This is probably asked all the time. But this morning we found a tick on my 3.5 year old daughters neck. What is the proper protocol to follow for treatment? Do they treat immediately, no matter what?
Of course, we'll be calling her pediatrician today, but I just wanted to get some additional advice. I'll also ask my own LLMD.
Thanks...
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
Drew...We found a tick feeding in the upper ear of my 2 year old 4 weeks ago. It had been there 2-3 days.
Our pediatrician told us not to worry and no need to come it. Mark the date on the calendar and watch for a rash or flu-like illness in the next 6 weeks. There is a whole thread on this by me a few pages in.
A week later I was diagnosed with Lyme and got a crash course. My daughter seems fine, until last week when she got afever of 102 and flu-like illness. Docs did a lyme test (negative) and refused to give abx even though I insisted. They felt it was croup. Seems plausible. She is recovering and now my other daughter is getting it.
I'm still going to take her to an LLMD to get checked in 2 weeks. Better safe than sorry for my baby.
I would insist on antibiotics. I did but was turned down. Also..put the tick in a ziploc bag and send it off to get tested. not very reliable, but it is something.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Drew,
I assume you see no rash or you would have said so. Of course, you know that if a bulls eye rash develops anywhere, that's for sure lyme.
I would get her on meds TODAY. With a holiday weekend coming up, you need some fast action. At best, it's a 50-50 chance. With those odds, I'd lean toward a prophylactic approach.
Call YOUR LLMD right away and ask what they suggest. It is far better to be proactive with some treatment now in this very narrow window of opportunity than to wait for a potentially life threatening infection that could take years to resolve.
Did all the mouth parts get removed? If not, they need to be taken out under magnification by a doctor.
Did you save the tick? -
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
Treat ASAP! Its always better to be safe than sorry. Any LLMD would say treat.
Its a matter of a few weeks of treatment vs years of suffering!
Posted by sickpuppy (Member # 23846) on :
Treat treat!! OMG!!!! Get on the horn to your llmd RIGHT NOW and get whatever abx they give to kids. Why would you take a kid to a regular pediatrician, WHY? And Keebler's right. It's a holiday weekend. Make the call--it's an emergency!!!!
Save the tick in a plastic container with a damp--not soaking --piece of tissue paper or paper towel. Get it tested.
Posted by maureen2174 (Member # 11471) on :
if your pediatrician will not give abx. try urgent care. we went through this a few weeks ago with my 5 year old son.
the pediatrician's office told me when i called the next morning (we found the tick the evening before) that their policy is to wait 6 weeks.
i didn't listen to the nurse and called back a little later to make an appointment but did not say what the appointment was for.... i sort of dodged it and said i would like to talk to doctor.
so i got there and when i was in the room with doctor explained it to him. he told me about 6 week policy and i told him that it was very, very important to me. my son had been on abx. only 2-3 times before in his life because i do not rush to put him on abx. usually.
i calmly explained all i had gone through with lyme disease and how important it was for me, that i was sending tick to get tested by lab, etc. and he did give us 3 weeks of ceftin (my son is allergic to amoxy).
i sent the tick to igenex and it tested positive for lyme, negative for bart, babesia, and erichilia.
i hope this treatment will work for him. i have enough ceftin for 4 weeks so will keep him on that for the 4 weeks. will call my llmd next week to see what she thinks, although i didn't particularly care for the office response when i called the next day after my son's tick bite, which was to clean it and wait for a rash/symptoms. i told them i was taking him to pediatrician and they basically just said i wouldn't get abx. from them.
Posted by erikjh1972 (Member # 20964) on :
like everyone said, treat treat treat....if you have to lie! tell the dr. there was a rash but went away! do whatever it takes. take no chances with this stuff!! good luck.