..no immediate signs of illness, and decide NOT to treat with abx at the time of the bite? did you still develop chronic lyme? how many months/years later did you get sick?
thanks all.
i'm still trying to convince my friend who was bitten yesterday to take abx prophylactically, but she's stuck in the middle of the horrible lyme debate and doesn't know what to do; in particular, one of her very best friends thinks taking abx without any signs of illness or rash is 'ridiculous' and 'extreme.' he is sending the tick off to be tested by a local lab in connecticut, which as we all know will most likely come back negative. (sigh)
this is my last attempt. if your story fits the above scenario, please reply here.
thank you, heather.
[ 26. June 2008, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: heiwalove ]
Posted by adamm (Member # 11910) on :
yep.
found a tick. never got a rash. took 200mg of doxy for a month.
went chronic anyway.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I had known tickbites and no rashes .... dozens of tickbites.
My first flare up beyond the random symptoms that I thought were normal was 8 years after the bites. My roommate took me to the ER because I was too tired to get up for anything other than classes.
I had two more flare ups before my current one, both making me unable to work.
This one is the worst ... after another tick bite .... no rash, no fever, no symptoms .... slowly went downhill till bedridden. I have been sick for five years this time.
My pregnancies when I didn't know I had Lyme were VERY difficult. I was sick like I am when my Lyme is flaring. My Ob/gyn didn't believe me, thought I was just a wimp.
I would in no way take the risk of being where I am. Remember the saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." You're doing the best you can for your friend.
Posted by MBB3 (Member # 13459) on :
Yes, many tickbites and no 'known' rashes! I have Lyme/Bart Dx.
In fact, IF, I even found the tick, would just remove and not look at the location again.
To be completely honest, and this is embarassing ingnorance, but I NEVER knew to look for a bulls-eye!
I live in Florida and at least I, never even thought about these things and have never really closely examined my body to look for ticks or even look AFTER a removal!
On top of that, I am male with body hair and ticks can get 'lost' and unseen! Have removed from scalp, groin etc. Areas not easily seen but felt once a tick was playing 'Vampire'!
Naturally, more aware now but not paranoid about it. Just want to improve these unpleasant symptoms!
Warmest Wishes for everyone to get better, MBB3
Posted by heiwalove (Member # 6467) on :
thanks guys. i really appreciate it. up for more responses.
Posted by webmeg (Member # 13647) on :
Does your friend have the tick? New LLMD says IGeneX is 95+% accurate with tick testing for Lyme. Puts people on 10 days of abx while waiting for tick testing results - if tick is clean you should be ok.
Otherwise he says a month of treatment for any tick bite as a precaution - he sees too many people suffering from this horrible disease.
Posted by heiwalove (Member # 6467) on :
95% accuracy? for real? darn. she did have the tick but her friend (who is trying to convince her NOT to take abx unless she has symptoms or a rash) mailed it to a lab in connecticut to be tested. never heard of this lab (''pathology labs," maybe?), and for obvious reasons (to everyone here, at least) doubt its accuracy.
and i certainly agree with your LLMD about a month of abx as a precaution -- this from someone who treats her chronic lyme almost 100 percent naturally!
[ 26. June 2008, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: heiwalove ]
Posted by cantgiveupyet (Member # 8165) on :
yup back in 2000, had some symptoms then, and now im really sick :-(
no rash ever
Posted by catskillmamala (Member # 12536) on :
I had 4 or 5 tick bites over the years, never had a rash.
Then BAM last summer major light and sound sensivity. Unbelievable unwellness and inability to function, word-finding, eye focussing problems, etc.
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
I was bit when I was 14 years old. The tick was attached on my arm. At the time, didn't think anything of it. I was also only 14 and had no clue about lyme disease. Neither did my parents. I was probably bit more than just by this one tick because the dog we had taken in, seemed to have hundreds of ticks on it. And our house actually became infested with them. We'd go into the kitchen and would hear popping because we'd stepped on a few of them (you'd look down and see the blood, etc.)
