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A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

cdc.gov

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Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#31

Post by nerdponx »

bregma wrote: post #19
cududa wrote: post #10

Had to take doxycycline for 2 weeks after a tick bite. Man does that stuff destroy your digestive system. 7 years ago was on a date, just casually walking down the street. Coughed a couple times for no particular reason but my doxycycline lined stomach didn’t like that and boom projectile vomiting. Luckily he thought it was funny/ felt bad for me.

I had treatment 100 mg 21 days BID for borreliosis and was careful to always take with a full glass of water, as directed. Only noticeable side effect was affect changes. 9/7 would take that drug again.

When I had Lyme disease, I needed to take it with a full meal, otherwise I was in for a half hour of horrible burning pain.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#32

Post by Enginerrrd »

xmonkee wrote: post #29

Is there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and going on a hike and getting bit.

We definitely have ticks with Lyme in CA.

I live up north and my county is a bit of a hot spot actually.

If you do get bit, don't panic. Typically the tick has to be attached for greater than 24hours before you are at risk since transmission usually occurs when the tick has to regurgitate digested blood back into you.

I've been bit too many times to count while surveying and doing site visits to hike creek beds in the spring. Never came down with Lyme. Always found the tick before it'd been on for too long.

You also learn to feel them and pick them off before they bite.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#33

Post by Melatonic »

Alex3917 wrote: post #23

Not accurate. If you read the original research study this recommendation is based on, it prevents the bullseye rash, which they used as a proxy measure. It's unclear whether or not it actually prevents lyme. I personally got bitten by a tick, did the prophylaxis dose, and then developed joint pain which continued until I did a full 21 day course. Yeah it sucks not being able to go in the sun for an entire month and…

As an outdoorsy person I just want that damn vaccine to come back. Even if its the weird one that is very similar to what you can currently give to your dog it would be a lot better than nothing.

Thankfully apparently Lyme either has not or is not common yet in the western US. I'm crossing my fingers we get a new vaccine before it does.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#34

Post by nerdponx »

xmonkee wrote: post #29

Is there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and going on a hike and getting bit.

Anecdotally, anywhere in New Jersey, southern New York, or Connecticut. I'm not sure about prevalence further north into upstate New York or New England, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was bad there too.

Checking for ticks isn't that hard, and bring sharp tweezers if you go out for a day hike or a camping trip. Just make sure you grab it from the head/mouth and don't squeeze the body. I was always told that if you catch and remove it within the first ~24 hours you are reasonably safe.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#35

Post by jen729w »

radicalbyte wrote: post #28
Arubis wrote: post #12

Fascinating. Note that a low-dose daily doxycycline is an effective and common malarial prophylactic as well, with a different (I'd argue less severe) side effect profile than Lariam/Mefloquine.

Is that the one which makes you laconic / home sick / bit nutty?

Lariam is the one which makes you a ‘bit nutty’, yeah. I hadn’t heard the homesick one, is that right?! Mad. Never had it myself.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#36

Post by nerdponx »

radicalbyte wrote: post #28
Arubis wrote: post #12

Fascinating. Note that a low-dose daily doxycycline is an effective and common malarial prophylactic as well, with a different (I'd argue less severe) side effect profile than Lariam/Mefloquine.

Is that the one which makes you laconic / home sick / bit nutty?

My experience is that all antibiotics in that category mess with your head to some extent. I found that minocycline was the worst, though, and gave me horrible dizziness.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#37

Post by lostlogin »

bregma wrote: post #26
erisinger wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on affect changes? I had a similar regimen and experienced a weird sense of mental clarity and sociability for a couple of weeks after. Never have figured out what the mechanism was.

Positive affect changes are a noted possible side effect. The mechanism is unknown. Some scientists believe it's the direct action of the drug on the brain, but others believe it has something to do with altering the natural intestinal flora and a vague "gut-brain connection". It's an area of research waiting to be tackled. I wasn't going to complain about feeling better than normal, only a little disappointed after…

> the scrip ran out.

Assuming that was written intentionally, I had no idea that this was a word, and that this was a usage. I’ve learned something.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#38

Post by nerdponx »

erisinger wrote: post #24
AndrewVos wrote: post #13

Wow I had Lyme Disease a few weeks ago, it was INTENSE. The antibiotics they give you make you puke every day too. Or they did for me at least.

If they put you on probiotics at the same time, it might have been that. Took me weeks to figure out that it wasn’t the meds making me sick, it was the probiotics they recommended to keep the meds from damaging my gut. I just didn’t tolerate them well for some reason.

Last I checked, the literature was somewhat equivocal about the benefits of "probiotics in a pill" anyway, compared to something like a tablespoon of fresh lactofermented sauerkraut twice a day. That conclusion matches my personal experience too.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#39

Post by Alex3917 »

Melatonic wrote: post #33
Alex3917 wrote: post #23

Not accurate. If you read the original research study this recommendation is based on, it prevents the bullseye rash, which they used as a proxy measure. It's unclear whether or not it actually prevents lyme. I personally got bitten by a tick, did the prophylaxis dose, and then developed joint pain which continued until I did a full 21 day course. Yeah it sucks not being able to go in the sun for an entire month and…

As an outdoorsy person I just want that damn vaccine to come back. Even if its the weird one that is very similar to what you can currently give to your dog it would be a lot better than nothing. Thankfully apparently Lyme either has not or is not common yet in the western US. I'm crossing my fingers we get a new vaccine before it does.

At this point there are so many common tickborne illnesses, plus many that haven't even been discovered, that I don't see having a vaccine against only lyme as being a huge game changer. I mean don't get me wrong, it would be great, but I don't think it would suddenly make it safe to go morel hunting or whatever while wearing shorts.

That said, tick bites are mostly avoidable by following the various best practices that have been established.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#40

Post by russiasux »

Alex3917 wrote: post #23

Not accurate. If you read the original research study this recommendation is based on, it prevents the bullseye rash, which they used as a proxy measure. It's unclear whether or not it actually prevents lyme. I personally got bitten by a tick, did the prophylaxis dose, and then developed joint pain which continued until I did a full 21 day course. Yeah it sucks not being able to go in the sun for an entire month and…

I am right there with you. Took one week Doxy after being bit and got a rash anyway. About two years later mental fog and all our hell took over, tested positive but doc wouldn't give me antibiotics because I took the initial one week "and it's not possible that I have Lyme". Years later I have lost a business I founded and countless months where I couldn't even think let alone function.

One day IS ABSOLUTELY not enough and if I had my way I would now take at least one month.

As further reference your insurance won't cover your treatment once it gets bad, mine ended up being about $3000 per month for years just to get back to working 25-30 hours per week.

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