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Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

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Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#171

Post by hammock »

magduf wrote: post #133
stupidboy wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's proper procedure--except for the scotch tape. Our lab techs need to tediously remove ticks from adhesive every day because some authority (first-aid manuals?) is telling people to do that. It ends up in pieces after extraction which hinders us from identifying the species, life stage, and duration of engorgement. Hopefully this practice phases out with time.

So how else do you store the tick? I can see why they would recommend scotch tape: deer ticks are tiny, and the tape helps keep you from losing them. Don't say "put it in a film storage canister" because no one has those any more! I haven't seen one of those in decades. I'm not sure what I'd do with one honestly; I have some small Tupperware containers I could use, IF I happen to be at home when I pull the tick off.

Ziploc bag?

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#172

Post by HarryHirsch »

ethagnawl wrote: post #158
HarryHirsch wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why did ticks multiply that much recently? It's because of warmer winters and an exploding deer population. People need to take up hunting again to reduce the numbers of those tick motherships.

> People need to take up hunting again to reduce the numbers of those tick motherships. ... or, as others have said elsewhere in the thread, restore a balance to the ecosystem by reintroducing and protecting natural predators (wolves, foxes, etc.).

You'd think that putting wolves and bears into suburbia would attract even more resistance than bowhunting from tree stands. Something must be done about the deer overpopulation, they raid peoples' gardens, they prevent forest regeneration, they are a pest. Maybe we could start by withdrawing from the suburbs.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#173

Post by tacotime »

nate_meurer wrote: post #63
nicolaslem wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should avoid pulling, instead hold it with a tool and turn it. After about two or three turns it usually comes right off.

I've heard of such a tool, but never seen one. Otherwise, twisting a tick using tweezers or your fingers is a great way to break its head off under your skin.

I've started to see "Tick Tornados" in local stores in the NE US. Have not used one but they seem to get good reviews.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#174

Post by ceejayoz »

hammock wrote: post #171
magduf wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how else do you store the tick? I can see why they would recommend scotch tape: deer ticks are tiny, and the tape helps keep you from losing them. Don't say "put it in a film storage canister" because no one has those any more! I haven't seen one of those in decades. I'm not sure what I'd do with one honestly; I have some small Tupperware containers I could use, IF I happen to be at home when I pull the tick off.

Ziploc bag?

That's what I used. Worked perfectly.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#175

Post by citrablue »

lkrubner wrote: post #89

I was bit by a tick and I got sick. No doctor could figure out what was wrong. I tested negative for Lyme. I took antibiotics (Biaxin) and 3 months later I was fine. I stopped taking antibiotics. Within 2 months I was sick again. I took Biaxin for 6 months. I felt great. I stopped antibiotics. Within 2 months I was sick again. I took Biaxin for a year. I felt great. I stopped taking antibiotics. Within 2 months I was…

Minor nit, the feeling of awfulness from the flu is the effect of your immune system kicking in. The feeling of relief is when it kicks out, because the tide of the battle has turned.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#176

Post by ceejayoz »

pastor_elm wrote: post #111

The CDC says post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome or 'chronic lyme' doesn't exist. While i am suspicious of this claim, I know people who say they have it, and have subjected themselves to every treatment under the sun without any success.

> The CDC says post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome or 'chronic lyme' doesn't exist.

You're conflating two terms. PTLDS exists, in patients who had Lyme but experience post-treatment symptoms.

"Chronic Lyme" is different, and is largely problematic because the folks who believe they have it tend to have never actually been exposed to Lyme in the first place.

https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/chronic-lyme-d...

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#179

Post by Tagbert »

khuey wrote: post #170
magduf wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how else do you store the tick? I can see why they would recommend scotch tape: deer ticks are tiny, and the tape helps keep you from losing them. Don't say "put it in a film storage canister" because no one has those any more! I haven't seen one of those in decades. I'm not sure what I'd do with one honestly; I have some small Tupperware containers I could use, IF I happen to be at home when I pull the tick off.

Old spice jars.

Then they just smell like Grandpa :)

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#180

Post by lkrubner »

mrfusion wrote: post #159
lkrubner wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teenagers with acne often take antibiotics for many years. I had one friend with severe acne who took antibiotics well into adulthood. Those teenagers, who take antibiotics, with a microscope at home can do this simple experiment: prick your finger with a needle and put a drop of blood on steriled glass, then put that under a microscope. Do you see bacteria? Yes, of course you do. Even if you take antibiotics for 20…

I’m under the impression that blood is very sterile. That’s the point of your immune system.

"that blood is very sterile"

Please, if you can find a microscope, go look. Use your eyes. Your blood system is absolutely not sterile, that is a wildly non-scientific thing to say. Your immune system can not possibly go after ever protein it meets, otherwise you would be allergic to all food, and you would die. When you see an article such as "The dormant blood microbiome in chronic, inflammatory diseases" ask yourself, what is a dormant blood microbiome?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4487407/

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