Tick bite - do I have Lymes Disease?

[Starryskiesinthesky]

Got bitten in Scottish highlands about a week ago. Not sure if o need to go to the doctors or not. Any thoughts? Thanks

@Newfluff

Agree with never using tweezers (sorry op no help for you) was it still alive when you removed it.

We are pretty expert with the tweezers! And we did get it all out definitely!

Sorry to be bossy but Tweezers really are dangerous as inevitably squeeze the tick . Ticks’ insides carry so much rubbish including the borrelia bacteria and coinfections so you don’t want those squeezed into you. I hope you don’t mind me stressing this but I learned far more about Lyme disease than I wanted to !
We managed to miss a tick hidden in long hair as leaving them in longer than 24 hours can also increase any risk .
I do wish ticks would disappear as do hate them

Ps sorry OP as you do know this already but hopefully useful for others as there can’t be too much awareness with Lyme so much more prevalent than it was I believe

Also I hope you keep extremely well, and get all the right antibiotic if it’s needed

Yes, looks quite textbook, as everyone said.

Is the tick itself still there somewhere? There's a lab in the UK that can test it for carrying Lyme. Unfortunately there are no reliable tests for humans as early as that.

Yep, my son got Lyme from tick bite a couple of years ago on Exmoor. The treatment was 2 weeks of antibiotics.

Do the biro thing too, circling the entire red area to keep track of whether it gets bigger or not

Yes . That's the bullseye rash. Early intervention with antibiotics is key. Get a gp appt asap.

Starry

It's not getting it all out, it's whether you get it out alive. For anyone else reading please check to see if it still alive, if they are still alive they are much less likely to have infected you.

Its also to stop the squashing of their tummy contents into you.

I do understand the eurgh, panic get it off instinct though!!! It's such a visceral reaction.

@Verbena87

I had a bite that did that. Gp said fine but I was about to start expensive nhs-funded fertility treatment and said I really really needed him to be very sure, was he? He phoned a colleague at the hospital to check and put me straight on antibiotics, I think for 2 weeks. Get checked.

yes, not every GP is clued up, so please don't let him send you away, If you do antibiotics now it is fine, but left til later the disease can be veyr nasty

I agree GP’s aren’t all familiar with it. I had to tell our London one I was sure it was Lyme as she only referred us to a dermatologist. Even when had a positive test result she prescribed an antibiotic that doesn’t touch Lyme and caused a delay which may have affected treatment as it took months to get better by then.
Do always cross reference with Lyme Disease Action and expect a longer course of antibiotics than normal (and at double strength if I remember correctly )

Hi everyone, thanks for all the messages! I saw the practice nurse who prescribed a 3 week course of Doxycycline for probable Lymes. Took my first dose and felt sick 🤕

Great that you have the anti-biotics! Sorry to hear about the sickness tho. The GP can prescribe Cyclizine for that, if necessary.

Have you been drinking alcohol recently @Starryskiesinthesky? That could be reacting with the Doxycycline to make you feel sick.

Well done on getting to see a medic and getting appropriate treatment.

That’s so good you have the antibiotics but I hope the sickness doesn’t last.
Just when we’ve been talking about it all, we managed to miss a tick on one of the DC. Not only that but they scratched it half off not realising and the area has now swollen slightly and itchy.
I have a feeling the GP won’t give them antibiotics as a precaution but as they’ve already had Lyme disease they apparently may always test positive we were told at the time. I guess I can keep an eye out for fever or something else but makes me so anxious now!

@Starryskiesinthesky 3 weeks is not enough . You need 4 . Speaking from experience. Keep a look out for any flu type symptoms too . It won’t be normal flu ! If you get this , the dosage may need changing or different meds prescribed.
Good luck,

YES! I have had it myself and that's how it started then grew all over my leg. Go to doctor ASAP to get antibiotics before it's too late to treat

@Starryskiesinthesky

Hi everyone, thanks for all the messages! I saw the practice nurse who prescribed a 3 week course of Doxycycline for probable Lymes. Took my first dose and felt sick 🤕

That's what happened to me. I ended up having a reaction to the antibiotics but went back and they gave me a different kind and no side effects

Get it looked at, I worked in a summer camp, covered in bites and several staff got Lyme but they don’t like testing over here.

[quote 2beesornot2beesthatisthehoney]@Starryskiesinthesky 3 weeks is not enough . You need 4 . Speaking from experience. Keep a look out for any flu type symptoms too . It won’t be normal flu ! If you get this , the dosage may need changing or different meds prescribed.
Good luck,[/quote]
I looked up the nice guidelines (the nurse told me there were very clear ones) and they say 3 weeks for my symptom (nothing except a rash). Hopefully they will do the trick.