Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Anyone with tick bite/Lyme disease experience?

42 replies

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:03

Dd1(5) came up with bites that had the bullseye appearence. Doctor gave antibiotics as a precaution because although he didn't think it was Lyme disease, it wasn't something that he wanted to miss. She's barely had the meds because she hates it and spitting more out then swallowing.
My question is:
Do tick bites go down if they have Lyme disease? (They have without any meds)
I'm worried that she could be seriously ill if we miss it. She's had a cold and had a headache tonight so I did worry a bit.
She is well otherwise
Thanks

OP posts:

PitchFork · 05/09/2016 22:07

yes dc should absolutely finish the ab's. chocolate buttons are your friends.
lyme disease is tricky and by the time symptoms are noticed it's really difficult to treat.

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:13

She's barely had any so I'm worried. I've asked the doctor to see if he can give her an alternative

OP posts:

WeAllHaveWings · 05/09/2016 22:15

Havent had experience, except when dh had some neurological problems one of the things we thought it could be was lymes as a lot of symptoms were similar. What I did read about the long lasting effect were quite serious.

If you do think she has been bitten by a tick which had caused the bullseye rash I would be making sure she took all the meds required whether she liked them or not. Did you find ticks? I think they usually attach/burrow in so you would have probably seen it.

PitchFork · 05/09/2016 22:20

yes, maybe ask for capsules that can be broken open and the contents mixed with jam (or whatever she likes)

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:25

I am doing everything I can to make sure she takes it, but it's clarythrmycin, a chalky White medicine which she is gagging on and ends up not taking much in. She's normally good with meds so I know she can't help it. This is also a two week course.

The question was do the bites go down if it's Lyme disease? I just hope we can get something similar for her. I'm a worrier but hoping it can wait until tomorrow

OP posts:

EddieStobbart · 05/09/2016 22:25

Can you get some more of the meds if she hasn't had much? My friend had a tick bite, migraine a few days later (thought she might have shingles) then suddenly she developed Bell's Palsy - took 6 months for the paralysis across half her face to wear off. Tests didn't come back as positive for Lyme's but my friend is convinced there has to have been a connection.

I'm sorry if this sounds dramatic.i've had about a hundred tick bites - I used to just yank the ticks out without a second's thought but am very cautious now. My mother did have a tick bite with the ring around it a few months ago and didn't go to the doctor - she seems to be fine but I'd tell the doctor your DD hasn't taken much of the medicine and see what they say.

ParkingLottie · 05/09/2016 22:25

How long ago was this?
Were they actually tick bites?
Sorry - but you have to get the aBs down them come hell or high water in circumstances like this.
Give her chocolate before the aBs, so that her toungue and mouth are coated with choc - it helps with the taste - and then more immediately after.

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:26

No I didn't see any ticks either. Bites were about a cm big

OP posts:

EddieStobbart · 05/09/2016 22:27

Would it help if she held her nose? That works for me.

ParkingLottie · 05/09/2016 22:28

Whether the bite goes up or down is not a signifier of Lyme's - you can get Lyme's with no bull's eye rash at all.
Although rash is a cause for concern, whether it goes up of down.
Will she swallow tablets or capsules? ask for an alternative.

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:28

The first bite came up two weeks ago and two more last week. Doc wasn't convinced but said because we had been on holiday and near trees, grasses etc he would treat.
Trying not to panic

OP posts:

PikachuSayBoo · 05/09/2016 22:30

Ive had a tick bite and didn't go in to get Lyme disease. My brother had a tick bite and did get Lyme disease. He had the bullseye rash which I thought was a sign of Lyme disease, not of a tick bite.

Neither he or I had a noticable bite. We both (at different times) found a tick embedded on us. Actually dd also got bitten by a tick years ago, found it on her in the bath and again no noticable insect bite. So very different to mozzie bites which come up in big itchy lumps for me.

It took years for my brother to be diagnosed and to be honest I don't think his symptoms appeared for months.

