Feel unwell after tick bite

[BattenbergandLadyGreyTea]

I found a tick in my back in the shower last Sunday. Fairly engorged. I didn’t realise what it was at first and started rubbing it thinking it was garden debris.

It came away and went down the plug hole before I could stop it. I removed some more bits gently with my nail and washed the area with soap.

Ive had tick bites before so didn’t think much about it. My husband returned yesterday from a trip away and removed a leg sticking out. The bite area is sore but no rash.

This morning I woke up with muscle ache, nausea, headache and felt very tired. Saw a gp and had a blood test today. I had a mild temperature at the surgery. GP prescribed antibiotics even though the blood tests aren’t back. She said I could stop the antibiotics if the result is negative.

I haven’t started the antibiotics yet. I feel I should just take them and finish the course even if it’s not Lyme.

The Lyme test reacts to your own antibodies so if youre body hasnt yet mounted a really decent response it'll be negative even if you have Lyme.

Take the full course.

And given your symptoms I'd keep an eye out for Lyme symptoms for at least a year. You may need a longer, higher dose of antibiotics.

Dont mess with Lyme disease.

Thank you. I think this is what I will do. And sorry you’ve had such a rough time of it.

Ch3ck again when you get the result OP on what you should do re.antibiotics.

The reason you got antibiotics right away is because if they wait til the results are in you will be very unwell by then. Lymes is serious.

Hence you need to start the antibiotics asap as possible and take them properly so they will kill the infection in its tracks.

And if it turns out you don’t have that infection and therefore you don’t need that medication, you can stop taking it as it won’t be doing anything so there’s no point in having it.

That famous model Yolanda Hadid had lymes disease amd it made her really ill, google her.

I hope you just have a bug and not that.

PS I’d just keep taking the antibiotics anyway as it won’t do any harm.

No need to google, my teen dd’s have just been telling me all about her. Poor girl.

Definitely take the full course regardless of blood test. The fact you have a bite and have symptoms is enough. You don't always get a rash. Even with Lymes disease. There is a lot of misinformation around in this country.
Do not take the risk. Lymes ruins peoples lives... you can be fine for a couple of years and then suddenly you can barely function and its too late to cure then. I know of two people who are pretty much disabled from it. It's no joke.

You must take the full course of antibiotics. A blood test won’t show Lyme disease for 6 weeks. Check out Lyme disease uk group on Facebook. It will help. Joint pain a big symptom of Lyme disease. If you’ve been prescribed doxycycline follow the guidelines on direct contact with sunlight. Sun cream on face when it’s sunny

I had a tick bite at the start of summer and got the bulls eye rash. I didn't get a blood test the GP didn't offer. But I took the antibiotics for 3 weeks.
They aren't nice ones and made me feel awful. But it was better than Lyme Disease.

Yes because you don’t have an infection, you only need to complete the course if you do have one to prevent it returning by finishing early!

If you have something like a MyChart login at the hospital then you may be able to log in and see the results more quickly rather than wait for the GP to look at them and pass them on to you. I always get my blood test results really quickly through the hospital website.

I’d keep taking antib’s until I was absolutely certain the ‘flu’ish symptoms were not assosiated with the Lymes.

Why are you asking strangers on the internet? Do what your Dr told you and if you feel worse go to A&E - which I’m sure they told you. You’re the sort of person who gets really ill and then blames everyone else. FFS

What is the point of this post ? Are you looking for medical advice on Mumsnet ?

Take the antibiotics and rest like your GP told you. You will have probably have finished the course before they sort your results. If you have questions about medications you speak to your pharmacist.

OP, there is also a Guardian article today about a case of Lyme disease that was misdiagnosed/misidentified, and one aspect is that (as pps have mentioned) tests may come up negative.

“And if you have an NHS blood test, known as Elisa, it gives false negatives about 50% of the time. It looks for antibodies – but Lyme bacteria hides, and can fool the body into not producing them.”

I just came across this article today. I thought you might find it interesting: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/28/as-my-daughter-got-sicker-and-sicker-our-quest-for-answers-dragged-on-how-did-we-all-miss-the-bacteria-taking-over-her-body

Sorry cross posted with @booksnbaking

I've just had a mini training session on Lymes run by a doctor who is involved in raising awareness. Their advice is straight on antibiotics and take whole course even if test is negative as they are unreliable. He said the antibiotics are pretty hard but better than Lyme. He says there's lots of young people getting Lyme from D of E hikes. He told us some horror stories so I'd take no chances and do the whole course. You are lucky your GP was on it - a lot aren't.

Antibiotics are fairly harmless and certainly a million times less likely to damage you than Lyme disease. One small saving grace of Lyme is that it responds to even the most basic ABs.

I've had it twice, back when I used to walk a lot in areas where there were a lot of ticks..

First time in 2010, got the famous "bulls-eye" rash, straight to GP, amoxicillin, job done.

Second time in 2014, no rash, no aches and pains or fever, but mysterious neurological symptoms of various kinds. It was finally diagnosed by lumbar puncture after six months, culminating in stroke-like symptoms (which my neurologist told me are super-rare with Lyme — she had only seen them once before, and if she saw them one more time after me, she was going to write it up for the New England Journal of Medicine). Four weeks of intravenous antibiotics cleared it up (in fact most of it was gone after three days). I was lucky because it very nearly affected my heart to the point of needing a pacemaker.

So yeah, start taking the ABs. You'll be fine very soon.

Bear Tick Borne Encephalitis in mind as well. It’s a big deal in Europe and is moving north at a rate of knots thanks to climate change,

The test for Lyme Disease isn't accurate until a minimum of 6 weeks after you've had the bite, so it's unlikely to show. The golden window to treat with antibiotics is during the 4 weeks after the bite, so yes, take the antibiotics...you've probably got quite a high dose for 2-3 weeks. Take them all.
Both my sons have been treated for Lyme Disease.

Keep taking! And pursue further treatment if you continue to feel unwell. The test on the NHS is known to be unreliable. There’s an article in the guardian today about a case of chronic Lyme which details the difficulties of getting it diagnosed and treated. I hope it’s unrelated and you’re feeling better soon.

Definitely take the antibiotics!!!! With Lyme getting on it quickly is key.

I'm fretting now.....I've had several tick bites (all acquired in my back garden), but never any rash or illness. Worried an infection is lurking somewhere.

Nope, that’s the wrong advice. The tests used by the NHS aren’t very accurate compared to the specialist lab in Germany.

If OP has symptoms, she should carry on taking the full course of antibiotics.

Lymes is a very serious disease and can lead to permanent nerve damage and long term disability.