posted
I live in CO and am seriously thinking about buying a home in a wooded area surrounded by huge pine trees.
Obviously I'm extremely concerened about ticks and want to know if I should completely ax the idea?
I'm 80% better and don't want to get bitten again or have fear of ticks everytime I walk outside.
Posts: 738 | From Colorado | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
hopeful123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3244
posted
hi snowboarder,
you couldn't pay me enough to live in the woods.
-------------------- some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield Posts: 1160 | From NY | Registered: Oct 2002
| IP: Logged |
cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
In my opinion it depends on your state/area.
I live in a HIGH endemic area. I could get bit walking on a patch of grass near the sidewalk in the city.
I was actually bit walking thru grass at work during lunch. I worked right next to the 3rd largest endemic area in the country.
I think if your careful, you should be ok. you know what to look for, what to do for precautions.
That being said , will i go hiking again at my favorite waterfall, probably not.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I agree with AP, I refuse to live in fear...just take precautions, and at least if you get reinfected you will know what it is this time around...
I envy you....I would move to the woods in a heartbeat if I had the resources to do so...Good Luck...Jill
Posts: 83 | From Northern Illinois | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged |
lymemomtooo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5396
posted
I think it would be so beautiful to live in the woods and be so close to the animals but would I do it knowing this junk about ticks, no..No one in my house listens and takes precautions..
But if you take safety precautions, it might be doable..I would definitely do a test...Put on protective light colored clothing, all tucked in and do a white fabric drag..If it comes up with a lot of deer tick, then you would at least know the danger.
And if it was clean, you could feel safer..But if you moved there, remember to at least keep the area near the house clean and permit sun penetration.
Good luck...
Posts: 2360 | From SE PA | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
Nal
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6801
posted
I agree, you cant live in fear! If this is a dream of yours, then I say go for it! Be cautious and careful. Which area are you looking at?? You can send me an email if you like.
Nancy
-------------------- Life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you respond to it!
-Chuck Swindoll Posts: 1594 | From Colorado | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thank you everyone! I don't want to be paranoid on the other hand I don't want another tick bite. I've gone through SO much with lyme.
Posts: 738 | From Colorado | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
I am fortunate enough to live in the woods, I have huge trees all around me that tower up to the top of my deck.
Last night we watched three deer at sunset grazing by our pond. There is nothing prettier. But I know they are full of ticks.
Sometimes I think I must be crazy to live so close to all this wildlife and then I think how much solace my home gives me.
For now, we are careful, do lots of tick checks, keep the dogs cut close, etc.
Good luck with the decision.
Posts: 460 | From Illinois | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
Good evening Snowboarder,
Well, I do have a bit of experience with this. I was infected over and over again in the woods in Colorado.
Now? You couldn't pay me enough to ever move back.
I think it is a bit unrealistic to think that you will be cautious 100% of the time living there.
Colorado is loaded with ticks. Ticks with diseases.
Yes, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth, but I would never go back into the woods knowing now what I do.
I use to date a biker. We would ride constantly. I use to love the way the wind felt in my hair and the sun on my face.
Then, I had a pretty extreme accident on that bike which put me into the hospital for over a month, and put me into recovery mode for several moths after that.
I will feel the effects of my injuries for the rest of my life.
Was I afraid to ride again? No, I took a trip to Sturgis after that accident.
Do I ride now? No. Common sense tells me that if you ride, it is not a matter of if but when another accident will occur.
It is with this same thought process that I regard the choice to live in a tick infested area.
Common sense would argue that it is not if but when.
I am sure you will make the right decision for yourself and your family.
My best, Melanie
Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I used to love the woods. Now I LOVE my concrete jungle. I can walk into my condo without coming near grass!
My patio overlooks a lake and we have shrubs and grass all around, but I'm on the second floor.
Sure beats getting another tick bite!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
HEATHERKISS
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6789
posted
Woods........ no thanks! I live next to a patch of woods.
