Ticks - Lyme disease

[jimmychooing]

I've booked a holiday in summer to a campsite near the New Forest, and ever since I keep seeing loads of scary info about Ticks and the dangers of Lyme Disease! This isn't something I had ever really considered before and it's freaking me out!

Does anyone have any experience of this, or would this put you off visiting the New Forest? I realise there are other 'hotspots' in the UK and Europe, but the New Forest seems to be mentioned quite a bit and it's where I'm going...

Have a look at a tick map. They are found across the country. The new forest may be worse? Maybe the animals roaming.
Even some NT properties here have them.
I agree long sleeves, trousers, no exposed skin.
Ds got one at 2yo in devon despite long sleeves etc.
Imo places need to keep the foliage back especially where there are deer or large animals.
However dsis also got one in a campsite in devon.
Wrists and ankles.

Can anyone recommend a childrens repellant.
Weve been using the suntan lotion with repellant in or jungle formula but unclear what works??

If you get the ‘bull’s eye’ rash, is that a normal reaction from a bite or does it only occur if you have Lyme disease?

Woolly pretty sure that's just if you have Lyme disease. The bite itself shouldn't be itchy or irritating or anything really.
Do you have it?

I took 5 (FIVE!) off my cat in one evening, recently.

DH finally got the last one off cat when it (tick) crawled onto his hand.

Taken off of people in our household, very rarely. & nobody's been ill from a bite.

We’ve removed a few from our kids over the years. I’ve found them on my ankles even when I’ve worn boots, long socks and trousers. Our first experience was when my DS was 18 months old and he had a scab on his ear for days except it wasn’t a scab but a tick. We were horrified when we realised. They’re horrible things and I hate checking for them everyday when we’re on holiday in Scotland - makes me very anxious especially as my DH is covered in hair and it’s really difficult spotting them! How I love that 3 week wait after every holiday looking for the bullseye rash.

My daughter contracted lyme disease from a tick from the New Forest. She was poorly for a year and is still experiencing the after effects.
We still visit the New Forest regularly and have a tick remover because ticks are prevalent in our area so whilst I am in no way trying to put you off, I do recommend buying a tick remover. In fact all my family have had ticks, but only one from the NF and that child ended up with Lymes.

Unfortunately lyme disease is very poorly understood in this country and doctors are very dismissive. The bulls eye rash isn't present in all cases and blood testing is a bit poor and basic compared to say the USA and Canada.

DS got a tick bite. I was completely horrified but we removed it properly and it was only in there for 3 hours max so chances of passing on lymes disease are very low.

Years and years ago I did. Went to Dr and all she said was “uurrgghh ive never seen anything like it” ( my foot and ankle were very swollen too). I think she just gave me cream to put on. Didn’t help at all, but given her reaction I didn’t bother going back. Took ages to go down (extremely painful too). A year later I had an identical one on my other leg but never bothered going to dr with it.

Then in last few years heard about Lyme so was a bit worried and when I was at dr about something else, mentioned it and they fobbed me off really, saying unlikely was Lyme. They did eventually send off a blood sample but it came back as no antibodies. I have since heard testing is usually unreliable, and often gives a false negative. So I am still unsure. But I definitely did have that bulls eye - I remember someone saying it to me at the time “ooo it looks like a bulls eye”.

I’ve told my son, if I die from something obscure insist they test for Lyme then sue the bastards!

Totally outing but my kids all came home with a leaflet this week from lymediseaseuk.com a charity trying to spread the word about lyme disease, false negatives and the absence of a rash in some cases. It might be worth getting a second opinion woollymollymonkey
I had to take my child to A&E after antibiotics as they were suffering from cardiac issues and the junior doctor was so dismissive and a total arse telling me "it wont be lyme disease, that's just rubbish whipped up on the internet" and I told him to find her blood results on the computer, which he did and an hour later came back sheepishly that he seen the blood results (positive) spoken to a paediatric cardiologist (who she was then under) who said it was the lyme disease.

Was that a heart murmur?

Well, funny you say that, the go thought it was a heart murmur when she had lyme but it was undiagnosed, then she got rapid beats after taking antibiotics following diagnosis and I was worried about heart block but ultimately it all settled down in time

That's it - I mean where's the fun and relaxation in checking yourself everyday for teeny tiny blood sucking bugs and then having to be aware for 3-4 weeks after your holiday in case you have symptoms!??

My dc never had a rash but did get a slight fever in the time frame. And then a rash that looked like CP but wasnt.
Was fine for a year 2->3 then started nursery age 3.3yo and got croup, hand foot and mouth and lots of ear infections that werent diagnosed with several burst drums. Then suddenly a heart murmur, and swollen neck glands.
The heart murmur was either not noticed or really suddenly appeared as 2/3 dr listened and didnt hear it. We had a echo i think and the murmur was not concerning. And a scan of the glands clear but they never went down.
However behaviour has always been an issue. And seems to go in cycles and then also worse when it is really hot.

