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How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

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Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#51

Post by codingdave »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #4

Something to note for anyone in Lyme disease range: The bullseye is the stereotypical sign, but it is not necessarily going to show up 100% of the time. When I was diagnosed with Lyme disease in ~Y2K New Jersey, I had the bullseye rash, and the doctor called in the nurses to look at it because he had never seen one before, despite diagnosing a lot of people with Lyme disease.

I also was informed by a doctor that the bullseye sometimes manifests as just a band around your waist. Think in 3D when asking yourself if something new on your skin is a bullseye rash.

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#53

Post by bregma »

lencastre wrote: post #32
komatsu wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking antibiotics after every random bite is overkill. Antibiotics overuse is a serious issue for your body and for the general antibiotics resistance as well. When the tick is attached less than 24 hours it won't transmit Lyme disease according to the CDC. I check myself every evening after outdoor activities, remove 10-20 ticks every year and knock-knock never had Lyme disease yet. I wasn't aware of the permethrin…

10-20 ticks every year??? I can’t imagine that and I often run in grassy fields (not tall grass) and at most I found 1-2 ticks on me or my kids. How do you get that kind of numbers in the first place?

Why would you not believe it? It's normal where I live too. I definitely get dozens of bites every year and have been formally diagnosed with and treated for Lyme twice because it's pretty easy to miss one. Tick bites are very often completely painless and they often choose very discreet locations for their meal.

Keep in mind tick season is March to June and September to December (although it started in February this year because of unusual weather). That's a lot of days with "1-2 ticks" and it adds up.

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#54

Post by consumer451 »

qwertox wrote: post #48

I did get Lyme disease. I had no idea that it was a thing because I did not get educated about it, not even about ticks. I was just fascinated by the bullseye and never went to see a doctor. Sometime later I felt sick with fever and something like an itching inside the head, but since it went away, I never bothered with it again. I also never made a connection between this and the bullseye, maybe it was the cause. I'…

Similar thing happened to me. Got some bites, they went away. Didn’t think twice about it.

A month or two later, I got very ill, it was Advanced Neurological Lyme disease.

My vision loss was at about 30-40%, I still feel the arthritis all the time, but my vision is nearly entirely restored. One of the worst aspects was the cognitive loss.

For months I suddenly had ADHD-like symptoms, and had brain fog like I had the biggest bender of my life, for months. My spelling/grammar went down the drain, I still just miss words when writing. I wasn’t able to work for a long time, and am still recovering financially from this stupid bug bite.

Don’t mess around people, take prophylactic doxycycline dose.

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#55

Post by switch007 »

I got Lyme when I was 26 (in an area with it, after handling an animal famous for ticks). GP refused to believe Lyme could be a possibility. Eventually got a test (probably an inferior one, knowing our health service), which came back negative. But I had a bullseye rash, flu-like symptoms etc. I'm convinced I had it. I wasn't prescribed antibiotics because the test was negative

The 2 years following I had bad muscles pains - particularly in my wrists (I've been using computers since I was 12... never had RSI), bouts of flu-like symptoms/body aches, decreased mental ability. Can't really tell if I've still got residual issues what was getting older and my body generally falling apart more and more. Then again, since then, I've been to the GP for various symptoms and many blood tests coming back negative, time and time again.

I'm still annoyed by the GP denying even the possibility of it.

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#56

Post by bregma »

microtonal wrote: post #45
rapjr9 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A neighbor caught a tick borne disease (not Lyme) even though she took precautions. The tick came off a tree onto her head and she didn't notice it there. So consider all attack angles. Watch out for West Nile also!

FWIW ticks generally don’t jump from trees, which is a common misconception: https://wgme.com/amp/news/i-team/ask-the-i-team-do-ticks-jum... If she didn’t notice it, it’s more likely the tick got on here from grass tips or bushes and worked its way up.

This. They crawl around on you for a couple of hours looking for a nice quiet warm moist place to tuck in, which is why permethrin works. Also, they like quiet warm moist places. Yes, especially there.

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#57

Post by switch007 »

jakjak123 wrote: post #43
armada651 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did get a tick bite that I only noticed after three days. I didn't screw around and immediately went to the urgent care to get that thing removed by a professional. They also didn't wait for any kind of rash before giving me antibiotics given how long the tick was there. Lyme disease is no joke.

Ticks are incredibly common. People in my area of the country get hundreds of ticks during their life. It's also fairly rare they carry Lyme disease and gets you infected. You definitively should not be given antibiotics without a clear reason.

What would the "clear reason" be?

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#58

Post by wddkcs »

cs02rm0 wrote: post #40
astura wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's "Lyme disease," named after Lyme, Connecticut (which, in turn, gets its name from Lyme Regis in England). Not "limes," that's a fruit.

Although Lyme Regis gets its name from the river Lim. (But yes, Lyme disease).

And the river Lim potentially got its name from the Latin word for 'border'.

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#59

Post by acc_297 »

switch007 wrote: post #55

I got Lyme when I was 26 (in an area with it, after handling an animal famous for ticks). GP refused to believe Lyme could be a possibility. Eventually got a test (probably an inferior one, knowing our health service), which came back negative. But I had a bullseye rash, flu-like symptoms etc. I'm convinced I had it. I wasn't prescribed antibiotics because the test was negative The 2 years following I had bad muscles…

Sorry to hear that a friend of mine could tell a very similar story it’s weird some doctors refuse to consider Lyme

Re: How to prevent Lyme disease this summer

#60

Post by hahajk »

I'm super concerned about the new longhorned tick that was recently found in eastern states. It can reproduce asexually and spreads fast. Scientists are still figuring out if it can transmit Lyme to humans (it can at least carry it).

A terrifying sentence: "It is common to find hundreds of ticks on one animal"

https://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/ProgramIntegration/Vector-Ma...

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