My next house is going to be an igloo. lol.
No really........ I want to move.
-------------------- HEATHER
Posts: 1974 | From ABERDEEN, NJ 07747 | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
Carol B
Unregistered
posted
Go figure- I live in a large city on the East Coast. They're everywhere.
Went to my daughter's soccer game the other day and had to walk through a large large meadow of tall uncut grass-was I paranoid or what! I was sure we were all doomed.
posted
Don't let the fear of ticks ruin your love for the outdoors. You can always fence up the property boundary, and use tick control, Damminix the yard, and do everything you can to discourage ticks. Fence it in and get some guinea hens? Keep brush to a minimum, but pine trees are beautiful! Dont put up bird feeders, bird baths etc, read up on tick control and property. I miss A-Basin!
IP: Logged |
posted
My hubby asked - and I had no good answer - why I fear ticks now that I already have lyme - considering it will always be in my system.
If I already have it, and am on contiuing treatment, why worry about getting bit?
Is it because it would increase bacterial load? Or maybe infect me with co-infections that I don't already have?
Going to post this too as a new topic.
-------------------- Pam Live well. Laugh often. Love much. Posts: 53 | From Ohio - south/southeast | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
Living in the woods is beautiful,peaceful ect.. But one more tick bite and it's all over.No way is it worth the chance for me. I would move in a heart beat if I could.
I would rather visit the woods than live there.
last week -sitting in my living room one morning, a deer walked right in front of our sliders. grazing on some grass. A idealic setting . But now all I can think of is the many times I walked on the path the deer was on.
If my life was a do-over, I would live in the city.
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
Well, I live smack dab in the middle of old growth forest. Black oak and soaring incense cedar and pine. A year-round snowmelt creek. Giant moss-covered decaying logs strewn throughout. It's my serene place, a photographer's dream. It's MINE. Apparently I'm going to have to learn to co-exist with the ticks.
Now that I know, I don't sit on the logs while I'm photographing. I try not to sit on the ground any more. I check myself thoroughly. I spray clothing copiously, and I pay attention -- all things I never did before.
But I'm NOT GOING ANYWHERE.
In fact, it's my goal to photograph a questing tick on a blade of grass.
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
Everyone seems to be forgetting that Ticks are not the only carrier of Lyme. It has been found in mosquitos and horseflies too. City or country, you are not safe.
Heather, I don't know if an Igloo would work. Remember, this disease originates from the New England states, not the south.
I think our best hope is preventive measures such as outlined by Stephen Buhner in "Healing Lyme".
We cannot rid our bodies of all bad bacteria. Better to work on supporting a strong immune system that can keep the bad boys at bay.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
lymemomtooo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5396
posted
Sorry boarder, do not mean to sabbotage your post..Just thought about some of the questions that were included in responses.
in response to Pam "If I already have it, and am on contiuing treatment, why worry about getting bit?
Is it because it would increase bacterial load? Or maybe infect me with co-infections that I don't already have?"
I think your second questions pretty much sum up the first one..Recently my daughter confessed to her llmd that she was constantly being re-exposed from a location she visited..
The Dr pretty much went off..And explained that ticks had robbed her of her life and caused her psych things..So she needed to stay the HELL away from this area. For some this isn't possible..
For L.2.R. I think lyme existed long before the New England outbreak and not sure if Plum Island was not the culprit..Not to be too paranoid about it because I would be consumed but do believe the bacteria has been around and in Europe.
I think it was in check for years due to people clearing land and using pesticides.ANd then everyone wanted watered lawns and great landscaping up against them. They wanted the wildlife in their yard.
Previously the wildlife had been harvested as food and thinned out..I have read an old paper from here that talked about the last deer getting stuck on the frozen river..Early 1900's..But they are back with thousands of family members.
And most people did not feed the birds which encourages rodents to visit us.
