Any Doctors &/or people that have had either Lyme Disease? Posting here for traffic.

[ShakingAndShocked]

About 9-10 days ago I saw what I believed to be a bog standard but unfortunate insect bite on my inner huge right thigh. I do always have quite strong reactions to bites and mine always end up worse than anyone elses (IE if on hols and each of get bitten, theirs stay pretty contained but mine just huge reaction) so thought nothing of it.

However... a friend has just seen it and asked if Doc seen it to which I replied no (in a 'no, it's just a bite FFS!' kinda way) Friend replied she thought it was a 'bullseye' rash poss indicative of a tick bite and thus in urgent need of antibiotics. Ergo if you are a doctor or if you have experience of Lyme can you please please offer your advice/view?

Bite - at point I first saw it (weirdly it was not itchy like other bites not painful, hence only realising bitten when SAW it!) - was very very red and quite 'hot'; could see the bite at centre but broadly bite and surrounding spherical 'spread' were all same colour (v red/pinky/hot). Over past week it's 'refined' to leave just the dot (bite) in the middle and the outer 'circle'. Will post pics but can only do that from mobile so will be in next post.

Be really grateful for advice from anyone who knows what they are talking about

Pics.

Pics

See a doctor straight away and you can get treatment for Lymes. Only works in first few weeks so be insistent.

Good luck.

Doctor today OP!!!

Get that checked out today, an urgent appointment. Don't be fobbed off. I'm not one for antibiotics if at all possible, but I'd take no risks with possible Lymes. Are you in an area with many ticks?

I've had a couple of friends contract Lymes and its very unpleasant. Long term untreated can be very serious.

No harm in going to the GP and checking it out, but that looks like a normal insect bite to me (I react in the same way as you) - particularly if you didn't actually find a tick.

Yes to in area of ticks (although I saw NO tick and def did not have one stuck to me at point I first saw bite/realised had bite). Live in area of ONBeauty so much heath land etc. County is one listed as high for ticks (IE to point where letter to all parents from DC school vis awareness of that).

Also had another (tho in that case overtly itchy etc) bite at same time and that has now disappeared completely whereas this one hasn't.

By all means check with a doctor, but the stereotypical 'bullseye rash' is more of a ringed rash, so red central ring with pale circle around it and darker circle around that, etc, like a two-tone archery target. But as others say, Lyme disease isn't to be messed with and doctors would rather investigate a negative case than miss as chance to treat a positive case.

DS has had Lyme. I read a paper - sorry but can't source it at the moment - which said in up to a third of cases patients had not seen a tick or been aware of being bitten. Not everyone gets the classic bulls eye rash either. I would say worth getting checked.

If that was my leg I would be heading to the doc and I am here with an infected finger thinking i'll probably have a go at it later with a needle and some savlon.
So I am not one to shout doctor at any opportunity

Google it and you'll find it doesn't look like a tick bite. My bite was identical to the photos of the bullseye appearance.

Do not gamble - not all cases have the classic bullseye, and not all cases even have a bullseye at all. Let a doctor decide, not google.

I had Lyme disease last year. I would say with mine the bullseye was more distinct with a very clear red outer ring and light almost white inner ring - like the blood has drained out of it iyswim. However I wouldn't be confident to rule out Lyme from those pics. better safe than sorry and it looks like a nasty bite either way so better to get it checked out. Even if not Lyme it could be infected anyway

Ok. Do have update but need to think really hard first.

Grateful for the above posts and will be grateful for anymore!

I was treated for Lymes about two years ago - similar story; always reacted badly to bites but this one seemed different. Rash was identical to yours, with no obvious rings or bite marks and nothing was clearing it up.

Dr gave me really really strong antibiotics for it and it cleared up. So better safe than sorry I think.

do not know about recognising bites....

but do know about Lyme's and how crucial it is that it is diagnosed FAST... that treatment is highly effective if it is ... and if not, it doesn't work and you can be very very ill for years/decades as DFriend of mine is....

Good luck

Did you get seen? Hope you're ok

Hi all, thanks again for posting and here's the update:

GP looked at it and said whilst it is not a 'classical' bullseye rash the truth is that in somewhere between 30%-50% of cases there is either no rash/a diffuse rash/a.n.other presentation and that she thinks it could be Lyme, though equally she knows it might not be Lyme.

