Hey all,
a couple weeks ago, I pulled two deer ticks off me. they were there overnight.
doctor said to stop in and see him if a rash shows up or if I have aches in my joints and feel tired. I’m thinkin most days are like that. how do you know when your just plain tired and achy or if it is a symptom. I hate going to the doctor for stupid reasons but lyme disease doesn’t sound too good either.
“it aint the work I mind,
It’s the feeling of falling further behind.”
Bozini Latini
Replies
You know that deer ticks that transmit Lyme disease are very very small, right? Smaller than a poppy seed. Much smaller than the larger, more typical tick, what we call "dog ticks."
If they truly were deer ticks, and if you think they might have been in your skin for more than 24 hours, then I'd be careful.
Waiting for the symptoms to appear may not be the right thing to do.
Lyme disease is extremely hard to diagnose, the symptoms can be quite varied and unpredictable.
This past week one of the kids on my son's lacrosse team was sick. Nausea and dizziness. The fourth test finally confirmed Lyme.
Test results can be mixed. Two out of five indicators on one lab test, one out of six on the next, four out of four on the one after that.
On the other side of the Connecticut River from me sits the town of Old Lyme.
So yeah, I've seen quite a few people come down with Lyme Disease over the years. And it ain't purdy.
Be careful.
Hey Mongo, I think I will request the doc send me for a blood test this week. I actually don't feel as tired this week as last. last week was long and hard so I'm guessing it was just being tired. The two ticks I pulled off me were in for probably 12 - 14 hours and they were adults. definitely deer tick though. I have an ID chart that I used to ID them. the doc gave me a two dose doxycycline as a precautionary dose. I felt the sun that first day, thought I had a fever, came home and took my temp but it was normal. I think it was just sunburn. thanks for the advice. I guess I just needed a push to feel less like a hypocondriac because I definitely fit that description.thanks"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latini
One thing I didn't mention before is that while male and female deer ticks will attach, I think it's accepted that the male ticks don't feed.Supposedly, this means that you're not as likely to get transmittable diseases from a male tick vs a female.Can't offer the disease transmission part as fact, though.The fairly short time of attachment will help you as well.I do urge caution though. Some people I know get Lyme this week and after a round of drugs, they're okay next week.I know a few others who are permanently impaired. Perosnality wise, they're ghosts of their former selves. My final advice? Avoid blood-sucking, disease transmitting, parasitic females.
"Perosnality wise, they're ghosts of their former selves"I am curious to hear more about that. I notice certain changes in myself ever since my round with it.
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I just talked to a friend who live in Venice Calif. For 3 years the doctors did not catch the disease. Over this time period she had flu like symptoms, arthritis, lack of mental focus and it transformed her from a cute beach bunny to a old hag. The Doctors would not test her for Lyme Disease because "There is no local Deer or Forests or she is on Drugs".
After hearing her story, there are two others in Marina del Rey and Playa del Rey who may all have the same problem. Most Doctors just believe they are on Drugs or have a mental breakdown.
I had th eLyme disease last year and it ain't no fun.
The rash can show up in different ways, and atthe time I was working 12 hour days so I thought the tiredness was earned, not a symptom.
I never did see the thing that bit me. In nymph stage in early spring like this they are only the size of a pencil point.
The bite felt like a horsefly hot stinging for a week or so, then it started to feel bruised and mushy in the muscle down under it so I thought maybe a spider bite and made a doctors apt for the next day.
By the time I got there, the small round red welt had expanded to the typical bull'seye pattern with a ring about 2" in diameter around the center mark. I have seen pictures much larger than that. I also had developed twenty some red blotches or rashes all over my body.
Apparantly I had a fever too that I had assumed was my higher metabolism and working in July heat.
I went through four weeks of a special antibiotic ( not kind to your gut) and probably six months of feeling wasted without strength. I still have less stamina and ability to focus for a long day.
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never got a rash, but the horsefly bite feeling I remember well. the muscle hurt for a few days too."it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latini
I think if I was sure these were deer ticks, I would find a doc who would prescribe the anitbiotics right away. two weeks now beats four weeks later.
Mongo right about how the tests to confirm are terribly inaccurate and undependable. with limited value.
It is also related to the autoimmune diseases like lupus and aids that can hide in your cells disguised and come back later like malaria does.
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I had lyme in late 2005. It paralyzed thr right side of my face for a month. Among other things. I missed alot of work, due to the inability to blink my right eye and really bad dizzy spells.
Like Piffin said. I too still have trouble focusing after a long day and my strength isnt what it used to be.
Get tested asap. The longer you wait, the worse off you'll be. Good luck
I believe there are 2 prescriptions that are commonly given for initial treatment for exposure to Lyme disease. One makes you extremely sensitive to the sun. I have both in my medicine cabinet, so obviously I have recent first hand experience. I think it is easier to just treat for lyme disease than to accurately diagnose.
All: Here is my Q- how long after the tick bite do the symptoms start?
