction like Lyme disease and its multisystem, long-term effects. However, the potential for cannabis and its many whole-plant products, strains, cannabinoids, and terpenes to best manage Lyme disease and improve quality of life can be a much-needed ray of sunshine.

Researchers have put in the work with detailed studies to expound on the findings of cannabis’s true potential to help manage so many different diseases, conditions, and afflictions. All we can do is make the correlations with managing Lyme disease symptoms, while additional studies will hopefully break new ground and continue to help those in need.