My Lyme is in remission. Found a deer tick attached to my ear just now.
I am on biaxin for babesia.
The tick had only been attached for 2-3 hours.
Not engorged at all.
But was attached to my ear.
I can't do doxy right now (95 degree heat, two children and a pool).
I am going to put a call into my LLMD, but do you think biaxin can cover for now?
Thanks in advance.
I thought that I had some hair gel or something else on my ear.
Never saw the first tick that got me. I
I have this one soaking in some alcohol.
Sigh.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
OH MY!! I'm so sorry Geneal!!! AAARRRGGHH!!!
I guess it would cover it as long as you didn't get ehrlichia from the tick.
Maybe you can research ehrlichia and meds for it.. hopefully someone here will know more than I do.
Sure hope it didn't give you anything!!!
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
Hi Lymetoo.
Miss you all the time.
It did give me a mini heart attack!!!!!
At least if I get sick again, I not only have advanced knowledge
I also saw the culprit.
How do you even look for a bulls-eye rash on your ear?
It itched a little. Now just feels a little sunburned.
I swear I was just walking around outside.
No trees. No bushes. No overhangs.
I thought I felt something crawling on my neck, but then I live in the country.
Plenty of horseflies, mosquitoes, flying ants, etc.
I never even thought to look in the mirror.
I pulled it off without ever seeing it.
That probably would have done me in.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
my doc had me on 500 biaxin twice a day and then flagyl 500 a day for two weeks.
i sure hope it helps.
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
Thanks Randi.
Hope you are well.
I do have flagyl left in my cabinet.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by Dawn in VA (Member # 9693) on :
Oh dear!
Hubby came home with one that had been attached for about an hour last week. He went on Minocycline immediately (per his wife's unrelenting nagging of course). When he was bit the first time, he got put on doxy at high dosages for 3 months, than Riphampin for another couple, and it really seemed to have done the trick. He has been into remission, perhaps even "cured" for the last couple of years.
My two cents, given that you don't want to go the doxy route, is to go on an all-out triple combo with the Biaxin just to make sure all of your bases are covered. Add a cephlasporin (Omnicef, Ceftin, etc.) and if I were in your shoes, I'd go ahead with Flagyl or Tindamax too, b/c you know those chetes will just covert to cysts if given the chance in that "hostile" ABX environment.
The jury is so out regarding how long it takes for transmission of TBI's to occur. Some say hours, some say a day, who knows. Better to play it safe all the way I think.
Can you still get the tick tested if it's been submersed in alcohol? Dunno about that.
Edited to add: I concur with Ms Tu-tu regarding the Ehrlichia and doxy. Maybe take a few days break from the sun and get some doxy for a bit of time just to make sure?
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
Thanks for the advice.
Lymetoo had an attached tick tested at Igenex.
It tested negative and she ended up with Lyme.
So, I don't think testing is that accurate for ticks unfortunately.
Alcohol was the only thing that would slow this active thing down.
I was scared I was going to lose him in the house.
With 6 dogs and two young children in remission, I wanted to make sure it was dead.
Now he is doing the back stroke in his own personal alcohol pool.
Ah.....The joys of summer.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
don't forget plenty of probiotics too, hon.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by Geneal:
Now he is doing the back stroke in his own personal alcohol pool.
hehehee!!
PS.. Lyme can be transmitted within 3 hours .. or less... but Geneal is covered!! The only reason I say 3 hrs is that I know someone who was definitely lymed within 3 hrs of a bite.
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Geneal, the topic of your post made my heart sink. It is something that I fear though I try not to think about it too often.
Thank God you found the tick early and you're already on antibiotics. I hope that you will be able to prevent any new infections before they gain a foothold.
*hugs*
by the way, I probably would have freaked and squished the bugger, it wouldn't have lived long enough to enjoy an alcohol swim!
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
Believe it or not the tick was moving way too fast to squish.
I had it on a piece of paper and I had to keep turning it over
Just to get him from one room to the next.
Funny thing is I've taken numerous ticks off my dogs.
Not since last Fall though.
I wasn't in a spot that I've ever seen a tick in.
I swear he fell off a bird that was flying over head.
My heart did sink initially. However, I have experience, knowledge and friends.
All that I generously received here.
It could be much worse.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Wow... can you imagine getting one from a bird flying over?? Could have crawled his way up too (from grass or whatever).
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
I was actually sitting in a chair on cement, under a gazebo.
I'm going with the bird theory.
I have a new and improved awareness about anything crawling on me.
Good news is that I am not freaking out....yet.
I am watching out for birds though.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by 'Kete-tracker (Member # 17189) on :
Macrolides like clarithromycin (Biaxin) WILL knock out Lyme if in it's early stage/ still localized, as LONG as the dose is high enough. But macrolides don't concentrate in the skin like the "cyclines"... one reason why it's generally not used phrophylactically for Lyme.
Sounds like that tick, even if it was a "deer tick", wasn't on you or "into" you long enough to have deposited enough spirochetes to pose a high risk.
And this assumes it Was infected with Lyme. Fortunatly, far less than 50% of deer ticks across nearly all of LA are infected with B.B.
