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

As I said up thread i live in the worst area in the world for lymes disease. It's estimated 60-70% of ticks here are carrying lymes and one of us (me, dh or ds) gets bitten at least once a week. We pulled 27 ticks off of one cat yesterday.

The new research coming out is that a tick only needs to be attached for 5-10 minutes to transmit lymes. I know of at least 10 people who contracted lymes after a tick being attached for less than an hour.

I'd say that about half of the people I know who've contracted lymes either didn't have (or didn't notice which is unlikely) the rash.

Tick diseases are changing very quickly. We had two local people contract Powassan last week which used to be super rare. It's terrifying. Ticks are becoming a reason for people moving to different states here, experts I've spoken to are predicting some kind of tick apocalypse, especially with rising global temperatures.

I had the classic bullseye five years ago after getting a tick in Scotland. With everything I have subsequently read about lymes I am very very glad I saw the bite and took the antibiotics. They are strong and made me feel a bit unwell but please don't run the risk of getting seriously ill by not taking them OP

My DH was bitten on the shin by a tick. Within 24 hours he was in intensive care. He had to have a pacemaker fitted and was off work for six months. He has been luckier than many other Lyme disease suffers in that he's made a good recovery but it took over a year before he felt really well and he still has regular cardiac appointments.

Last year DS got bitten by a tick in the New Forest. He went to Minor Injuries as I was unsure I could remove it properly. They were really efficient, removed the tick and made it crystal clear that taking antibiotics was optional but essential.

OP take the antibiotics, please

Again, just a huge thank you for posting - you're helping me make my mind up when right now left to it's own devices it's lame as fuck compared to normal.

It's been illuminating being subject of a 'should I/shouldn't I' or WWYD type thread vs. contributing to one, latter being something I've done so many times and when something seems just SO obvious but the OP just not seeing the wood for the trees - I feel like that kind of OP right now which is why it is pretty vital I'm sensechecking with you lovely vipers

Flowers So cat bringing it in and me simply not seeing it is a possibility then? Cats can bring them in?

My post yesterday was a bit crap with lots of spelling mistakes , sorry.
As I said I have Lyme which was only firstly stabilised by the antibiotics and then several years later the damage done to my face could only be controlled by major brain surgery. I am not cured but in good health with this. It was a lot to go through after a long period of time in immense pain.
Not all tics carry the Lyme disease but those on heathland appear to be more likely to. They are thought to be carried by deer but get left on taller grass to await the next carrier be that dog, deer or a human. Don't think they pass from animal to animal.
Bit concerned about the symptoms you are now experiencing. I got "flu" 2 weeks after the likely bite date. It wasn't like normal flu , I felt crap and my limbs were aching I recall . If you have any flu like symptoms please don't hang about.

They do pass animal to animal! Ds (and all the other local kids) are not allowed to play in long grass, deciduous woodland or any other 'tick' areas. We strip check him after every time he's been out and during it we're out a long time. He still gets ticks on him.

The deer she's ticks which mice, rabbits, etc pick up. The cats pick them up from the mice that they catch, our dog (who's not allowed to free roam off lead because of the ticks) picks them up when she rubs heads with the cats. The dog then brings them in and they get on us.

People here don't really help outside cats mainly because of the tick issue. I never would again but these have been outside their whole lives so would be cruel so suddenly confine them to the house.

Keep not help.

The deer shed ticks. Ffs!

I have had ticks on our cats before. So have most people around where I live. I even have a nifty gadget for removing them safely (bought from the vet).

Take them.

Op you still haven't actually said you are taking the medicine? Please say you have actually started? No messing around waiting on probiotic deliveries, no excuses or pretexts, your long term health is more important than transient side effects, even in your condition. You said yourself that your doctor said if she were you, she would take them - presumably she knows all your history and present condition and she still says to take them. Bear in mind you got a valuable emergency appointment within minutes when you mention potential Lymes, and that they hate prescribing unnecessary antibiotics nowadays, This is how serious the risk of doing nothing is.

Put it this way - what's the likely outcome if you take them and don't have Lymes? What's the worst possible outcome if you take them and don't have Lymes? And then ask those questions the other way round.

As sycamore said please do it.

Doxycycline is a safe antibiotics taken for malaria.
Better be poorly for a month , than a lifetime!

The crazy thing is that because of the anti-vaxx brigade we can vaccinate our pets but not our children...

There was a programme on tv a couple of nights ago which featured Lyme disease. I can't remember what they said now.

I would say take them on the basis that you may be ok on the antibiotics, but, if it is Lyme disease then the long term implications could be bad

Can anyone who was diagnosed several years after infection tell me how they got that diagnosis? It was my understanding that the test used in the UK was not the most effective at giving a definitive result? Has that changed?
Good luck with the antibiotics OP; sounds like you've got enough on your plate already.

www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/fqyjp5/how-to-stay-well--s1-e1-how-to-stay-well/

Link,to,programme. It was called How to Stay Well.

I will out myself if anyone knows me, but I think you need to hear this.

I collapsed, had a seizure, went into status epilepticus, was induced into a coma for 5 weeks, nearly died. I spent 3 months in rehabilitation in hospital (away from my small children.) I have been left with epilepsy.

I have had positive and negative results for Lymes. There was a bullseye bite. It was a terrible time. Please take the antibiotic.

So would other countries treat with AB a tick bite in an area with lyme but no rash?
As my dd1 had a bite age 2yo. We were in north devon so exmoor area walking in woods. It was the last day. I found the tick, maybe 1mm, the following morning on her wrist.
We removed it carefully ourselves.
She got no EM rash, but did get cold/flu 2 weeks later or so so with a rash on her back, which i guess was viral. Not red more similar to CP but didnt spread or last
I did see a gp and said about the bite. But they didnt think so.
Dd was fine for a year but at 3yo startig nursery got croup and hand foit and mouth and then at leat 5+ ear infections in 18m. Has short attention span, seems unusually tired. Is impulsive.
But she didnt get a rash, which i know not all do but cant see a gp would treat a child without it?

Hope you took the AB op.

I had Lyme. I saw the tick, but the bite seemed to heal fine and the rash appeared a week later.

Apart from that, my case was nothing like the 'typical' symptoms described online. I had mild flu-like symptoms for one day, then nothing besides the rash. The doctor who diagnosed me said that the typical symptoms aren't actually that typical in her experience.

Unlike you I did see the tick, but if I hadn't I would've had no idea I'd had one that'd dropped off. The site didn't hurt, wasn't itchy, and basically looked no different from normal skin until a week after I'd removed the tick. I only saw the thing because I felt a bump in my sleeve and thought I had a stone stuck in there!

Glad you gave a good message I saw the photos and thought no not a bulls eye but not all lymes infections have one. But also they not be classic. My sons when he was 5 had a classic bulls eye which was mostly under his hairline and for three days I thought the rash that I could see at the top left of his forehead was a face paint stain then a reaction to said face paint. At the same time we had a friend going through hell, back ache, weight loss, depression and finally he got a facial palsy and was diagnosed with chronic Lymes. So if in doubt get it checked out.

"chronic Lyme" is a hoax and a scam that kills people. What the OP is talking about is acute Lyme.

Everything that you have said proves that you have Lyme disease. I know someone who was perfectly healthy who got late treatment and nearly died. Given that you have an already compromised immune system you need to take the medication asap, please!
Lyme causes flu like symptoms - cold and shivering sounds like you've already got this! Every day/hour you wait makes it harder for your body to recover.
Please take the treatment OP.
Wish you all the best