I didn't have symptoms for a few years... and then when I did get symptoms, how was I to know to connect the dots. The symptoms I had were a constant headache my entire high school career, every single day a headache in the same exact location. I thought I had a tumor in that spot because the headache was localized to that ONE area, and even to this day, when I get headaches, they are still in that ONE spot. But those headaches have gotten MUCH better thanks to treatment.
I also had a good few months where I had tender and swollen lymph nodes. They became very swollen and obviously protruded. The doctor never seemed to think anything of it, even though they had been that way for a few months.
I also had IBS during most of high school and especially during college.
I had other small symptoms, but never put two and two together until TEN years later got very ill and went from doctor to doctor for one whole year, none of which could help me and then one day at home feeling so sick I couldn't stand it anymore, I looked up my symptoms online and lyme disease popped up. It all came together and I remembered that tick bite and how my family took in that dog that had hundreds of ticks on it.
All my symptoms make sense now, and all those years during high school and college when I just thought I was a hypochondriac for constantly going to the doctors about little things bothering me.... it wasn't me just being a hypocondriac at all.
Posted by heiwalove (Member # 6467) on :
thank you so much for sharing your story, A.
lots of love to you. *
(and um, crunching ticks underfoot?? ewww. just the image makes me shudder.) Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Your headline describes my history. Please have your friend see our responses here!
Known tickbite on my foot, since I went to a health clinic a week later and asked what was in my foot. A tick, they said, and removed it. No rash, no reaction of any kind.
Three months later, sore shoulder muscles began, followed by a stiff neck, and then full body pain in the muscles that was declared to be fibromyalgia, a mystery condition. I had no clue wht was going on until I was told online 25 years later.
Your friend has the opportunity to be informed now. This awareness is a gift and needs to be acted upon, with protective medical care.
Posted by Curiouser (Member # 14128) on :
I've had so many tick bites over the years, pulling the little suckers off had become a non-event. No known rashes....ever
The lyme doc thinks I was first infected at the age of 14 when I became very ill for 3 weeks. That was 30 years ago.
I recovered and had several minor chronic, mostly annoying, symptoms from that time on.
My eyesight declined almost immediately after the illness. I began to get chronic pain in my hands - no swelling, just pain.
This was also the the time of the onset of my bouts of depression, fatigue, and headaches, among others. I sucked it up and lived with it.
Then 3 years ago, my symptoms started to develop further. Was dx'd with GERD, various hormonal problems, cysts, etc. The fatigue also became considerably worse.
I think it was the two tick bites last spring that really pushed the bacterial load over the edge and overwhelmed my immune system.
No rashes again, although the area of the tick bites continued to itch like crazy for a good six months afterwards.
Since then, I've developed most of the classic symptoms of lyme, including a wide range of new and special neuro ones. Btw, I was only dx'd in March of this year.
You might want to ask your friend if she would rather take one month of antibiotics now, or wait and be on them for years. I know what my choice would be.
Posted by soonermom (Member # 14494) on :
We moved to our house (on acreage) about 3 years ago. I have been bitten by ticks NUMEROUS times since then, but never had a rash or can remember feeling sick after a bite.
Last summer, I had to get a tetanus shot, and that was the trigger that started it all. Of course I will never know for sure, but I think it was hanging out in my brain for some time before that.
I have numerous white matter lesions and a ton of neurological symptoms. When I finally got a western blot done, it was positive. I had two of the bands (31, & 34) that are associated with longer term infection(over a year), one was ++++.
Lyme is definitely very tricky an not the same for everyone! In my opinion, not having the bullseye rash means NOTHING!! From what I understand, the % of ticks infected is very high in some states.
I am glad she is getting the tick tested. I don't see the harm in getting on antibiotics in the meantime. I am living proof of what can happen if you just ignore it all. I was on my way to being diagnosed with MS.
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