PikachuSayBoo · 05/09/2016 22:31

With both myself and dd I can say for sure if I hadn't found the ticks on us I wouldn't have known that we'd been bitten.

PacificDogwod · 05/09/2016 22:32

Tick bites heal like any other bite.

The question is whether the tick that bit your DD carried the organism that potentially causes Lyme disease in it's saliva or whatever.

If your DD had the bullseye rash then there is a higher chance that she was infected with the bacteria (borrellia). This does still not mean that she will get Lyme disease, but she is at risk. To reduce that risk she MUST take the full course of antibiotic.

Most/all antibiotics tast vile, the kids' suspensions are even worse (you should try it). Most tablets/capsules are easy to take and many children as young as 4 can do it.

I agree, bribery and corruption is your friend. Either offer a reward or give it with Nutella/jam/Ribena - all are good to cover the taste a bit. She will always taste some of the typical antibiotic taste.
She must take the antibiotics. Or take her chances - NOT what I would recommend.

Fwiw, I was bitten by a tick in Germany, developed the bullseye rash 2-3 weeks later, could not take the recommended antibiotics (?Doxycycline) as I was BFing at the time so had 3 weeks of good old Amoxicillin. A blood test for Lyme disease was equivocal. I was fine. There is not way I would want to risk a long term, potentially debilitating disease.

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:33

Crikey pik
How does it affect him?

I'll talk to the doctor tomorrow

OP posts:

PikachuSayBoo · 05/09/2016 22:33

The bullseye rash is very distinctive. It's not an ordinary insect bite. This photo is from the nhs website.

Anyone with tick bite/Lyme disease experience?

EddieStobbart · 05/09/2016 22:33

Three bites but you haven't seen a tick? Did your DD see one? Could she have scratched them off? Ticks usually get their jaws in, stay there and grow. Wise to take medicine anyway.

PikachuSayBoo · 05/09/2016 22:34

General fatigue. He couldn't work for years.

PacificDogwod · 05/09/2016 22:34

Bulls eye rash is a sign of infection with borrellia.

Lyme disease is the systemic illness caused by borrellia.

Most tick bites do not transmit borrellia.

Most bulls eye rashes to not go on to develop full-blown Lyme disease.

Most Lyme disease sufferers recover fully, but it is clearly a rotten acute illness to go through and a horrible longterm condition for anybody who is unlucky enough to have chronic neurological symptoms.

is the clear as mud now??

PacificDogwod · 05/09/2016 22:36

Again, fwiw I had not noticed a tick biting me and was quite surprised when the rash came up.
Totally looked like on that photo, was at least 6-8in across on my ample thigh. I did not have any other symptoms.

Do speak to your GP, but it does sound like your DD needs to take antibiotics one way or another.

PikachuSayBoo · 05/09/2016 22:36

I think 7% of ticks carry the Lyme disease bacteria. But I would be worried by a bullseye rash.

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:37

I'm not one to risk anything and she will have the medicine in whatever form it is. I just wondered how it presents? Two of my GP friends have seen her bites and have said they don't look like tick bites but I (being the health worrier I am) took her the GP on Thursday last week. He also said he was being over precautions but I'm worried now

OP posts:

ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 05/09/2016 22:39

Yeah, the bite will go down, Lyme disease or not. Lyme is a fucker. My mum had it without ever realising she had a tick. It was horrendous. Get those abs down her.

Original poster

Mummytron · 05/09/2016 22:39

No she didn't see a tick.
They didn't itch.
This was like a normal bite (tiny) with a thing ring around it that was the width of a cm.

Thanks for all your replies, I was just worried about leaving it until tomorrow

OP posts:

EddieStobbart · 05/09/2016 22:40

My tick bites were like a little red dot once the tick itself was pulled out. Might have been a small lump but this was back in the day and I was just pulling them out with my finger nails or ordinary tweezers

Flip

1 2