Hi everyone. New here so please bear with me. Last week I was bitten by a deer tick. I saved the tick and the docs sent it off to Albany to be tested for Lyme. The test result showed negative for Lyme disease. When I saw urgent care doc for bite she put me on 7 day course of Doxycycline Hyclate which I will finish tomorrow. My primary care doc says finish up the Doxy and I will be fine. I'm skeptical. Is there reason to worry or should I just be happy all.is well. Thanks in advance
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Famous last words by an ignorant MD .. "you'll be fine."
I would want to be treated with 200mg doxy twice a day for 4-6 wks myself.
However, you stated that your tick was not infected, so .. perhaps you will be fine. The tick testing is NOT always 100% as I once found out.
Moving this to Medical Questions.
Posted by Sherbear16 (Member # 49440) on :
Opinions are fine. I need all the guidance I can get. I have no spleen either so that also makes me a bit immune compromised and along with my Rheumatoid Arthritis i am really at a loss.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Maybe you've been exposed to Lyme before? RA is sometimes a manifestation of Lyme.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- No spleen makes BABESIA a major issue to consider. -
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
No, not 7 days of doxy - that's per doctors who don't know how to treat Lyme. Do as Lymetoo says, and some even go 8 weeks, 200mg doxy 2x/day.
Hey, Keebler, nice to see you back here!
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
Keebler!
So good to see you back! We missed you!
Greetings Sherbear! Welcome to LymeNet!
Just so you know, I don't know of any protocol that recommends 7 days of doxy for a tick bite.
To get a printable fact sheet you can take to any doctor with you on how to properly treat a tick bite please go to...
For more info on Lyme, Babesiosis and other tick borne diseases you can check this page. It is written in simple enough language for the general public and even doctors can understand it. ~smile~
Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate them all. I have downloaded the suggested documents and will talk to my doc next week. I would rather make an informed logical choice on treatment instead of relying solely on the experience of one person. I do have a good relationship with my doc and I want to maintain that if I can. You've all been quite welcoming.😃
Posted by Sherbear16 (Member # 49440) on :
Wanted to add one more thing. I did develop a bulls eye rash around the bite but that has greatly diminished since administration of Doxy.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
If you got a bulls eye rash, then you have lyme.
You need a lot more treatment.
Have you read the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines?
"ERYTHEMA MIGRANS Erythema migrans (EM) is diagnostic of Bb infection, but is present in fewer than half. Even if present, it may go unnoticed by the patient. It is an erythematous, centrifugally expanding lesion that is raised and may be warm. Rarely there is mild stinging or pruritus. The EM rash will begin four days to several weeks after the bite, and may be associated with constitutional symptoms. Multiple lesions are present less than 10% of the time, but do represent disseminated disease. Some lesions have an atypical appearance and skin biopsy specimens may be helpful. When an ulcerated or vesicular center is seen, this may represent a mixed infection, involving other organisms besides B. burgdorferi. After a tick bite, serologic tests (ELISA. IFA, western blots, etc.) are not expected to become positive until several weeks have passed. Therefore, if EM is present, treatment must begin immediately, and one should not wait for results of Borrelia tests. You should not miss the chance to treat early disease, for this is when the success rate is the highest. Indeed, many knowledgeable clinicians will not even order a Borrelia test in this circumstance." (page 7)
You need to get to a lyme specialist to avoid this becoming chronic lyme. Time is of the essence. If you get treated properly now, you have the best chance of getting rid of lyme disease.
A bulls eye rash is about 3 inches across. It can last for weeks, even with treatment. The red dot in the center (where the tick was attached) can last for months.
So, if this is what you have, you HAVE lyme disease!
Testing of the tick is not 100% accurate. We have at least one person here on LymeNet that found that out the hard way when her tick was found to be negative for lyme.
You need to take a picture of that bulls eye rash. Take a few pictures. This is very important. Any lyme specialist you go to will want to see those pictures. Save them. In at least one picture, put a ruler next to the rash to show its size.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
Welcome to Lymenet!
You have been given excellent advice by many seasoned Lyme patients. Please follow it.
The bull's-eye rash is definitive for Lyme and seven days of antibiotics is nowhere near enough treatment for Lyme. People end up getting sicker from being under-treated.
Here is a link for you to read about "Two Standards of Care":
You need to be evaluated and treated by a Lyme-literate doctor (LLMD). Non LLMDs have no clue about this horrible disease or its complex treatment!
A LLMD is one who has treated Lyme disease and the co-infections which come with it for many years and has gotten patients well. A good one will follow Dr. B's Guidelines, the "gold standard" for Lyme treatment.
Btw - I know you are new to Lymenet, but please break up your posts into 2-3 sentence paragraphs, as there are people on Lymenet who cannot read large blocks of text due to neurological problems from Lyme.
To do this click the pencil/paper icon, make your changes, then click "Edit Post". Thanks.
Posted by t9im (Member # 25489) on :
Hi Sherbear16, you are now entering the controversy of diagnosing and treating tick borne diseases, not just the Borrelia Burgdorferi (Lyme) infection.
Your MD, by prescribing 7 days of Doxy is better than most MD's.
Most MD's due to insurance and liability reasons follow the Infectious Disease Society of America "IDSA" standard of care, not the ILAD's guidelines.
Note with the rash, which is indicative of Lyme (I suggest taking a picture, the sooner the better, for reference) under the old IDSA guidelines the MD should prescribe 21 days of doxy, not 7. I'm not sure where 7 days comes from.
I say indicative as both sides of the controversy agree the rash is indicative of the borrelia infection.
Ticks carry more than just borrelia so good luck.
Posted by me (Member # 45475) on :
You have been given excellent advice. I would like to reiterate a few things:
Take pics of the rash. If possible, try to get your face in with the rash
Schedule an appointment with a Lyme literate doctor ASAP. You can write a separate post under the seeking doctor section.
7 days of antibiotics is not nearly enough--not at all. And people with Lyme need a combination of antibiotics, not just one.
Please educate yourself as much as possible. This is a very complex illness and there is a lot of controversy regarding it; it is important to be informed about your options and also to know if you are being misled by a doctor.
I am going to send you a private message with a recommendation of a LLMD who can get you in fairly quickly. The longer treatment is delayed, the more ill one becomes. So, please get treated promptly.
Welcome to lymenet. I'm glad you found us, but I'm sorry a tick bit you.
Posted by Lymedin2010 (Member # 34322) on :
After the Doxy I would buy the Cowden Protocol, full set for about 4-6 months. The Banderol & Samento herbs on there were studied to be just as effective as doxy.
I know of a professional that got better & is now in submission from the Cowden Protocol. The Cowden worked to reduce symptoms for me & give me more energy when none of the abx would, but it did not cure me since it was too far advanced.
The price for a months treatment is $300, but heck well worth it if you think of the pain & hell you can go through for the rest of your life. I wish I had known about the Cowden earlier on during my infection.
You may also want to add Stevia & GSE (Grape Seed Extract) to the mix, as they both showed to kill Borrelia. There are research papers on this too & you can look them up.
7 days of antibiotics is not enough. I took 3 weeks worth of 100mg doxy 2x daily and still ended up with Lyme.
I saved my tick too and had it tested. It came back negative for everything including coinfections. Based on my current symptoms, I would say that the tick test results were inaccurate for me. Good luck!
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