Sounds like the odds are way in your favor for THIS encounter. Phew! Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
Uh, the theory that the tick has to be on you for a certain amount of time does NOT hold! I got another bite last year, and the tick was embedded, but I found him late at night, ie, he'd been there since the daytime.
But, in spite of being on IV rocephin and adding oral doxy, I got a horrible relapse. Esp from Babesia, which neither of the abx covered. I even got Bell's Palsy---crazy, huh?!
So, take no chances. The triple combo sounds good. ANd maybe doxy for a short time? Let us know what happens. The blasted buggers!
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Rumigirl....
Oh my gosh, read the post I just posted.
I had a bite mark, and now I seem to be getting an EM, despite being on Doryx (extended release Doxy) and IM Bicillin and other things.
I was wondering if getting an EM is even possible while on Doxy. I am furious about this.
I never saw the tick, but I very obviously have a bite mark. I am not sure what bit me technically, but I was in a place where I know there are ticks because the kitty gets them too.
Posted by littlebit27 (Member # 24477) on :
Geneal-You are so much braver than me. If I found a tick on me I don't think I could take it off myself. I think I would scream and cry until someone (probably my husband since we work together-so we are always together) took it off me.
Ahh I've got the creepy crawlies just reading this post!
Definitely call your LLMD. I think it's crap about being attached for a certian amount of time.
When I got the "spider" bite (which I think now could be the tick bite) there was nothing attached to me for a long period of time. It was on the back of my leg.
And when I sit down I often rub the back of my legs. And since I use to sit out back on the porch at my old place to smoke I was always rubbing the back of my leg. Who knows?
Now I kill any insect. I'm scared that it will be the next thing they think transmits Lyme. Mosquitos, fleas (see them a lot at work), gnats-anything!
Ugh, I'm sorry! I hope your LLMD will know what to do and nip it before it gets worse.
I'm ready for winter again-although in the South that may not mean much!
Posted by Beachinit (Member # 21040) on :
Doxy 200 mg bid is 1st choice Hi dose Amoxi or Hi dose ceftin is second clarithro and flagyl is intriguing, I am taking that combo right now and seems to be helping with lyme and bart but there does not seem to be much in the way of statistical analysis with that approach. My guess is it probably will work, do not like the clarithro alone idea at all though.
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
I think that as I have 11/12 neighbors within a quarter of a mile with Lyme,
The 50% of deer ticks with Lyme reside in my back yard.
I actually didn't see the tick until I peeled it off my ear while at the computer.
Here's the kicker though.
I was reading posts here on Lymenet.
Karma for sure.
I know doxy is best, but I can't stand even oven heat when I am on it.
For four days we've had heat indexes over 105 degrees.
I'd die a slow and painful burning death for sure, even in the shade.
I have a call into my LLMD.
I expect to hear from him next week.
I actually found a snake in the swimming pool too this morning.
That freaks me out even more than the tick!
Creepy, crawley, slithering things.
Yuck!
My ear is a little red when compared to the other,
However, the burning feeling is gone.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by maureen2174 (Member # 11471) on :
I just wanted to say that I did have a tick tested at Igenex recently that was positive for lyme. they told me their accuracy rate is 90%. I don't know how true that is, but maybe they got better since Lymetoo had her tick tested?
My husband got lyme a couple of years ago (bullseye and early symptoms) and he took biaxin for around 10 weeks- no problems at all now! I think I read recently an article posted on another group that clarithromycin is good at preventing spirochetes from turning into cysts (but I can't find where i read it).
i think the odds are really in your favor here since you had the abx even in your system when you got the bite.
Posted by 17hens (Member # 23747) on :
I just read in General that only the female ticks engorge. The others just stay flat and keep sucking your bloooood.
And for the record, my neighbor had a tick on her arm for less then 20 minutes, then a bull's eye and arthritic symptoms.
And my bestest TBI friend had a tick on her knee for ONLY 10 minutes, then a solid red bull's eye and was sick for 3 years before lyme&co diagnosis.
So much for the 3 hour rule, sorry to say...
Posted by desertwind (Member # 25256) on :
According to my LLMD the answer would be yes.
I had been treating for lyme with Biaxin (late stage and yes the Biaxin at the right dose IS effective for late stage lyme - at least in my case) for about 5 months and feeling great.
Got bitten and my LLMD immediately put me on DOxy to cover Erlcih. for 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks he had me go back on Biaxin - 1,000 mg.s a day.
Doxy has never been effective for me which is why I am on Biaxin.
Posted by Dawn in VA (Member # 9693) on :
Geneal, does Minocycline give you the same heat/sun side effects? My hubs tolerates it significantly better than Doxy in that regard. Doxy gave him the worst burns, even when he was driving with gloves and long-sleeved shirts on, but Mino wasn't nearly as bad.
Edited to add: one of my LLMDs recommends MDL (Medical Diagnostics Lab) for tick-testing. I don't know why, but I will add that I do trust her implicitly.
Sorry to keep rambling, BUT... Good point made about male vs female feeders. Although my health dept won't test the tick for diseases, the epidemiologist there will do male vs female checks. I don't know how to differentiate them myself, but I'm sure info is out there. I've never done any Googling about it b/f.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
how much biaxin are you going to take? would 500 twice a day work?
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