My 6 year old son came in from playing outside and had over 200 seed ticks suggly embedded within is skin, from head to toe. His head suffered 95% of the bites.
It took me over 4 hours to get them all off him.
I took him to our Peds dr. for tx for LD. ( I tested + a year ago for chronic LD) She referred the ID dr and passed us an antihistamine and NO antibiotic.
What do I do? I DO NOT want my child to suffer like I do. 'Standard tx' is 45 days of Doxy, which is unproven, I know but is that med appropriate for a child?
How can I help my Pediatrician so that she can treat my son properly?
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
It is generally thought that seed ticks do not carry lyme. They pick it up on their first feed, usually a small animal, then it is passed on to later stages of the tick--nympth and adult.
Seed ticks might carry something else, and maybe there are exceptions to this rule.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I personally wouldn't take the chance. Children are usually given amoxicillin.
Posted by tick battler (Member # 21113) on :
I was told by a famous LLMD that about 10% of the seed (or larva) ticks carry lyme, inherited from the mother tick.
If you can't get meds, I would recommend starting Samento, Cumanda and Burbur from Nutramedix. It is working for my children.
tickbattler
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
Knowing what I know now, I would treat based on one tick bite. With 200, no question about it.
If the pediatrician won't treat, and this infuriates me.... she should be tossed in the alligator pit after she is royal chewed on for a bit by you.
Then I would keep going place to place till someone does treat.
Sometimes the do-drop-inn places will treat.
And as Lou mentioned, sometimes seed ticks don't carry the diseases as often as the later stage ticks do, but some can be born with it.
Hope you find a smart doc who will do the right thing.
Thanks TuTu!
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
I am sorry your son had so many ticks. How did you remove them? Did you save them?
Where I live, many people call deer ticks "seed ticks," and they definitely carry multiple diseases.
I don't think Doxy is safe for a six-year-old. You may want to check out what Dr. Burrascano reccommends for children at http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf Antibiotics and dosages are listed on pages 18 and 19.
Posted by rosebuds mom (Member # 17435) on :
I would move heaven and earth to find someone to treat.
Unless your Ped is willing to do something fast I would not wait to talk to someone else.
After being turned down by many Drs to treat my daughter we eventually found someone willing to treat, by then it was nearly a year later but we didn't give up and I am thankful that we didn't because my dd may not be here today.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
I would get him to a LLMD (Lyme-literate doctor) a.s.a.p.!! Don't take any chances!!
Stay away from Infectious Disease doctors. They have no clue about this horrible disease or its complex treatment.
You are very fortunate to have the best Lyme-literate pediatrician on the East Coast, Dr. J. (I will pm you with contact information). According to other posts, he is still taking new patients.
Time is of the essence. My son has been ill for 11 YEARS and it took 6 of them to find out what on earth was wrong with him!!!
Please be your child's health care advocate.
Posted by hagamama (Member # 26668) on :
Thank you for all the repsonses.
Our Pediatrician is an amazing doctor....she deffered to the ID dr b/c she is not familiar with LD. She was unsure about what meds to RX. I am fortunate that she talks and listens to me in the matter of my kids and LD. She would give them anything that I asked her to, but I have know idea how to help her.
I will look up the tx protocol in Dr. B's manual. (Thanks Sammi)
Posted by searching4truth (Member # 28481) on :
Dr j has a wonderful website. Google his name and it will lead you there. Because of the complexity of the disease, I would choose a LLMD over a willing and open minded nonLLMD.
I have a wonderful ND whom I have been seeing for years. She is very willing and open minded. However, when I was diagnosed, I still sought a LLMD. There would be no way she would have been able to learn the ins and outs of the disease in time to get me healthy.
Personally, if my child were in the same situation, I would find the best possible doctor to treat. Someone with lots of experience. The chance to knock the Lyme out before it is chronic has a very narrow window. If under treated, it turns into chronic Lyme, and as we all know, it becomes very difficult to treat.
Good luck!
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
Cvs minuteclinic usually treats the bite with 2 weeks. It is better than nothing
Posted by ConnieMc (Member # 191) on :
I was infected with Lyme and Babs after visiting our tree farm in NC. We came out of the woods and little seed ticks were all over us, some crawling and some attached. We took showers and checked every nook and cranny and still found several attached the next day. I had several rashes and the doc put me on 3 weeks of doxy, 100 mg 2 times per day. That is before I knew about Lyme, etc. 5 months later I had deteriorated to the point where I could hardly get out of bed. Since I had the 3 weeks doxy, docs said no way Lyme for the next 3 years.
Move heaven and earth to get appropriate help for your child. His life, and quality of life, may depend on it.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Well, the thing is that if a person encounters seed ticks, there may also be undetected nymphs around that are the most common tick stage to cause infection. It may not be the tick you find that does the evil deed, it may be the one you didn't find.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Dr B's guidelines are the first "sticky" thread at the top.
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