Also most Drs years ago( well 50 or so) used penacillin shots for every cough. ANd many people died early and no one knew why..
Do not take anything I say for great advise..Just pondering here..lymemomtooo
Posts: 2360 | From SE PA | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
trails
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1620
posted
You could still live there and not go into your back yard much but enjoy it from the relative safety of your home. Just seeing the beauty around you is sometimes all I need. YOu could make sure to keep the pathways clear of tall and overhanging brush so as to lessen your chances.
I miss nature so badly it hurts sometimes, but I wont go into it in the ways I used to ever again.
I stay on gravel, paved or VERY wide and cut short paths. I NEVER EVER EVER go into grassy or brushy areas. I camp sleeping in the car and not in a tent. I wear shoes and this year I bought Permithirin to spray everything.
I have found alternatives at times: one big one that I miss is desert camping and hiking--no ticks where I lived/hiked, over the years I have also taken to surfing, kayaking and beach going in general. I tried snowboarding and hurt my heiny so badly! I dont know how you do it!
I disagree with the person who said you will know what it is if you get reinfected. My reinfection had no rash, my first one did. My reinfection presented with completely different symptoms than my first infection.
Then, my relapse was very similar to my reinfection and even then I was soooooooooooooo upset still, years later, about lyme that I was in denial about this being lyme coming back that I refused to deal with it as lyme for many months.
It is a tough one. You must do what makes you happy. But figuring that out amongst lyme is very difficult.
bestest to you, Trails
Posts: 1950 | From New Mexico | Registered: Sep 2001
| IP: Logged |
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Use CO2 traps strategically placed.
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
This just doesn't make sence, we can not be terrorized of the out doors. It's their for us to enjoy. I live in N. MN It's nothing but swamp and brush. Theirs no avoiding it!! There has to be something more as to why some get sick and other don't. Our small community is mostly, loggers, hunters, trappers. I bet over 85 percent has been exposed to lymes. But hardly ever hear of it. Most people know it's out their, but don't let it slow them down. My kids our always out playing, and yes i worry. We have horses, i brush them, and find ticks, there are deer everywhere. Only once in awhile you hear about someone with lymes. It makes me wonder if some people are immune to it, or their bodies handle it??
And why are more woman, diagnosed with CFIDs, and fibro, that turns out to be lymes than men. It's mostly the men out in the woods hunting and stuff. I've been i'll for 12 years with CFIDS, and just now treating for lymes.
Posts: 25 | From Northome, MN | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
2roads
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4409
posted
Hey,
You've got alot to think about. I left PA where I lived in the Brandywine Valley because the cocentration if ticks was so bad. I picked up my life and left all my extended family to move to IN. That was pretty drastic....so I think you know my answer for me.
However, I am painfully aware that ticks reside here too, but I can only hope not as badly. If I had no children or anyone to be responsible for other than myself or my husband, I would have stayed. They were always out playing and into things I would not be into. I couldn't take the pressure of missing one on them, and it was no fun casing a naked rowdy three year old and another reaching puberty. They had already been through so much. I guess it depends on who you have to worry about.
I agree we should not live in fear, but I could not get beyond it after everything we've been through. Perhaps you can. You are obviosly more aware than the average bear, and can take measures to protect yourself.
Good Luck
Posts: 2214 | From West Chester, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
2roads, I was speaking out of frusteration, not confidence in my own ability. Moving is not an option for me. My family would never go for it, and i love having my horses. I just don't know what the answer is! What i was trying to say, is a whole outdoor population, lives here, and i know there is lyme here, so why aren't at least 1/2 of these outdoor hunters, loggers, trappers, DNR people, sick with this stuff??! Do some of us have comprimised immune systems, already that makes us more vulnerable? I wonder if there are some that have gotten lymes, and never got sick?
Posts: 25 | From Northome, MN | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
trails
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1620
posted
morningshine,
yes some of us do have compromised immune systems and that is why some people get Lyme symptoms more severely than others. There is some research about this going on now. But if you have already struggled, then you can be relatively certain that you have some sort of immune issue with Lyme.
