Interesting question
@lazy gardener. I would imagine that a lot of the problem with symptoms relies on a person's immune system although given that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease
Borrelia burgdorferi can cause symptoms the same as any bacterial infection can. I know I was quite sick with it for about two years and I was diagnosed fairly quickly, within 6 months of being symptomatic.
On the same thought, there is a high probability of getting false negatives so the incidence of false positives has to be a distinct possibility.
I also have the same problem that you have with suffering after gardening. Last year I had an infection in my SI joint in my left hip/pelvis that caused pain in my left knee. After 2 months of suffering extensive pain in my knee from kneeling and then straightening, I called it quits and gave my garden over to the weeds. It just wasn't worth the pain any longer. My doctor was able to get the pain settled down using injections into the SI joint but my knees will never be the same again.
Gardening is one of my favorite pastimes. Learning how to do it to accommodate my physical abilities has become the new challenge in my life.
@CapricornFarm. It won't hurt to talk to your doctor. They say that most infections occur if the tick is left embedded for more than 24 hours. Also your chance of infection increases if you squeeze the tick and it regurgitates it's stomach contents into your body. BUT. I've read of people who became ill with tick bites that were less than 24 hours old. Myself included. I had the classic bulls eye rash along with a large solid hive ( as big as a luncheon plate ) on my abdomen. I had subsequent solid hive like rashes on my chest and back.
Now I am suspecting as some of the joint pain I am experiencing now is a left over from my Lyme infection. I recently read an article in a medical journal that said that they are finding that many people are showing manifestations of RA after being treated for Lyme and they are wondering now if the BB bacteria isn't setting up some sort of immune response that is causing RA symptoms.
Sigh. Lyme disease. The bug that keeps on giving even after you think it is gone.