Anyone battle or have battled Lyme disease???

Contracted it about 10 years ago...compared to others I know, I'm pretty lucky...my symptoms mostly mimic osteoarthritis, which at my age was likely anyway. It shouldn't be taken lightly, can attack joints, neuro system, heart, depending on your immune system. Nasty bacteria that sets up housekeeping in 48 hours and becomes chronic. I question assertions it can be cured, controlled seems more realistic...

 

Brother got it about 22 years ago. Long before anyone suspected it. Docs could not diagnose the cause of bizarre symptoms as dynaflow mentioned above. My dad finally told him tell the doctor to check for Lyme. Things have really changed sine then. At the time there was only one doc in western PA that knew how to treat it. Since it was allowed to fester for so long he still has symptoms today and every so often has to get treatment.
Early detection and treatment is critical.

Ticks are a horrible problem. For folks who spend a lot of time outdoors, it has totally changed our way of life. You just can't go walking through grass or weeds that is above ankle height nor through the woods that have any undergrowth and expect not to get them. Have to watch what type of clothes/shoes you wear, take clothes off outside or garage, then check yourself. I'm always asking wife if she needs checked People that have inside cats and dogs that are allowed to go outside and run around need to realize they can bring ticks in and drop them inside house.

This is no exaggeration. 10 years ago we had a collie dog like Lassie. Took her for a couple hour walk through woods and fields close to fall as I was scouting a deer hunting stand. When we got back I noticed some ticks crawling around and picked them off sticking each one to clear packing tape enabling an accurate count. Over the next 3 days I picked a total of 72 ticks off of her. After the first day they got attached. The long hair made them difficult to find so it took awhile. It was then when I realized how BAD the problem had become in our area and that we needed to start changing habits.

 

My sister has Lyme disease. As far as I know, there isn’t a cure, only management, and that varies person to person. She was able to find something that worked for her, and is doing very well. She lives in Florida, which was part of the problem in diagnosing her symptoms. Must be they are not as familiar with it as we are becoming in the Northeast. Diagnosing it isn’t always straightforward either.

If you are into conspiracy theories, throw Plum Island into your Google machine...

 

For sure it has negatively affected our enjoyment of our property and forced me to do woods work in winter, and increase my use of pesticide inside fenced yard area. White footed mouse is official carrier, but on my property it's mostly Whitetails that carry ticks around. Cat (mouse control) stays outside and gets Revolution every month. Doberman easy to check (single layer coat), prefers indoors with temp control and no flying pests. So far so good, averaging 1 tick per season..

 

Did you get bit? If so I'd get checked out asap and get on antibiotics.

 

...bulls-eye rash at bite is sign, followed by fever/flu-like symptoms. Not to ruin your day but not sure that's always case...I don't recall seeing bulls-eye, but maybe I missed it...deer tick nymphs are so small...

 

Jason, was the tick embedded and engorged or just crawling around?

 

I have experienced bulls-eye bites at least 10 times. I was concerned but never developed Sx.

 

I go on the 27th to have more bloodwork..I am not so sure the Doxy rid it out of me as I still have joint pain allot more lately. I bought UV sleeves to help protect me from sunburn,but it seems I can't put enough sunscreen on my neck and hands. I feel a little better but not 100%. They told me I may have the symptoms for up to a year. I work for Penn Dot out on the roads doing ditch work,flushing pipes and other jobs. I try to check often and stay out of the areas where they are most common.I just read an article put out by my insurance that Pa has the most cases in all the US..

 

Man, that sucks Pat. Sorry to hear. Here's hoping everything comes out ok and you can get back to normal.

 

Pat

https://www.amazon.com/Protection-F...1-spons&keywords=sunscreen+hats+for+men&psc=1

 

Lyme’s scares the crap out of me. My yard backs up against a forest and my yard is loaded with the little bastards. Cleared a bunch of trees this spring and had many on me. Even brought some in the house to my wife’s horror. Somehow I have avoided getting bitten however. I like to grab them with the needle nose and set their ass on fire with a lighter. They pop!

 

Did you confirm what species of tick it was? Only certain types are carriers for Lyme disease. I found one latched on to me last year, I picked it up at my cousin's farm we were target shooting at and missed it that evening, found it at work the next day. It had to have been there about 24 hours. Luckily when I checked to see what type it was, it was one that doesn't carry Lyme. Unfortunately it was one that carries Rocky mountain spotted fever. That was a tense couple weeks....

Pat, hope you get it under control, doesn't sound fun for sure.

 

The ones in PA that carry the Lyme's are very tiny compared to the others that are big and easily spotted.The deer ticks are almost hard to see.If they would be on your back or even in your scalp it would be tough to see them till it swelled up

 

Here's more news to make your day...this year's CDC tick posting (06/07/2018) identifies 12 tick-borne diseases. Number of disease cases doubled in last 13 years. If you include mosquitos and fleas, cases have tripled. Looks like I'm going to have to get serious about reclaiming my property...

 

Yes tiny is bad. Head of a pin tiny. The bigger easily spotted dog type ticks not dangerous. They just hurt more.

 

...brown dog tick "only" transmits Rocky Mountain, American dog tick (horseshoe on head) also carries tularemia...ticks are rapidly becoming more than a nuisance...