That is only one reason. There are others too. Like which strain, how long attached, how long till treatment, what type of treamtment for how long, coinfections, strains of co-infections, ETC.
I am paranoid. I know I am suseptible more than others are. I just feel like it is a compromise I have to learn to live with. I am learning. There is much beauty in the world that can be appreciated without opening yourself to the world of tick born illnesses.
Posts: 1950 | From New Mexico | Registered: Sep 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thank you everyone! Great perscpectives from both sides.
Melanie hope your doing well in CA. It's amazing how many people I talk with say there's no ticks in CO...you and I know better. My niece got a tick on her head last summer while hiking in Cheyenne canyon.
My gut says not to live near a wooded area just because I've struggled for so many years with no answers and now I'm doing better and getting my life back.
Posts: 738 | From Colorado | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
lymemomtooo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5396
posted
morning star, yes, there is a better chance of any illness with compromised immune systems but also some are genetically more susecptible to everything that comes along..
Also some that get the bacteria develop toxin overload and many can not eliminate toxins adequately..There are many tangents to these wonderful tick borne diseases.. lymemomtooo
Posts: 2360 | From SE PA | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
My front yard caused at least 2 lymw infections ... no trees...not one...
live where you want.
The ticks are everywhere... just try to be cautious... and vigil.
char
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8315
posted
I vote for pretty setting, but not in the woods.
I don't think making a choice to minimize risk of tick bite and reinfection is giving in to fear.
The thing about getting reinfected is that these ticks carry different diseases-babesia, bart, and so on. Who needs one of these a second time, or to get a new one or three to deal with.
Comes down to a personal decision, I guess. For me, health is a huge priority as so much of the past few yrs have been spent trying to get self and kids better.
Also, I am not up for the vigilance of lawn spraying, body checking, repellant wearing and so on. Some are better with that and feel it is worth it.
2roads
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4409
posted
Morninsunshine,
Hey...that's a great name. I hadn't read your post before I wrote mine (I hate to read), but it sounds like we both fear for our children.
I think all comments are valid. I know where I came from there was a high incidence of Lyme and co-inf. Unlike your area, every home in my neighborhood had atleast one person infected. True Lyme diagnosis. It was so sad.
I think geographics are critical. Water seems to also be critical. Animals need water, and the states bordering water, or have a high concentration of water within them seem to be most affected.
Many other things...already mentioned...immunity, bacterial load, frequency of bites, Lyme strain (big one in my opinion), and coinfections. I've come across one or two outdoorsman in my old area of PA that have pulled numerous ticks off and they say they are fine. I feel they were affected but the above factors influence their outcome. Perhaps over time they will wear like an old shoe.
I hope not for their sake....and mine... Because for now, their prognosis gives me hope.
Best to you and all-
Posts: 2214 | From West Chester, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
2roads
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4409
posted
Morninsunshine,
Hey...that's a great name. I hadn't read your post before I wrote mine (I hate to read), but it sounds like we both fear for our children.
I think all comments are valid. I know where I came from there was a high incidence of Lyme and co-inf. Unlike your area, every home in my neighborhood had atleast one person infected. True Lyme diagnosis. It was so sad.
I think geographics are critical. Water seems to also be critical. Animals need water, and the states bordering water, or have a high concentration of water within them seem to be most affected.
Many other things...already mentioned...immunity, bacterial load, frequency of bites, Lyme strain (big one in my opinion), and coinfections. I've come across one or two outdoorsman in my old area of PA that have pulled numerous ticks off and they say they are fine. I feel they were affected but the above factors influence their outcome. Perhaps over time they will wear like an old shoe.
I hope not for their sake....and mine... Because for now, their prognosis gives me hope.
