Lyme Disease?

“So, while on my way to Pennsylvania a few days ago, my leg starts itching. After I checked into the hotel, I noticed a circular rash. Looks very much like the rashes on the Lyme disease websites, but it's not a true bullseye (yet), but I read that it dosen't always take the form of a bullseye.

Anybody else have any bouts with Lyme disease, or know someone who has? I'm not really worried. If I do have it, it's early and from what I've read antibiotics will take care of it.”

“I think that we need a picture of this....


j/k kidding, let me be the first to say...

HIE THEE TO A PHYSIC!”

“for real!! Lyme disease is S-C-A-R-Y!”

“Oh yeah.. my health insurance dosen't start until July 10th! Going to try to fudge things so I can get checked out earlier.”

“well skip the test and go straight for the mold... er penacillin”

“Just don't scratch it and it will go away.”

“Maybe it's ringworm? I hope so!”

“that is how mine felt last year. the antibiotics suck. make sure you eat when you take them. at first i thought it was poison ivy i was getting but it was as itchy a rash and had more of a burning feeling. then i remembered my wife had pulled a tick from that very spot about 7-10 days before. it was on the back of my knee in the crook, so the rash wrapped around the sides kind of. that gave it more the appearance of red and white bands then a bullseye. it is important that you get it taken care of in the early stages.”

“i meant to say it was not as itchy as poison ivy.”

“Thanks Baume. Hope you're feeling better and it went away. Mine could be nothing, but I'm suspicous. I've never had anything like this, and the rash started around where something had bitten me, and in the past when I've pulled ticks out they left marks like mosquito bites. Same deal with this one, plus the rash. Never saw the tick, but they can be tiny little critters.”

“Yeah, you really don't want to fool around with that. My brother had Lymes in combination with another bacterial infection and a virus and spent several weeks in the hospital. It took a team of specialists and a battery of tests to figure out what was wrong. It took months to get his health back.

I understand that you won't necessarily get a rash and it may not be a perfect bullseye.

LyndyS may have something to ad.”

“d”

“Get thee to thine doctor! (Assuming s/he knows about Lymes.”

“Hi! Checking in as Violin knew that I would. I have had Lyme twice, once about 10 years ago, and then again about 2 1/2 years ago. The first time I had it, I had to take antibiotics over three sessions, because it kept coming back. It took a year for it too completely stop. My brother had it the year before that and he experienced the same situation, having to take the antibiotic course, and then repeat it a few months later and then again a few months later.

This is because it was not diagnosed until a few weeks late, after symptoms of joint and muscle pain, and headaches occurred. Be forewarned that these aches can be mild, or can make you bed-ridden.

I had the Lyme again Jan. 2000, and this time I had headaches, stiff neck, and backache that persistantly got worse. Antibiotics made the pain significantly ease within a couple of days. Unfortunately this time it did not go away, but became a brain infection. I was extremely weak, had to sleep for a few hours after just grocery shopping for my family. I was a controller for a non-profit, and I had to quit, the headaches were so bad. My doctor put me on a different antibiotic, celebrex for inflammation, vitamins for severe anemia, high blood pressure meds because my pressure, which had always been good, was higher every time I went to the doc. I developed fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

I today picked up my blood test results from my recent physical, and finally my numbers are all good again. It took 2 1/2 years, lots of vitamins, new eating habits and taking up backpacking, to get healthy again. I still have some weight to lose, and I want to get really fit now, in hopes that I can fend off future tick attacks. It seems that the prolonged blood circulation from backpacking for 8 hours or so, for days, is a great way to help your body clean out those Lyme bugs and their toxins, that tend to hide out in your joint fluid, or wherever, waiting for a weak moment to reattack. That is my take on it anyway.”

“P.S. The more accurate Lyme test can take 10 days or more to get the result. I know this because I have my kids tested if they draw circles on themselves with red markers. Me....paranoid? Nah!”

“LyndyS - wow, that sounds scary what you went through. Thanks for sharing. It sucks because my health insurance won't start for another few weeks, but at least I didn't get this rash two months ago! I'll be getting my butt to the doctor ASAP.”

“fisrt, the bile will rise from your stomach with the vengence of a thousand screaming banchies, then the burn will begin, in yer #&%!$, when you urinate, agonizing pain almost as bad as the torment of holding your imflamed bladder....the pain will be horrific as your eyelids begin to turn inside out, you gurgle for breath as you lungs are flooded with fluid & then all your hair falls out. just when you think it cant get any worse, your skin disolves, exposing every raw nerve in your entire body....






day 2; dood....you dun wanna know .....









sux to be you! eat some limes, quick!”

“My sister had lymes as well as two of her children. Took forever to diagnose her. You need a good doctor who knows what they are doing. Also, it seems the earlier the treatment, the easier it is.”

“I'm just finishing 3 weeks of antibiotics for Lyme. My rash was on my ankle and it was not any kind of a bulls eye, it was more like a mild chemical burn, red and very tender at first and slowly expanded. I lost the very top layer of skin a couple of times (like the peeling from a mild sunburn). I was a couple weeks into this before I even remembered that I had pulled a very small tick off that same area about 7-10 days before.”

