Lyme Disease for 17 years without it being diagnosed?

I lived in South Carolina for a few years and where we lived you could not walk through the yard to the car without getting 2 ticks on you. I got a bulls eye rash but didn't at that time know anything about Lyme Disease. Could I have had Lyme Disease for 17 years without it being diagnosed? I am having health problems now such as rash, legs and feet swelling, shaking hands and sometimes I will get dizzy but that does not happen often any longer, maybe twice a month.
In the past I had trouble with my leg swelling and feeling hard, I also had agoraphobia, I could not walk out of the house without having severe chest pain, that lasted about 2 years.
How do they check for Lyme Disease? Thanks for your help.