Another bit of advice for all: The proper way to remove a tick is to firmly but slowly just pull it off. The idea is to try to get it off whole - which can be difficult. From what I've read, burning it off or using solvents on it will cause it to pass the potentially harmful bodily fluids from the tick's body to your body. Maybe someone knows more about this? Save the tick in a baggie to take to the doctor if you end up going.
I had a problem (a bite of some kind) a couple years ago and the guy working alongside me was diagnosed with Lyme disease from another bite. I had a nasty rash, little weakness. My doctor said that one way to treat the disease is to wait for a positive test. Problem is by that time, it's weeks after, and the treatment is antibiotics. He asked if I wanted to wait for the disease to develop and get the test, when I said no, he put me right on antibiotics. Maybe I was lucky and it really wasn't Lyme, but it made sense to me to be treated right away.
While we're on the subject, what's the best way to repel ticks?
We've got them all over the place. Seems we find one walking on us every couple days. Just bought one of the sprays and don't know how well it works. Anybody got another solution?
As far as removal, if you coat them with vasoline, they will back out so they don't suffocate. The last one that got into me did just that, backed out after he got coated. Need to be careful pulling them out because the head can break off and stay in (so I've heard).
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
I use 100% Deets. (You can find it in sporting good stores.) And wear a wide brim hat when walking in trees. Tickless so far this year. And it seems to be a bad year.
Thanks for the tip on extracting. I had never heard of that before. It makes perfect sense.
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The southern US always mystified me by the wide range of freaky looking bugs they have that we don't see up here.
One time I got a tick stuck in the tender part of the back of the knee.
I'd heard or read somewhere that a tick will back itself out if you apply the lit end of a cigarette towards the head of the tick.
Well, I didn't say 'hey, watch this' but I felt pretty confident I had the situation under control until the tick still refused to move and I gave myself a blister burn that swelled up so I couldn't see the tick and ended up going to the ER.
be a dumbazz or be learning vasoline is the rule of the day
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Edited 5/13/2007 9:56 pm ET by rez
DW and I got vaccinations against Lyme a few years back. NW Wisconsin. Lots of deer, so far no little ticks on us. But we are wary.
The heat thing can work with blood suckers butwith ticks, it is more likely that they will burrow in deeper, which you don't want. same with the myth about salting them.Out in Colorado, I had one bury its head in that tender vascular skin between my bag and my flagpole.
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eat lots of garlic it helps with warding off biting bugs,not so good with the romance thing.i had a spider bite a few years ago.the hole in my ankle was right where my boot chafed so it got nasty fast,like a miniature volcano.when the flesh started turning black,i freaked.antibiotics and a maxi-pad bandage cured it.does anyone else keep m-pads in the 1st aid kit?
"what's the best way to repel ticks?"DEETYou are right about not leaving the head struck in. That can cause worse infection
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I've had Lyme disease too.
Get to the doctor, have the tests taken, and get the doctor to prescribe the antibiotic before the test results even come back.
In my case, I had flu-like symptoms, the bite location marked with a rash and bulls-eye, and weakness, aching joints and nausea. I went to the doc, said, "Doc, I have Lyme, give me the meds." He didn't want to, but took the blood test and wrote the script, ten days later he called me and said I was absolutely right. Believe me, the test results may be sketchy, but when you got it, you KNOW it.
It sucks. I work outside in the woods all the time and I carry 100% DEET constantly, spray the boots and the pant legs and hope they stay off me. I built my house in the woods and I'm going to clear a bunch of trees and brush that I was going to leave alone, just to reduce the possibilities of ticks near the house and getting them on me and my family.
Man..you guys are scaring me. I am constantly crushing ticks (the big ones) I live in a woods and they drop out of pine trees,,crawl up my boots......I hate the little buggers......I have a LOT of deer on my property, does that mean I have the deer ticks also? in southern ohio?.......big as a pencil lead on a guy with freckles and moles?.....I'm toast.
There are fast carpenters who care..... there are slow carpenters who care more.....there are half fast carpenters who could care less......
.......big as a pencil lead on a guy with freckles and moles?.....I'm toast.
Nope, you're dinner. LOL Lots of deer here, my hunters took 27 last season. Cat gets deer ticks in really bad places, I get 1 every couple years. The big (dog) ticks tend to find me more, but they don't carry lyme. And they're a whole lot easier to notice.
I used to use a lot of Deet but quit a few years ago unless I have to work in somebody's grass. Far prefer taking frequent inventory. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
yours sound more like dog ticks. deer ticks are small and prefer dedciduous bedding on the ground.
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hey jon My question is like you said when you got it you know it. Do you? does the joints ache like he//? or does it feel like you just worked long and hard?"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latini
achiness - Some peole describe it like the flu.I describe it as, "I hurt all over more than any place else"Which is also true for fibrmyalgia and hypochondria!