“I pulled a tiny tick off of my back last night. There is a big welt there now - I'll have to keep an eye on it.”

“I've had Lyme symptoms less the rash twice (aching joints, lethargy, elevated temps). I was tested and the tighters came back negative. In both cases, the doctor prescribed the tetracycline anyway and the symptoms cleared up by the end of the course. Lyme disease does not always present all the symptoms or even show up on the tighters. It's a strange disease.
Lack of treatment can be serious, and the treatment with anti-biotics does not present a threat, do doctors often prescribe anyway even before tests are complete.”

“I agree Geobeet, I NEVER tested positive on the titer test. I NEVER saw a rash. My brother had a classic bullseye rash. I've had specialists argue over whether I had Lyme or not. At one point I tested positive for lupus. The point is that Lyme creates an immune system overresponse that looks like so many other illnesses.

A newer test (takes 10 days or so) is much more accurate, and a spinal tap test is considered the best. My symptoms were classic enough that my doctor considered it Lyme, in the absence of the positive titer test. You can get it in the winter carrying firewood into the house from a woodpile near the woods, so be careful with that, as well as doing outdoor activities.

All that said, I have really gotten over the paranoia. I just live with the fact that it is possible to get Lyme, West Nile, Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever, erlichiosis, etc. I watch my kids closely for any of the profiles.”

“Lupus is not good. My former girlfriend has lupus, and it was hell on her. My heart goes out to you.”

“So, my rash is going away. It spread to the size of nickel but is going away. There was also a funny "S" shaped part of the rash, and I began to wonder if maybe it was just ringworm, but that's going away now also (ringworm hangs around much longer than just a few days). Very strange. I'm thinking now it was a false alarm, but I'm no doctor, so I'm going to see one soon just to be safe.

Big Coop, seeing a doctor is best, but many people merely have an allergic reaction to the saliva in tick bites. Lyme disease is pretty rare in Florida, but it does happen. My uncle who lives in Inverness had it.”

“Thanks, Geobeet. I'm sorry that your former girlfriend has been suffering with lupus. We had a mother in my kids' school who died recently from lupus. I was very angry at the doctors for a while, when I tested positive because they were so relaxed about it. I was traumatized and it was like "we are booked solid for three months. We'll try to fit you in before Christmas." When I finally got to see a specialist, he was less knowledgeable about immune system illness than me. That really pissed me off. But all that is done; I am fine now. The test was a false positive.”

“ok, so i made all that up , sorry arty, i was disgruntled about that little "link" from the other day”

“I have a friend whose doctor believes he has Lyme Disease. Simliar treatment... several courses of antibiotics. He's been walking with a limp as his joints have been giving him trouble. He says he's feeling better now... He has no recollection of being bitten by a tick. And no rash to speak of.”

“It's all good Stratdewd. Not sure what link you speak of, but I thought what you wrote in this thread was pretty funny! :-)”

“I have an acquaintance that is almost totally disabled because of Lyme. It can be quite nasty.

My cousin is a doctor. After his wife contracted Lyme he went back to study more (immunology?) and became somewhat of an expert. He has been ostracized from the medical community. There is a lot of denial about this disease; but I have no idea why.”

“I have an acquaintance that is almost totally disabled because of Lyme. It can be quite nasty.

My cousin is a doctor. After his wife contracted Lyme he went back to study more (immunology?) and became somewhat of an expert. He has been ostracized from the medical community. There is a lot of denial about this disease; but I have no idea why.”

“HPM's getting a bullseye. He's calling the sawbones now.”

“Wow. hope not!

Good luck HPM!!”

“The bite is purple with an expanding red ring. It's still tender, no lump or hardness. He says it doesn't hurt now, but it really hurt after he pulled the tick out, which is unusual for him.
He couldn't get through to the doc on the phone, so he's just going to try a walk-in.”

“wow, most ticks are asleep this time of year in arkansas.....



HMP, i wish you MORE good luck than tilt.....”

“Are you going to be all right for this week-end, Big Guy? Hope so.

Take care,”

“Good luck with that, I hope HPM can get it taken care of early enough. I've had two uncles that have had it. One of them was one of the first people in NY state to get it, and he still has relapses. The other one had it indentified early and nipped it in the bud.”

“Tetracycline time! The doc's having bloodwork done, but because of the formation of the mark, he's going ahead and starting HPM on antibiotics.”

“My grin daddy got stik sik the nother time but he is ok.

Me and Gissmo and my daddy went walkin in the woods the nother day and my daddy got stiks on me AND Gissmo at our hous. They are ded now cuz my daddy bernd them with a siggeret litter.

Me and Gissmo are not sik but we got leetel sores that will prolly be ok.

You shold prolly take a nap.”

“YIKES! that's scary. i hope he's okay.”

“Hopefully that take care of the problem before it gets any worse. I wish HPM the best...is there any sort of preventative treatment for Lyme? (Other than staying out of the woods, of course...)”