Best to you and all-
Posts: 2214 | From West Chester, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
2roads
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4409
posted
I hate when I do that...post twice.
oops Posts: 2214 | From West Chester, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
2 Roads, I lived In Wayne, Pa in an apartment complex. Only time I was outdoors, on my patio, trash out, groceries in . Waklk out my patio over about 12 inches of grasses to walk down payment to parking lot. No camping, hiking, gardening, mowing lawn, walk through tall grass or wooded areas. Nothing. So for the rest of the board, where I lived was about 15 miles west of Philadelphia. I am amazed at the amount of people who think that not living in a wooded area is safer. I am a prime example of this. Pa is epidemic. To tell someone you never engaged in high risk behaviors, life style was that it should have been cautious enough and still lose vision, eyesight, job, apt ability to walk is incredible. When I was outside , I was on my patio, walking on my pavement to go to car and all of my activities were indoors. I always had pants, socks, shoes on, showered twice a day . Never saw a tick. I could rant forever, but, the bottom line is my lifestyle was a prime example of not being outdoors. I think precautions can help, but dont kid yourself , that you are fail safe. Short of wrapping myself in a plastic bubble and all the bug sprays in the world, I don't know how I could have prevented this from happening. The things that I did safe guard myself was against car accident, locking my apt to prevent theft and not taking the subway at unusal times to invite a mugging. I never thought a tick in a metropolitan area would do me in. I just don't think you are better off in any area versus another area.
Posts: 719 | From Delaware | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by morningsonshine: What i was trying to say, is a whole outdoor population, lives here, and i know there is lyme here, so why aren't at least 1/2 of these outdoor hunters, loggers, trappers, DNR people, sick with this stuff??! [/QB]
Many of them already have LYME and don't know it [not lymes]. They will one day be hit with it "out of the blue."
Like when they are in a bad car wreck, have surgery, go thru some trauma.
You can harbor this stuff for YEARS. I did. No one in Texas thinks they have Lyme, either ... but thousands of them do.
It is being misdiagnosed as ALS, MS, CFS, FM, Parkinson's and on and on. [esp in MN, where Lyme doesn't exist, according to Mayo]
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
Only if you insist on walking in, behind, near, above, below,on around or through the grass. Otherwise I would say it just 'fine'...
daniella
-------------------- ~Things may happen in my life time to change who I am but I refuse to let them reduce me...~ Posts: 968 | From private | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
Andie333
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7370
posted
This is a really good discussion, and after reading everyone's thoughtful responses, it seems there are no easy answers.
I have always been a woods person, even as a kid growing up in Florida. There, too, I can remember removing a lot of ticks. Were they infected with one of the diseases? I don't know; I don't think anyone knew anything at the time.
I live in PA and have been bitten at least 5 times that I can remember and count and one with a bullseye rash. These all happened different ways -- tree climbing, a picnic in the grassy parkland, hiking through the woods, camping.
Like morning said, I do think some people must be more susceptible than others. I have friends in NJ who are in constant contact with tick with seemingly no consequences. I'm not one of them; I am a little tick magnet.
Now that I understand all too well the destruction this disease can cause, I've had to shift things in my life. No camping, more biking but on wider, paved roads. Walking on paths that, again, are wider and less wooded. The thought of a picnic makes me edgy, and now that I'm feeling better, I'm developing a fondness for more boat/beach type activities, rather than hiking and camping.
Do I miss the woods? Sometimes so much it actually hurts. But this disease ate away almost a decade of my life, and I'm just not willing to risk that again. Too, like others have said, I know that as vigilant as I might try to be, I could never be vigilant enough.
But if I had kids...well, the thought of kids not being able to run in the fields and roll down grassy hills is really heartbreaking. I honestly don't know what I would do...
Just to add -- skater's comment about trying to protect herself against auto accidents was interesting to me and a bit bittersweet. Last Saturday night (as I posted here) I was broadsided by a hit-and-run driver on a major highway. My car was totalled, but I somehow walked out of the accident with just a few bruises...and a new appreciation of the fragility of life.
