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15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

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Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#131

Post by rciorba »

superjan wrote: post #28
exogenousdata wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately there are a number of tick-borne illnesses. Eg, Powassan virus is a viral infection that attacks the central nervous system (leading to encephalitis). It can be transmitted within hours or even just 15 minutes of tick attachment. Another is Alpha Gal. It is a molecule carried in tick saliva that can cause serious allergies to red meat and even dairy. Because the molecule is in the saliva, it can be deli…

I’m not sure we are talking about the same virus, but for the version prevalent in northern europe, there’s a vaccine.

I assume you're thinking of Tick-borne Encephalitis

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#132

Post by micromacrofoot »

lukan wrote: post #38
micromacrofoot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there have been times in my life where this could have saved me a doctors visit, and that's good enough for me

You went to a doctor because you had a tick, or because you had symptoms? (like the red ring)

for a prophylactic dose of antibiotics after having a tick latched for an unknown amount of time

the US gets a persistent amount of emergency room visits for this sort of treatment (tens of thousands annually), and with all the news about increased tick and lyme exposure a larger number of people treat it preemptively, especially with children

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#133

Post by zahlman »

nekusar wrote: post #90

[flagged]

Unregulated use of antibiotics has negative consequences for the rest of society, in that it promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains. Many people try to take antibiotics (and pressure doctors for prescriptions) for likely viral infections where there's no chance of them working. Most people aren't great with attention to detail (qv: you misspelled both antibiotic names) and won't finish a course of antibiotics if symptoms fade even when they're explicitly instructed to do so (which, again, is important for avoiding the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains).

The regulation occurs for a damn good reason.

Also, please don't advertise here.

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#134

Post by rsyring »

beaker52 wrote: post #41

I didn’t discover that ticks were a problem until I was in my mid 20s, and had been rolling around in deer-filled brush for years. Either I got very lucky, or have a chronic tick-borne disease. I’ve been battling unexplained anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive decline throughout my 30s. I’ve had every blood test under the sun, numerous sleep studies and tried every vitamin. I’ve had no answers and no change. S…

I accidentally posted this top level, but intended it to be a reply to your post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48620008

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#135

Post by lukan »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #132
lukan wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You went to a doctor because you had a tick, or because you had symptoms? (like the red ring)

for a prophylactic dose of antibiotics after having a tick latched for an unknown amount of time the US gets a persistent amount of emergency room visits for this sort of treatment (tens of thousands annually), and with all the news about increased tick and lyme exposure a larger number of people treat it preemptively, especially with children

Hm, that approach would have me at the doctor every second day and being on antibiotic all the time. I am outdoors a lot and had 5 ticks on me just today after not checking enough last night after being outside.

I only would consider antibiotics if the red ring appears. In general I suppose I already have resistance .. or the disease slumbering in my body.

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#136

Post by spprashant »

hdndjsbbs wrote: post #93
beaker52 wrote: post #41

I didn’t discover that ticks were a problem until I was in my mid 20s, and had been rolling around in deer-filled brush for years. Either I got very lucky, or have a chronic tick-borne disease. I’ve been battling unexplained anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive decline throughout my 30s. I’ve had every blood test under the sun, numerous sleep studies and tried every vitamin. I’ve had no answers and no change. S…

Did your 30s coincide with the COVID pandemic? I've had a similar experience the last 6 years, and it feels like a combination of aging (I'm 35) and Long COVID. I am trying to get out of the software industry altogether because sitting and looking at a screen all day makes me feel like shit now Unfortunately I haven't gotten a lot of answers about treatment but just putting it out there, if you don't have a character…

I am just offering a different point of view, not disagreeing with the other experiences on this thread.

I d like to think I have fully recovered from confirmed Lyme diagnosis with Doxycycline for 14 days. I had fever and weakness for a week and lowest HRV reading my Fitbit ever recorded (7ms v 50ms avg).

Interestingly, I have a lot of symptoms like anxiety, sleeplessness, and brain fog even today, but I know for a fact I had it even before Lyme. It had peaked during the COVID times when I sat at my desk working over 10 hours on the regular because there was literally nothing else to do.

So at-least in my case it seems COVID was the trigger and Lyme didn't seem to move the needle much either way.

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#137

Post by cogman10 »

poszlem wrote: post #126

"LymeAlert seeks to help people avoid the cost and the wait of going to the emergency room after being bitten by a tick" I might be mistaken, but I don't think you should go to the emergency room with a tick bite..? Do people really do that?

Do you need to? Probably not.

However it is somewhat area specific and Massachusetts is a hotbed when it comes to lyme disease carrying ticks. Lyme really should be treated right away.

I think urgent care wouldn't really be out of the question for a tick bite there. Telehealth is also something that likely could work here. It should be a 5 minute "Hey, got a tick bite, here's the picture of the tick, can I get a prescription for some antibiotics".

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#138

Post by coryrc »

dd8601fn wrote: post #95
nekusar wrote: post #90

[flagged]

Nah. The surrounding conversation here is an absolutely beautiful example of why people shouldn’t be able to take whatever they want, whenever they want. The facebook/youtube grade quackery is everywhere .

I see both points of view. In capitalism, it is government's job to compensate for negative externalities. Government restricted common people from making voluntary contracts with antibiotic manufacturers because of antibiotic resistance, but that creates a new negative externality of preventing people from healing themselves cost-effectively. So government should be providing the doctors for nearly-free so people can still get treatment.

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#139

Post by IX-103 »

snarf21 wrote: post #119
hdndjsbbs wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did your 30s coincide with the COVID pandemic? I've had a similar experience the last 6 years, and it feels like a combination of aging (I'm 35) and Long COVID. I am trying to get out of the software industry altogether because sitting and looking at a screen all day makes me feel like shit now Unfortunately I haven't gotten a lot of answers about treatment but just putting it out there, if you don't have a character…

If you think you have long Covid, you should do some research about CIRS (Chronic Inflammation Response Syndrome). It is a condition caused by exposure to toxic mold from water damaged (inside or out) buildings. There is growing evidence that there isn't actually a separate condition for long Covid, but rather it is Covid-triggered CIRS. (Lyme can trigger it too). (Note: only about 25% of people are genetically susce…

It doesn't necessarily have to be white mold either. Anything that generates a persistent immune response can keep it going once it triggered. Like really bad allergies.

Re: 15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

#140

Post by Tistron »

perbu wrote: post #67
beaker52 wrote: post #41

I didn’t discover that ticks were a problem until I was in my mid 20s, and had been rolling around in deer-filled brush for years. Either I got very lucky, or have a chronic tick-borne disease. I’ve been battling unexplained anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive decline throughout my 30s. I’ve had every blood test under the sun, numerous sleep studies and tried every vitamin. I’ve had no answers and no change. S…

fwiw; I had unexplained anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive decline as a post-COVID induced histamine intolerance with a few bonus attributes. High amounts of histamine would accumulate in my mast cells then get released in 3-5am, undermining sleep and also inhibiting serotonin. It took me about four years to fully understand my condition. Hope you figure out what is bothering you. The body is incredibly compl…

My gf experiences some thing like this sometimes. Seems to correlate without exercise or excitement or eating histamine rich food. She takes pentatop to regulate it with some success. I'm also interested to head about your experience.
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