Well that was one reason I asked as at the time I had a weird heart beat, like it was missing a beat then I’d get a big thump. It made me lightheaded sometimes, so a bit scary. Had ecg and nurse said oh yes I can see (whatever - I can’t remember what she said now) on the trace, I’ll send it through to the dr. Then when I saw him, he said he couldn’t see anything! Anyway by the time I saw the dr it had settled down, so I just left it and I don’t get it very often now.

boom there is a lot of misunderstanding i think due to the rise in nonsense about pseudo Chronic Lyme Disease which is distinct from actual Lyme disease from ticks.

^That's not to let this doctor off the hook who should clearly know about Lyme disease!

We went on holiday abroad to an area where there was a risk of tick borne encephalitis- I was totally paranoid about it! I bought Craghoppers Nosilife clothing for my DC- it’s impregnated with something that repels ticks and other biting insects.

I'll have a look at the nosilife clothing, thanks

So, is it the case that we would need to check for ticks after every trip or just when we've been in the forest/long grass/country parks etc? I'm thinking about trips to other places - beach, local town, theme park etc - do you need to check after those too?

We're staying in a static on the site, so I'd assume the grass is cut and tended so that reduces risk?

Sorry for all the questions!

I'll have a look at the nosilife clothing, thanks

So, is it the case that we would need to check for ticks after every trip or just when we've been in the forest/long grass/country parks etc? I'm thinking about trips to other places - beach, local town, theme park etc - do you need to check after those too?

We're staying in a static on the site, so I'd assume the grass is cut and tended so that reduces risk?

Sorry for all the questions!

I had a tick, with bulls eye rash, went to the docs, got tablets incase of Lyme.

All sorted quickly.

Just brush off any exposed arms legs before going into the car.

You'll be ok on beaches and theme parks. It's just long grass.

I'm thinking about trips to other places - beach, local town, theme park etc - do you need to check after those too?

No you don't. It's only worth checking when you have been in very long grass or woodland areas. I wouldn't even bother checking after being in the woods if I had kept to gravel paths either as you need to have come into contact with areas where ticks are. If you are not brushing up against any grass/foliage you are fine.

Honestly I don't bother checking much unless I have bare arms and legs and have been walking in big ferns or long grass up to my knees. My dog gets lots but I think that's because they love furry animals and he's the height that is fully consumed by forest foliage which he bounces in all the time.

I do find the level of panic about this a bit over the top tbh. It's not as if everyone here walks about in special clothing or has lymes disease. We simply know to remove them correctly and watch for any signs.

There was an article in the Telegraph a while back about a former international rugby player Matt Dawson who needed multiple heart surgeries after contracting Lyme disease from a tick in Richmond Park. I think it was that which made me panic a bit.

I live in an area that is full of ticks due to being on the edge of a forest which has a huge deer population. Unfortunately they have been recently identified as very having a higher risk of Lyme disease than ticks in other areas. We even have ticks in the green in front of our house as the deer come in to the estate at night sometimes. Although we take precautions. (Making sure we wear long trousers and tucking them into socks) it's not always possible to avoid them getting the odd one or two.

To put the risk in context for you, I'd say that over their lives so far my kids have probably had about 30 ticks each and none have contracted Lyme disease! My aunt did actually have it years ago but she doesn't live in our part of the country, she got it on holidays. A neighbour of mine got it but on his farm from one of his own livestock.

When my daughter was really young she got 13 ticks one day from rolling in the (very short!) grass in a picnic area. I nearly died but she didn't get Lyme disease!

The chances are absolutely tiny so relax and enjoy your holiday! 😁

I've always worried about ticks as well! But it helps if you brush your clothes and legs down with your hands after walking in long grass. They're not that hard to spot if they are on you - I've only ever had two on me before and found them while they were still small. I noticed them because they were rough on my skin. They're small, but a quick look over your body I think you'd spot one.

If you are ruling out visiting areas with ticks as This map shows that really only leaves you the midlands to visit with the South being a total right off.
It is highly likely that within the next decade the entire of the UK is going to be a tick hotspot, this is what escapp are forecasting. Schools are being advised to provide parents with information - I have had two emails from our school nurse this term.
Removal of the tick treatment to pets coming in from the continent has brought new ticks carrying new diseases in. This combined with generally warmer temperatures and increased the numbers.
Dogs from Romania have brought eye worm and tongue worm into the UK which can affect humans too.