A close friend of mine got a tick bite about 3 weeks ago.
No bullseye, but she still has a raised red bump at the bite site. And she had a bought of flu like symptoms and joint pain.
Is there any reason for her not to go on Doxy asap? Will being on abx interfere with a future lyme test (she hasn't been tested yet)?
She can get a temporary stash of Doxy while she waits for a llmd appointment. But she might only have enough to do 100mg 2x daily. I know that this does is too low for eradication, but in this early stage will it help prevent the Borrelia from multiplying or spreading?
Any feed back is helpful. Thank you.
Posts: 12 | From New York | Registered: Sep 2014
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Judie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38323
posted
It sounds like Lyme is a possibility. My rash DID NOT look like a bullseye at all.
Doxycycline will actually HELP with testing, which is ideally done 6-8 weeks after the tick bit (gives time for the antibodies to show up).
You DO NOT need to go off doxycycline to get a positive test.
I was bit, started doxycycline at week 3 after infection, tested week 7 and got a CDC positive test result (I was still on doxy).
100mg, 2X a day was what I took until I got in to see an LLMD.
Even though the doctor said it was an erythema migrans rash, I still didn't believe it (it hurt and itched like crazy and another trusted doctor thought it was a spider bite).
Boy, was I surprised when I got the positive test.
Posts: 2839 | From California | Registered: Jul 2012
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posted
If you say your friend went through sore joints and a flu bout afterwards, that sounds like symptoms. Around here, people are encouraged to do prophylactic abx, 200mg 2x/day of doxy for 6-8 weeks to stop an infection.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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