Andie
Posts: 2549 | From never never land | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
I agree with lymetoo... As i had it lying dormant in me since my bite in 2000 and possibly before that. I do think another bite or stress from work triggered what i have now.
I live and worked very close to where Ice skater was bit...ticks are everywhere around here...and its not just the ticks.
One former coworker of mine was bit on the work campus, 2 others have MS diagnosis, one RA that went undiagnosed for years(vacations in hamptons and walks on campus) one woman is always sick with bronchits or something else. Those are just a few that i know of that to me show signs and also walked through campus at lunch time.
Sadly my former coworker and I really do think things are going to blow up and more will come down with illness.
I really think the suburbs has more then the typical wooded areas like the poconos in PA. Of course thats just my opinion.
I found myself very hesitant to walk outside in my backyard to grill some chicken. My mom yelled at me to stop as i slowly walked and kept looking at my shoes.
i know living in fear is not good, but for right now its tough not to.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Then if that wasn;t enough, Cant give up and my original county of residence in Pennsylvania was also pandemic for West Nile Posts: 719 | From Delaware | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
yup ice skater, and even scarier the ducks have no clue what the symptoms are for that either. I often wonder if i was infected with that as well.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Wherever we are living these days, we might live in fear- there is no shortage of stuff, even outside of Lyme etc., to be afraid of, as we all know! I'm a city dweller, but a nature lover. Large varities of birds means possible ticks, thus possible exposure to lyme, and there are almost always large numbers of deer in and around sancutaries. In view of the ecological situation on our planet, the more you care about the natural world, the more you might consider living in the city (doesn't have to be a huge city). Just stay true to yourself, true to the future, and don't let your guard down.
Each situation has its own plusses and minuses. Suburban and automoburbian dwellers may have to worry about ticks, but they feel insulated from certain problems of the city {though with the existence of automobiles, such areas are far from free of violent crime, or even pollution, and time consuming, expensive, and dangerous commutes make one wonder what could be the possible attraction-- there is the huge subsidies, of course, but that dosesn't seem to offset these downsides....).
I must say, I do have resevations about birding in super-Lyme-endemic coastal areas. But it IS true that now I know exactly what to look for, who to contact, and what the baseline treatment should be. Again, eveything worthwhile has its dangers! DaveS
Posts: 4567 | From ithaca, NY, usa | Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged |
klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
I refused to believe my FMS was Lyme for almost 12 years because of the 90% rate of women with the illness. It also made sense to me that hunters would get it most,and I thought those who said FMS was Lyme were not logical. Then I started having rages and that scared me into being tested.
After I'd finally been dx'd with Lyme, someone told me that females make far less antibodies to it than males. Don't know if that's true, but it would explain it. Wish I'd heard that earlier.
FWIW, My holistic doc said terrain is EVERYTHING. He said only about 15% of those exposed to Borrelia get sick from it. Sometimes it stays dormant for decades waiting for you to be stressed enough by something else that it can get a foothold. It could be another illness, a car accident, a loved one dying, all kinds of stressors could be the last straw. So work on building your immunity and general health.
Also, I have read a lot about genetic ability to excrete toxins, and agree with the poster who mentioned that as a huge factor.
If you have inherited a copy of the ApoE4 genotype, you are doomed to keep reabsorbing toxins from your digestive tract. This can be very difficult to overcome. I think this is my main problem.
This post has given me much to think about, thanks. We are preparing right now to move to the country within a year. My husband has received a dx that will be fatal within a few years, and wants to spend his last few years fishing and enjoying nature. We both hate living in the city, and don't want to die here.
I was bitten right here,in my downtown yard, in an area with 2 million people.
Klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[bonk]](graemlins/bonk.gif)
![[confused]](graemlins/confused.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)
![[kiss]](graemlins/kissing.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic