Mine remained dormant for over 20 years. Although I was ill during that time, I was able to work and lead a fairly normal life until a big stresser, affected my immune system, then the disease came out full force.
Welcome to MedHelp --
That's a good question. I haven't researched your specific question, but Lyme can be quite tricky, lying quietly in the body for a long time, and then flaring up sometimes when the immune system is weakened (perhaps by another illness, which can be unrelated to Lyme).
Because Lyme tends to hide in areas in the body where the immune system does not easily reach, it can lay low till the immune system weakens for some reason (like another illness or trauma like surgery) and then flare up.
If you think you might have Lyme, then I would find a Lyme specialist who would use more sophisticated tests than most docs use. Let us know if you need some help finding a Lyme doc near you.