posted
I live in the woods of one of the worst lyme areas (Ulster county, NY) in the US. I love to hike and spend as much time as possible in the woods.
I am not sure what to do to protect myself against Lyme Disease. I try to wear pants, tuck in my socks, do tick checks every day, etc. Does anybody know of any other preventative measures I could take? Herbs? etc? I get paranoid every time I step outside of my home! I have chickens and guinne fowl which are supposed to eat a lot of ticks but they only protect the area directly surrounding my home.
I don't want to move and spend my life in a concrete jungle. I love living in the country. I love where I live. But I don't want to spend the rest of my life with Lyme Disease either.
Thanks! A
Posts: 4 | From Hudson Valley, NY | Registered: Mar 2009
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bettyg
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posted
welcome ab!
check out what is in my lyme brochure combining 2 LDA brochures together and adding extra info; hunting is addressed in there, etc.
Betty G's LYME/TICK BROCHURE with 2 LDA brochures combined together plus other stuff from Betty including:
lyme books, support groups, lyme/co-infection illnesses, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, hunting/gardening ... how to dress; how to remove ticks, etc.
prints out to 9 pages 2 columns per page!
i also used on page 10 the front/back side of TICK CARD that lda has!! very helpful!
CLOTHING PERMANONE IMPREGNATED INFO from Tincup 10-06 I spoke with the tick expert folks at the conference.. who were from Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.. great people helping our military men and women!
They showed me samples of permanone impregnated clothing. I smelled it to detect odors.. which there were none.. and felt it. Looks, smells and feels like the real thing.
You (civilian) can order clothing now.. like what the military folks wear to protect themselves... but it is prettier. It has the tick stuff already in it, so no mess at home doing it yourself. It is for sale at the site below.
Also.... Aside from the best protection you can get... it saves money .. as the cans of spray to treat clothing can run from $6 - $8 each.. and only is good for 2 weeks.
There is NO scent... so it is good for chemical sensitive folks and hunters in the woods.
The site below shows a selection of women's clothing.. and if you look at the top of the site.. you can click on buttons for men's and children's clothing. Christmas is coming. http://tinyurl.com/39nukx
Take vitamin B1 daily. Its a trick of the trade. It makes humans emit an odor that the ticks don't like but humans can't smell. Other than that just try to avoid high grass areas, standing under trees (we use machette's to get to where we need to go) That is about all you can do. Hat is very important.
Prevention is the Key for Tick Borne Disease by Lucy Barnes, activist
please go to my newbie links, copy the entire thing, and then print this off....FINANCIAL BURDENS compiled by melanie reber print off pages 74 - 92; outstanding info there. i believe there are a few more general comments there without links!! print that off too as it's newer info from members thru their own personal, tragic experiences.
Betty's suggested POSTING GUIDELINES . many of us have neuro lyme where we can NOT read long solid block text and be able to comprehend and read it as is.
please edit your post by CLICKING PAPER/PENCIL ICON to right of your name. that opens up BOTH subject line and body text.
now please break up your WORDY SENTENCES into one sentence paragraphs. Then hit ENTER KEY ``TWICE`` after each paragraph; we need that space for comprehension.
NOTE: you do NOT have to use "", just show the name of person you are responding to, and then type your comment.
IF you need to use "", PLEASE DELETE "BOLD" CODES so it's regular type text we read vs. the DARK, HARSH/PAINFUL BOLDING. delete the first 4 characters of 2ND LINE of a ""
[QB] just delete these 4 characters, and BOLDING is GONE! my eyes will really appreciate that; it's one very bad side effect of my having lyme for 38.5 years!! xox
then go to left hand corner and mark box to receive ALL REPLIES, and click EDIT SEND
we thank you for helping us; otherwise, we will SOB, SCROLL ON BY, since we can't read to help you. If I see posts like this, I SOB them; to hard on me. ------------------------------------------------------
People seeking doctors might be able to get help from their state online information and support group. Nearly 3,400 people belong to state groups. Some of the groups are small but more than 20 of them have 50 or more people and seven have over 100.
The groups are moderated and you have to apply. Most don't allow doctor names, but once on the group, you can ask for doctors in a certain area and ask people to email you privately. *******************************************
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The ticks are so bad where I live that my partner or I can go out onto our *driveway* and find ticks.
We find them on the doors of the house, and crawling in under the cracks. It's horrible.
Here is my best advice (although I did get Lyme, but we were not being as hypervigilant then as now).
A lot of this will not be advice you see from the typical places, because that relies on chemicals, like DEET.
Not only are pesticides personally life-threatening to me because I have MCS, but they are dangerous to all people, pets, wildlife, etc.
In addition to many things you mentioned, this is my nontoxic advice:
1. Head to toe tick checks every 24 hours for every member of the family, including dogs, cats, etc. We usually do it at bedtime.
This means you have to get naked and you have to examine every crevice (really, which is why 2 people is best) and scalp, below hair, etc.
Ticks particularly love skin folds: backs of knees, ears/behind ears, nape of neck, navel, groin, etc.
Also check all clothing -- when you get naked is a good time -- inside and out.
My case poses extra difficulty, because I use a powerchair, so sometimes I unknowingly bring the ticks in on that, so if I check my body and clothes, I think I'm tick free.
Then later, I find ticks on me. That's because they've climbed from the chair onto me.
So, the same can happen with coats, shoes, or anything you bring in from the outside.
That's why it's good to do your thorough tick check a few hours after you've been outside, in case a tick has migrated onto you (in addition to checking your clothes and such when you come inside).
2. Keep in mind they are minuscule. Look at pictures, and keep dead, sealed ones as examples to remind you size, color, and shape.
3. Use BOTH eyes and fingers when tick-checking. Sometimes you feel something your eyes missed. And vice-versa.
4. If you have a long-haired dog, shave it down during tick season. It's a lot easier to find ticks when you can see them better. Also, they don't like the short fur as much as the long.
5. Remove dead leaves and similar debris away from your home, as much as possible. (I know this isn't always possible. We are right next to a forest, too.)
6. Learn when the peak tick times are for your area, especially when it's the nymphal stage.
For us, we start checking after the snow's melted, or most of it has. Then the worst tick times are spring and fall. May and June seem to be the worst.
I actually did pull the tick off me that infected me, but it had been on me long enough to engorge/transmit disease.
If I had tick-checked the previous night, I probably wouldn't have Lyme. But we weren't doing checks every single day back then.
Now we're wiser. Paranoia is our friend. Grin.
There's no 100% sure-fire method, but this protocol has prevented any of the humans from having any ticks attached more than briefly (finding them attached is rare; usually still crawling) and the dog from having very few attached long.
Hope this helps. Best of luck.
-Sharon
Posts: 223 | From Western Mass. | Registered: Nov 2008
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otherwise, we will SOB, SCROLL ON BY, since we can't read to help you. If I see posts like this, I SOB them; to hard on me. 
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