“Prevention

You can decrease your chances of contracting Lyme disease by following some simple precautions:

* When walking in wooded or grassy areas, wear shoes, long pants tucked into socks and long-sleeved shirts. Try to stick to trails and avoid walking through low bushes and long grass.

* Insect repellents often repel ticks. Use products containing diethyltoluamide, or DEET, (Backwoods Cutter, Off! Deep Woods) or permethrin (Acticin Cream, Elimite Cream). Be sure to follow the instructions on the label.

* Do your best to tick-proof your yard by clearing brush and leaves where ticks live. Keep woodpiles in sunny areas.

* Check yourself and your pets for ticks after being in wooded or grassy areas. Deer ticks can sometimes be no bigger than the head of a pin, so you may not discover them unless you are very careful. Showering immediately after leaving these areas is a good idea, as ticks often remain on your skin for many hours before biting.

* If you?ve had Lyme disease before, do not assume you?re immune. You still need to follow precautions and check yourself for ticks.

* Remove a tick with tweezers by gently grasping it near its head or mouth. Do not squeeze or crush the tick, but pull carefully and steadily. Once you have the entire tick removed, apply antiseptic to the bite area.

Distribution was halted in February 2002 of a vaccine known as LYMErix, which was developed to help prevent Lyme disease and which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998. The vaccine?s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, cited poor sales as the reason for pulling the vaccine off the market.

Prior to the vaccine?s withdrawal, the FDA had reported that although the vaccine might provide protection in the majority of people, it wouldn?t prevent all cases of Lyme disease. The vaccine was approved for use only in people ages 15 to 70. Although children account for the highest proportion of Lyme disease cases, the CDC didn?t recommend the use of LYMErix for those under age 15. The CDC also didn?t recommend use of LYMErix by pregnant women or anyone with joint problems such as rheumatoid arthritis or prior infection with Lyme disease.

In addition, questions were raised about the vaccine?s safety. A number of cases of severe arthritic symptoms may be linked to LYMErix. During 2001, an FDA advisory committee began investigating adverse reactions to the vaccine.”

“Yeah...I had lime disease once...I ate some nasty key lime pie in Florida....man that was the worst..I called the CDC in Atlanta and they just laughed..told me I was a fruit cake....I said no way dude....I'm telling ya...I ate some bad grub...key lime pie and now I have lime disease...well the dude just kept insisting that I just take a nap and when I awoke I'd feel better....sheesh...those dudes at CDC don't know nothin'...”

“The reason that stuff is so expensive is because they only use "key limes". Those are the limes that when you pick them, all the other limes on the tree fall off...”

“You mean to tell me that my dogs can get a vaccine against Lyme but I can't? WTF?

Crossin' my fingers for HPM. Man, that stuff scares me.”

“He's already picked up the meds and is now picking up some Chinese for lunch. He has no symptoms at all yet, just the mark. He wants to photograph it, so this'll be fun. It's on his upper thigh, lol!

Can't wait to find out if the meds have any side effects. The doc told him these are a newer, gentler version of tetracycline, not so harsh on the guts. We'll see.”

“The tick as posted to the Ocala thread

So I'm in the bathroom at Juniper Springs getting into dry clothes. I look down and see (NO NOT THAT YOU PERVS!) a largish tick hooked into my upper left inside thigh. What was unusual is that it had a dark bruise around it about the size of a pea.

So I extract the tick and the bite starts hurting. Not bad, but it hurt just the same. I've been bitten several (hundred) times by ticks and have never seen this in person but I have seen it in write ups about Lyme Disease. Luckily no red ring has formed around it.

I get home and the bruise looks worse. Treebait checks it out and we decide to go to the sawbones if it gets worse. Sure enough, this morning the thing has a nice red ring around it and still hurts so off to the doctor I go.

Rather that call I decided to just show up at the door. Sure enough, I tell the receptionist that I think I have Lyme Disease and her eyebrows shoot up and the usher me right in.

The Doc takes a look with his handy dandy jewlers loop and pronounces "That looks like a textbook bite." So he sends me off to get lab work done but rather than wait for the results to come back he starts me on tetracycline pronto. Suits me fine.

Unfortunately the meds won't let me spend time in direct sunlight so my backpacking trip next weekend with my Scouts is out of the question. Bummer, but that why I have Assistants and my health comes first.

End result, I am not diagnosed with Lyme Disease but it sure looks like it and the doc is treating me as if I were positive."”

“My doc did the same thing in july. i had almost 200 bites from one trip. he started me on that crap right away”

“A lot of the research for treatment was done at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, from what I understand. Anytime Lymes' is suspected, immediate antibiotics is the best/preferred treatment. Take the full course of meds.”

“I always do.”

“But the doc gave me antibiotics before I even went for the blood test so we caught it pretty early.only effect I still feel is my arthritis is worse than it used to be.Good luck to HPM! Im sure they caught it early so he will be fine! Ticks in the winter!? Robins sticking around all winter?! Snow here in MD lol ?! Whats next???
Streamweaver”