OT- Has anyone actually caught Lyme disease and if so what were the key symptoms?

I was clearing some equipment out of some tall grass at the shop and sure enough the now domestic deer we have everywhere had seeded the place with lots of black legged ticks and I picked up about a dozen of the pleasant creatures.

I watched the angry bite sites for about a week and now have picked up lymph node reaction so I am running in to get checked and I guess blood work.
What is everyones experience- a mythology or are there some real cases out there that folks are getting?

A guy in a close shop did manage to pick up Rocky Mountain and was quite sick till the antibiotics kicked it out.
The untreated tick illnesses are reported to be a mess so it is a concern that deer are everywhere around houses and in my case around the shop..

Thanks

Yes I have, it was the worst 2 years of my life. I'm a bowhunter and I think I got it in November, I was diagnosed in April, NO bullseye rash ever. It started with night sweats, then extremely painful joints, wrists, feet mainly. I could barely walk, I could not even squeeze a tube of toothpaste by myself. I have permanent nerve damage in the soles of my feet, I had a bunch of lymph nodes removed in my armpit, and many doses of antibiotics later I think I'm fine. That was all about 7 years ago, it goes without saying I spray for ticks, and freak everytime I see them, this year it's bad out too. One of the worst parts is finding a doctor to treat you, not many out there, and some just flat out think your a headcase. Doxycycline is what you need if your positive, if your doc gives you something else, find another doc, seriously, this is nothing to mess around with.

Ok- sorry to hear that.

We have Chesapeake Bay retrievers and dogs coming up lame from Lyme is not at all uncommon.
The vets are aggressive and on the watch for tick born disease- It seems with dogs antibiotics knock it out with good result.

I hit the literature on the 'Bullseye' rash.
It appears that the often stated "50% of cases" show this rash is in fact not correct- 10% of cases is correct.
So that is a lot of folk who are going to miss infection in early stages and might miss the cold/flu/body ache symptoms until it is a bit further progressed than is ideal to knock out with a simple dose of Doxy...

I am seeing reported that if ticks are removed within 48 hours or so the chance of disease transmission is greatly reduced.
Also- ticks are one of those critters with several distinct life stages- if bit by tick in a first stage they have not yet bit another animal and will be disease free.
One trip to a property we were looking at we picked up literally hundreds of first stage dear ticks- they are tiny- like much smaller than a period in text- you would never see them on you unless you knew they were there but they are disease free so....

I had a tick bite last spring. It caused a red bulls eye circular rash around the bite. This is one of the first signs. The tick is pulled out and patient is treated with an antibiotic. If caught early there are no lasting effects. The tick was tiny only pin head size and I did not notice it until a few days had passed. Lyme disease is very common in WI. I always spray my boots and clothing with deet when working outside.

The wife just asked why I don't have bug spray in the truck.

I told her it was a little late for me to have been smart about things.
I did look at the tall grass around the machine and thought it looked like tick heaven but just went in to get the work done.

If I had it to do again I would have torched down the tall grass but "wish in one hand and spit in another"......

I am one week in so this is catching it early hopefully.

Yes, I have been fighting chronic Lyme for years. I did not get diagnosed right away and that allowed it to take hold in my system. I started out on Doxycycline, but that didn't work. Have used many different drugs, including Mepron at $200 a bottle copay. Now on Zithromax and Plaquenil with herbal supplements that are keeping it under control. It never really leaves your body, stays and flares up from time to time. It acts like Malaria for flare ups, and is related to Syphilis. My blood work will still show positive for Lyme. If you catch it early, it can be gotten rid of, IV antibiotics are one treatment. You need a good Lyme doctor and 30 day treatment is not long enough. There are a couple of good websites out there with info.

A welder friend of mine had/has it, and by all means, treat it very seriously indeed.

Let us know how you're doing...

First off the primary vector for Deer Tics is the common field mouse, not deer.
Late November a few years ago wifey was scooping up some leaves in the front yard. Next morning she got out of bed and from across the room I spotted something out of place on her back (freckles all over). Yup, tic. Removed it and she went to doc next day with the tic. Lyme positive and doc put her on Doxy. A few days later we flew to Barbados for 2 weeks. Wife spends a little time sun bathing, usually reading. End of day one she was on fire. Doxy and sunshine do not go well together. Doxy will make you extremely sun sensitive. The best she could do was walk to the pool for a dip, but floating in the sea for an hour at a time was out.

a very wealthy german customer's wife got it. german doctors were unable to diagnose it. he was a builder in spain so they went to the spanish doctors - no results they flew to mayo clinic in minn spent a shitload of money with no results. finally it was diagnosed by a GP in bandera tx where they have property. by then it was well established and no cure. she was once an olympic swimmer now wheel chair bound. she told me the bacteria doubles every - (i forget when)

Trboatworks, sir
Yeah I've tested positive for it.. it's like carry an extra 40lbs everywhere I go.. Symptoms are quite variable and seem to be unique to each individual. There are secondary infection that sometimes come along with the lymes that the antibiotics don't address. Good thing for you is that the irritation has persisted. That speaks to just good old fashion tick bite irritation rather than lymes. I hope you come through OK.
Stay safe
Calvin B

Ok - thanks.

Shit.

FWIW.... I have not had any of the Lyme diseases (a couple close calls) but it's endemic in Vermont, almost as much so as Wisconsin.

4 different tick-borne diseases one can get here, including endometriosis. A blood test will sort that out.

The life cycle of blacklegged ticks also includes mice and nymphs can infect, too. There's some evidence to suggest that mice are a more important vector than deer.

I keep 10 Doxycycline around just in case and take two when finding an attached deer tick on me. I have to be insistent with my doc to get a prescription as my health system's policy is not to prescribe a prophylactic dose. Go figure. And it's recommended to renew the Doxycycline every year as time changes the molecule into something that can be life threatening if ingested.

The 48 hr rap is a bit shaky, too. I have a friend (yeah, I know ) who contracted endometriosis from a tick that was on her for less than 8 hrs. The science is evolving and many docs are behind the curve.

I'm outside during the summer as much as inside, so wear these tick gaiters pretty much all the time. They can be had with or without permethrin. 3 years ago, before wearing them, I picked more than 150 ticks off me. (Stopped counting then. :-( That was a bad tick year, the last 2 years (not as many around) wore these and fewer than 20 ended up on me. Lots of them end up in the mesh so I check that, too. The gaiters do make me look like a dork... (but don't let that fool you, ladies and gentlemen, I am a dork! )

And for amusement Brad Paisley .

Good luck to you, esp with your other health issues, it can't be easy.

On edit, IIRC, iwannanew10k (sp?) has been dealing with it for awhile.

Vermont eh? I was born there for 48 years once, now I'm a southerner. Just this a.m. on the way in to work, they were discussing ticks on the radio. They were talking about how their parents used to hold a lit cigarette close to the tick until it released. But that is a no-no, the tick might puke it's guts out into you. It's recommended to pull straight and slow with tweasers so the head doesn't break off. I've had that happen to me, it's a pita to dig the head out. Plus it's somewhat disgusting.

At least you had a good reason to believe you were bit by a deer tic.
My wife's previous employer a strong headed dentist, kept denying he had it until symptoms almost dropped him. He spent a good year getting back to somewhat normal, but remains to have some of the pain mentioned above. He was bit about 10 years ago.
Had a vendor who was a brilliant sheet metal fabricator. Did all the small size refinery specials that no one else could do in northern DE. When he first had symptoms his GP and the local hospital diagnosed him with spinal problems after a negative test for Lyme.
After exploratory surgery, medications and a lot of pain he had the Lyme test performed again and sure enough he was positive. He had about 5 years of pain because of a "misdiagnosis" which apparently isn't uncommon.
Best of luck to you Trboatworks, be aggressive with your medical providers, its nothing to take lightly.

Thanks- I am patiently wading through a whole suite of neurological oddities.
I don’t wish to have an additional complication to wonder about.

I was reading a paper last night- it seems the spirochete has a particular adaptation where it resides oddly in the lymph nodes where the bodies defense occurs.
In “chronic” Lyme that location causes habitual reoccurrence over time.
Yes- it seems the state of treatment is evolving and some practitioners dismiss the disease as a typical “complaint” from patients.

It’s funny- our dogs as mentioned get great care for tick born disease.
It seems well understood with veterinarians and treated aggressively and successfully.

I’ve never had it but a couple close friends have an it seems like the general consensus is “painful joints and lack of energy.” It also seems like it’s not as straight-forward to diagnose and/or treat so a lot of Doctors ignore it. That’s important - the few cases I’ve known about they had to either continually ask their dr about it or go from dr to dr until one “believed” them and then tested it. Both of my friends were unbearably sluggish and in pain for months/years going from dr to dr with no answers and in both cases (after multiple tests) they finally tested positive, were treated, and are now great! Good luck!

Trboatworks said:

It’s funny- our dogs as mentioned get great care for tick born disease.
It seems well understood with veterinarians and treated aggressively and successfully.

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I think you should take advantage of our modern age and start identifying as a dog. You'll get great care at reasonable rates, and kibble too!

FYI, Ive had good luck keeping ticks at bay in and around your yard is Talstar aka Bifinethren. Treat your yard every six months and if your gonna do work in a brush pile spray it a few days in advance.

slowmotion said:

Vermont eh? I was born there for 48 years once, now I'm a southerner. Just this a.m. on the way in to work, they were discussing ticks on the radio. They were talking about how their parents used to hold a lit cigarette close to the tick until it released. But that is a no-no, the tick might puke it's guts out into you. It's recommended to pull straight and slow with tweasers so the head doesn't break off. I've had that happen to me, it's a pita to dig the head out. Plus it's somewhat disgusting.

Click to expand...

My family spent a summer month in a tiny lumber mill town in Louisiana in 1947. It was part of my father's job training. I well remember the town swimming pool. When I got back home from the pool, I got the cigarette treatment for a tick they found on me. There was no second pool visit. And no ill effects from the tick. I have always been more interested in mills than in swimming pools. Maybe the tick did have a lasting effect.

Larry

Every spring my Doc prescribes 20 or so doxycycline tabs to have on hand in case of a bite. If the bite hasn't been discovered for at least 24 hours two tabs should prevent infection............Bob