101–110 of 146 posts
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In DE, we have “Zeckenrollen”. [1] They are filled with cotton material that mice will carry to their nest. And it’s treated with some tick killing substance. [1] https://zeckenrollen.de
Probably treated with permethrin. I've seen lots of guides about soaking cotton balls in permethrin and sticking them in cardboard tubes to place where mice might be nesting.
Just go to your PCP and get your one time course of 2 doxycycline pills as soon as you get bitten. I also spray my hiking/yardwork pants and boots with permethrin. DEET is pretty useless, I’ve seen them walk right over DEET sprayed boots onto my pants. They make it about 5 steps through permethrin. I’m surprised advise from Harvard is getting this wrong. If you want even more protection, you can buy stocking like sla…
After every bite? That is a manual how to breed multi resistant Borrelia burgdorferi, the short version. Please be a responsible human being and consult a doctor. Common symptoms for a bacterial infections are flu like symptoms and a bullseye-like rash a few days after the bite. Be on the lookout for those and you will be fine.
The fear of breeding a MR Borrelia is completely overblown. By far the highest risk of breeding MRSA are in a hospital setting, not by taking a single dose of Doxy at home. The main reason to not take Doxy is its side effects (for instance, when I had to take it against my Lyme infection, I vomited like there's no tomorrow, which fortunately is one of the lesser serious side effects. Had to switch to Amoxi.).
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/datasurveillance/lyme-disease-maps....
[2] https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s128...
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"You have to tiptoe around their ego." Only if you have a shit doctor. I've had to be an advocate for medical care of family members, and I've had a few doctors actually compliment me on being an engaged advocate for their treatment. You still want to be respectful and open minded, but some basic study of the condition/treatment/lingo can go a long way to them seeing you as an informed patient they are willing to wor…
I agree about self/family advocacy, and for sure some of the doctors one gets are engaged and good. I think doctors generally become less shit as the stakes go up (end of life, pediatrics, emergency triage, etc). The problem is getting them to talk about anything proactively before you get to that point. My comment was more along the lines of if you know you need Doxycycline for a tick bite and they're holding off, y…
Well, that's a problem. If it's only been one day, they aren't going to give it to you. It's only supposed to be past 72 hours. Of course they're not going to listen and they'll argue if you're pushing something beyond the guidelines. If you frame it differently, like you don't know if it's been on there for days, then they're more likely to work with you.
I've actually had a similar tick issue for a child. There was no way of knowing for sure how long it was attached until tested in the lab. The doctor was still willing to prescribe the doxycycline when we explained the situation. There's also a state lab that will test ticks and give a report on whether the tick tests positive for about a half dozen diseases and also tell you how long it was attached. The doctor's lab could only test the tick for Lyme. He was genuinely interested in learning about this other lab from me even though I was not a medical professional.
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I agree about self/family advocacy, and for sure some of the doctors one gets are engaged and good. I think doctors generally become less shit as the stakes go up (end of life, pediatrics, emergency triage, etc). The problem is getting them to talk about anything proactively before you get to that point. My comment was more along the lines of if you know you need Doxycycline for a tick bite and they're holding off, y…
"eg the tick could have been on me all day" Well, that's a problem. If it's only been one day, they aren't going to give it to you. It's only supposed to be past 72 hours. Of course they're not going to listen and they'll argue if you're pushing something beyond the guidelines. If you frame it differently, like you don't know if it's been on there for days, then they're more likely to work with you. I've actually had…
Same story as a lot of people here. I got Lyme when I was in my early twenties. I had no bullseye rash and no evidence of a tick bite. And I lived in California which made it even more confusing. Woke up one day with debilitating headaches (I never got headaches normally). Lasted for two weeks, doctor said I had "viral meningitis" which should clear up on its own. Coincidentally they did, and thought all is well! Nex…
What sucks about Lyme disease are the possible long term effects that an infection can have. Some people believe it's because of bacteria that stay hidden in your body, but I think the more likely explanation is an auto-immune reaction. There is no treatment for these long term effects. (It's called "post treatment lyme disease syndrome").
I got rid of Lyme via eastern medicine and a liquid oxygen shot daily. Lyme hates oxygen rich environments
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After every bite? That is a manual how to breed multi resistant Borrelia burgdorferi, the short version. Please be a responsible human being and consult a doctor. Common symptoms for a bacterial infections are flu like symptoms and a bullseye-like rash a few days after the bite. Be on the lookout for those and you will be fine.
Getting antibiotics maybe once a year is not excessive. Please stop being hyperbolic, I’m well aware of MRSAs and do my best to take them sparingly. Where I live between 50-70% of the deer ticks have Lyme disease so it’s not overkill.
Antibiotic resistance is not hyperbole. It is a real problem, and potentially a big one. What would be hyperbolic is if the part of the world that lives in tick infested regions would be pretty much on a constant antibiotic binge during season.
A full dose is two weeks and you are likely to be bitten again. I don't know if the suggestion was in reference to ideas that float around the Internet that you shouldn't take the full two week dose, but none of those studies have been replicated. Given what we know from how antibiotic resistance forms, they could be potentially harmful.
Just be careful when taking medical advice.
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Getting antibiotics maybe once a year is not excessive. Please stop being hyperbolic, I’m well aware of MRSAs and do my best to take them sparingly. Where I live between 50-70% of the deer ticks have Lyme disease so it’s not overkill.
This was in reference to after every bite, not once a year. Antibiotic resistance is not hyperbole. It is a real problem, and potentially a big one. What would be hyperbolic is if the part of the world that lives in tick infested regions would be pretty much on a constant antibiotic binge during season. A full dose is two weeks and you are likely to be bitten again. I don't know if the suggestion was in reference to…
It says to use DEET? No. Use permethrin (on clothes) and picaridin (on self).
Yes to permethrin, but beware it’s very dangerous for cats. Don’t spray your clothes anywhere near them. Maybe keep any clothes you treat with it in a room they can’t reach, or sealed in a container—I think once it dries it’s less-dangerous but I still wouldn’t want one to decide to curl up on a pile of them.