posted
Our 14 year-old daughter went outside to sit in the rain today, while I was out. She sat on the grass, near some bushes. Soon after, she went to put an earring in and felt something "funny" on the back of her ear lobe.
She had to "try hard" to get it off, and it turned out to be a tick. My husband, who should know better, mostly squashed it with his thumb...hope he doesn't get sick.
When I returned very soon after (wish I'd never left) I could see that it was brownish black, with some red- possibly deer tick adult-? I could also see and feel that it had, indeed, bitten her earlobe. It was not at all engorged, of course, but our daughter thinks she did considerable squeezing to get it off. Makes me very nervous.
The covering MD agreed to prescribe the two dose prophylactic doxycycline which she took a couple of hours after the bite. I thought that had gone out of fashion years ago...
Our family, like many of you, has suffered with Lyme for years. I have just gone off antibiotics for the first time in 6 years- a whole month now. Our other daughter has had years of problems. And this daughter, the one who was bitten, was treated for 3 months a couple of years back, with very positive testing. We also all have positive ANA's.
For the last month, I have been feeling we were finally somewhat in the clear in terms of Lyme. Arghhh!
For a long time, we have just been seeing the Lyme doc and staying off the Internet, so I feel very out of the loop. Can anyone advise me on the best course of action for my daughter tomorrow?
What do you folks think would be the best antibiotic for her, how much, and for how long?
In 2000, I had a very similar situation, and did 4 weeks of doxy at a pretty good dose. A few months later, I woke up with my arms and face on fire, and other neurological problems, and haven't been well since. Our other daughter went through hell too. I don't have confidence in a lot of treatment protocols for early in the game.
So, I want to act quickly and try to "get" a doctor to treat her in whatever way she is most protected. Thank you!
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
welcome shosty to the board, and sorry to read about your daughter's bite today and ALL family having lyme for quite some time.
please EDIT MY PROFILE TO ALLOW PRIVATE MESSAGES, PM, from us. while you are in my profile, pleae show your state where you live also; helpful for us to recommend LLMDSin your state or closest to you!
we can NOT give llmd, lyme literate md names on the board.
please PM, that's the 2nd icon w/2 people standing together, and i'll send you my 58 pages newbie links, advise, symptoms, tests, disability, much more, and treepatrol's newbie link w/1000 sites of good info.
we recommend 3-4 months of dox; higher dosage. don't let them by with the 2 dose theory. do whatever you have to get it since she was finally making progress towards remission.
I'm not a dr, but Doxycycline is a good choice. It would be appropriate for Lyme and/or Ehrlichiosis, if present.
p. 17 gives Doxycycline dose for adults: 200mg twice a day with food. This is higher than the "typical" dose drs prescribe (usually 100mg twice a day). I don't know about dose per day for a 14 yr old.
p. 19 says Tick Bites Embedded deer tick with no signs or symptoms of LD - oral therapy for 28 days (adults & children).
p.32-33: Rationale for Treating Tick Bites gives important info.
With all the experience with Lyme in your family, I'm hoping you have a LLMD who will know how to treat.
Let us know what treatment she's given. We care!
Posts: 4638 | From South Carolina | Registered: Mar 2001
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Shosty
Unregistered
posted
Thanks everyone. We already have an LLMD, but one who is hard to get a hold of. I have e-mailed him twice and called his office, and hope to hear from him today.
In the meantime, our only option was to do that double dose of doxy. Ironically, our house is still full of anitbiotics from our various treatments, especially mine: zithro, tetracycline, and also Augmentin.
We know a lot about Lyme, unfortunately, and often write the papers about it. But I really wanted to know what you all thought best for treatment in this instance, immediately after a "tick incident." Since our Lyme is chronic, it's actuallly been a long time since we dealt with a bite!
If our LLMD doesnn't get back, the suggestions you gave can come with me to our local doc, who may be willing to tide her over while we wait for the LLMD.
Sounds like 200mg doxy, twice a day, at least at first.
treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Get LLMD and treat the bite now.
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
Beverly
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 1271
posted
Ditto to all above and treat the tick bite right away.
Posts: 6638 | From Michigan | Registered: Jun 2001
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Shosty
Unregistered
posted
As I said, we already have an LLMD and have been doing this Lyme thing for years. We got some meds into our daughter last night (the two doses of doxy) and are seeing the primary care doctor today.
The problem is, it is hard to get in touch with our LLMD, who is primarily a researcher, so I have to convince the primary care doctor to do something in the meantime.
In the past, we have found we cannot rely on primary care at all to know much (of course) so it helps to go in and simply ask, "can she have 400mg doxy/day for a few weeks until we can get a hold of Dr.****?" or whatever.
I just wanted to see what the current thinking is on the best abx for this situation. The books and articles and doctors all seem to have differing ideas on this, which is nothing new.
In 2000, I was put on a good dose of doxy for a month, and I still got really sick later. So, for me, it didn't do the trick. So I was a little nervous about that option, but it is a good start, if only to take care of the erlichiosis.
tdtid
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10276
posted
Shosty,
Looks like it was a bad weekend for us. My son was at the ER yesterday getting a tick removed. They gave him 21 days of Amoxy but as with you, I'm not too trusting of these ER doctors after all I went through with them for five years of misdiagnosis's.
Let me know what you finally find out and good luck with your daughter. This is scarey stuff.
Cathy
-------------------- "To Dream The Impossible Dream" Man of La Mancha Posts: 2638 | From New Hampshire | Registered: Oct 2006
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EtherealGirl
Unregistered
posted
Do you still have the tick? You can send it to the health department to have it tested for Lyme.
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Shosty
Unregistered
posted
tdtid, good luck with your son...what dose was the amox? My youngest did amox. for a month (1000 mg?) after a bite in 2004, then two months of tetracycline, and was totally better.
Ethereal girl, our LLMD gave us an address/phone for tick testing, although, as I said, my husband squashed the tick so it's not intact (it's squashed on a piece of cardboard, inside a baggy). I am going to send it anyway tomorrow,on LLMD's advice.
As predicted the primary care office won't prescribe, but want to test in 8 weeks. Arghhh. The LLMD is also saying he wouldn't prescribe in this situation.I was surprised. I think doctors are running scared now. It is different than a few years back, and harder to get the abx.
Frustrating, because I have a houseful of several different antibiotics. It's stepping over a line to give them to her w/out a doctor's orders...
We see another doctor who is very Lyme-literate, on Wed. After that, I/we may have to accept the uncertainty for awhile.
I reassured my daughter that it was probably "just" a dog tick and that she would be fine, no doubt. In the meantime, w/out alarming her, I will work behind the scenes.
You'd think that the horrors we've gone through would make a difference here.
The nurse practitioner we saw today said that both she and her husband have had Lyme and responded to standard treatment. The thing is, their cases were the usual story: rash w/illness, antibiotics soon after bite, bingo, better!
She gets a Lyme test every year to make sure (but when I asked if we could do the same, she said no, that she could because she works there!)
I tried to explain that our daughter squeezed the tick to get it off, while it's mouth was in her skin...and that, for me and my other daughter, the Lyme went underground after treatment, but resurfaced in a more virulent manner (neurological) months later.
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