;)
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You feel like you've been beat down by a world-class boxer or just got done climbing a mountain. It's not excruciating pain but it's on the level of the worst aching joints and body you've ever had. Bad enough that walking was a chore for a couple or three days.
The doxycyclinie cleared up the symptoms fast for me, about within a week or ten days, but I think I caught it pretty soon after the tick gave it to me. If you let it go, it gets even worse and it becomes a chronic problem. The other bad thing (at least this is what I've been told) about it is once lyme is in your system, the blood test always comes back positive for the rest of your life, even though you may not technically have it anymore. So you have to go by symptoms.
Somebody else here - I've had it, that I know of, 4 times, & probably more... I never had the rash.
By all means, get the doxycycline right away. I was fortunate to have MD's who didn't screw around. (Actually lived in Lyme, CT for a couple of years...)
doxycycline - yea - that was the drug that was prescribed to me for a tick bite that made me so sun sensitive I could feel my skin cooking the moment I stepped outside. I'm not even sure it's a side effect - I more think it is just how it works. I got totally crispy sun-burned in about a 2 day period. Suntan lotion didn't help much at all. Definitely not for people who work outdoors!!!
The safety sheet that comes with dxy from the pharnmacy says to avoid sunlight - and beer I think...
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I'm a sun-hater anyway - fortunate not to have to work outside unless I want to, these days. In my farming days, I was big into long sleeves, hats & sunscreen.
Good luck with your tick!
hi kate, I never got a rash of any kind, felt tired the next week but was working hard, this week feel less tired. knee joint pain has been a part of my life for years now so how to know the difference between bad knees and a sign of lyme I don't know. how do you feel these days? did you recover well from it?"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latini
I feel better now than I have in years, pain-&-moodwise, but some Lyme arthritis settled down in an old injury site in my ankle - I feel lucky to have gotten off so lightly!
The times I found ticks & got treated, I got better right away, but I think a dose or 2 slipped through before I realized what happened. In my farming years, I was always out in the long grass & brush.
If I am wrong someone please correct me...................
I've always been of the understanding that the tick need not only to bite you, but gorge itself on your blod to the point of being "overfull" at which point a backwash kinda thing happens and that is when the bacteria that causes Lymes Disease gets in to you.
I've pulled quite a few off both the wife and I and having never seen an engorged one, this theory seems to hold true.
I believe it is also understood that certain people are more attractive hosts and also may be more succeptible to the disease.
Eric
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for sure, the longer it is attached the better your chances of becoming infectedif it has the disease.but just like mosquitos, they have an anticoagulent they inject first so the blood doesn't get stopped up. They have to regularly spit more in, so the longer they are there, the more tick spit you git.
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I got bit by a deer tick last week.
It crawled out of a coconut.
Maybe we should call da doctuh ?
Edited 5/13/2007 10:17 pm by Luka
I'm just plain disappointed that no one got my "lyme tick in de coconut" and maybe we should "call da doctuh".... pun.=0|
Fight fire with water.
Ive heard that a few pet chickens around the house helps
Guinea fowl are supposed to be the best at finding and eating ticks. They will also eat a lot of other little critters. Chickens reportedly do eat some ticks, but not as many as guinea fowl. The Center For Disease Control info on Lyme disease is:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/list_tickborne.htm
or
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/There has been a lot of debate over the past few years as to what extent Lyme disease is over diagnosed. This is particularly true for the controversial "chronic Lyme disease". Some people claim that there are very few, if any, real cases of chronic Lyme disease and that people are prone to seek treatment for it when the symptoms they have are probably from a variety of other nonspecific ailments. At present, no one knows.I have cut down significantly on the number of dog ticks trying to relieve me of my bodily fluids by wearing long sleeve shirts with the sleeves buttoned and "layer" my clothing. Ticks reportedly will only climb up, so the trick is to have your clothing arranged in such a way that they always stay on the outside as they climb upward on you. So, tuck your pants into your boots and your shirt into your pants. During peak tick season, I also use duct tape to tape the front of my shirt closed just for good measure. I then thoroughly comb and brush my hair thoroughly each time I come in. Not the coolest arrangement in 100+ temperatures. (Not quite as bad as a guy I used to work with when I was digging ditches in my younger days - he wore long underwear all year around saying that if it keeps the cold out in winter, it can keep the hot out in summer. Not the guy you wanted to work downwind from toward the end of a hot week... And it got to 120 on the rock pile that summer.)
Edited 5/13/2007 11:46 pm ET by CaseyR
All of these posts have been good. One of our dearest friends has had twenty operations because of Lyme disease, certainly an extreme case, but obviously possible. This is why I don't chase golf balls into the woods. I had to teach this to a recent emigree from Kansas not used to Wisconsin. This time of year, they're especially small, like a pin head, but just as damaging. DEET, oh I love DEET. It's 100% when I'm out there. Since I'm of the DDT generation (and I feel it was unreasonably maligned), I will cover myself with DEET rather than risk what Lyme could do to me.