Spelt out 2 options: blood test but that not actually reliable as can present a false negative (IE yay, you're fine but only to discover later that you're not fine and now left with something much more dangerous and much harder to treat) or straight to antibiotics.

Her actual words were: "It's 50/50, I suspect it could be Lyme but there is a chance it isn't"

She offered me either the blood test and then review when result back (bearing in mind it could come back as negative but that actually not being reliable) OR start a 2 week course of Doxycycline now. She then said if it was her, she would take the antibiotics given the potential enormity of not treating. I asked my pharmacist (who I know reasonably well) what he would do and he said the same as Doc; namely he'd take the antibiotics.

If I was perfectly healthy right now, based on the above I'd just take the antibiotics, however reality is that I'm coming at this from a place of contemporaneous pretty shit health. Have savage gut issues stemming from combo of Gastritis and, separately, long bout of food poisoning so a pretty relentless period of vomiting followed by 24/7 nausea which remains (have lost a stone in the past month to put it into context). Separately to that, have also needed to take Prednisilone (steroid) for past 3 months so immune system on floor already. IE I'm immunocompromised, weak as fuck right now, uber concerned any worsening of gut issues will take out the one tiny meal a day I've been managing late in eve (IE at end of day and only after multiple doses of 3 chemo strength antimetics) and what I'll do if I literally cannot then eat at all?

For the same reasons as anyone with half a brain, I don't ever take antibiotics lightly (think maybe once in past decade?) and that - coupled with the hideous looking list of side-effects (esp. the gut ones given I'm pretty weak from ongoing nausea already) - is what's making me think twice before I commence the course.

The one thing that strikes me though is that I know without a shadow of doubt that if OP + update was written by someone else, I would be posting 'sod the fact the Doctor's not sure, she was clear is a fair chance it IS Lyme/so sod the side effects/take the fucking meds already/you're insanely lucky to have this chance given so may people do not and end up with pretty savage long-term consequences' etc etc.

I have maybe another 2 days max to decide take them or not but after that it's shit or bust; either I don't/never had Lyme and I'll be just fine OR it is Lyme and I'll have missed the window of efficacy for knocking it on the head. So I do need to make a decision asap. That's where it's at right now.

If you got this far, thanks for reading

Take them.

@Sparklewater It was you that had rash similar to mine wasn't it? Was it the same antibiotic (Doxycycline 1x100mg tab twice day for 2 weeks) you took and how did you fare on it?

Just to going back to your original post, have you had a horse fly bite before? From you description and the photos, it looks very similar to the way I've reacted to them, hard bite in the centre and a big, hot red ring around it. And you don't realise that you've been bitten until afterwards.
But saying that, if there is a chance it could be Lyme's you would be wise to take the antibiotics, though I know how you feel about side effects etc I still have a sore tongue and can't eat spicy food over a year after having being prescribed a succession of courses of antibiotics.
Sorry it's a tough decision for you.

Tough call, OP, but I'd be inclined to err on the side of caution and take the pills.

I've had horse fly bites, but they've never been that big. However, I have had wasp stings that react like that - huge red circle and very hot.

Yep - and yes, it sounds similar. I know it was a really strong course, although I was put on it for three weeks.

Exactly the same story re docs as well. I had the blood test and started the antibiotics, with the logic being that if it was clear then I could stop them (as I'd already had the rash for quite a long time without it clearing up). But they couldn't guarantee it either way in the end so I carried on and it cleared up pretty quickly. Antibiotics didn't make me feel too bad, and I hadn't taken any for about 20 yrs before that so nothing to do with building resistance etc

CazY777 - if it is the same as mine was, there's no obvious central bite and no heat. More a sort of scaly feeling! Totally unlike any bite reaction I've had before.

I'd take the antibiotics but get some probiotics to go with them to help replace your gut bacteria.

The side affects of taking the antibiotics, even with the issues you have with your health at the moment, are nothing compared with what you could be facing if it is Lyme disease.
I don't say this lightly as I'm immunosuppressed myself and have a long standing disability, but if I was in your shoes then I would definitely take the antibiotics. You may have a difficult time on them but if you react severely to the antibiotics there are other ones you can try, and its only for 2 weeks. If you suffered badly with Lyme disease it could last for years.

I know it must be a difficult decision for you, and it's really based on a 'what if' and I do understand, but please think carefully before making your decision.

Take care.