Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
I don't even understand how it happened but it sure looks like one. I've been outside my front door literally three times this month. The bite is on my back and would have been under my shirt.
It's on my back so I can't tell if it's got a faint bullseye around it or if I'm just imagining it.
I have been trying so hard, doing my pulsed abx and bee venom and supplements, just waiting to feel better or for some kind of sign that I was getting better -- now this. And I did feel very Lymey yesterday when I started my mino dosing.
I don't know what to do. I'm doing a pulsed schedule but what if there's some other coinfection in the bite now?
Should I stop the pulsing and do a couple months of doxycycline?
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
me
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45475
posted
Jordana, I'm so terribly sorry to hear this. I had a panic the other day and it turned out to be a tiny beatle. I never knew beatles could bite.
Is there a way to post the picture or send a link to the picture so you could get input? Hugs.
-------------------- Just sharing my experiences, opinions, and what I've read and learned. Not medical advice. Posts: 1431 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2015
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- It seems that you see a rash, yet not an actual bite site / traces of blood ?
A bullseye does not necessarily mean a new tick bite. They can appear anytime for someone dealing with lyme - anywhere on the body. I once had up to 13 bullseye "satellite" bulls eye rashes during a herxheimer from a single antibiotic.
Other considerations, though, a pardon me for approaching this: fungal infection of the skin. Understandably due to circumstances, you've noted that your sheets had not been able to be washed in a month and that you might go several days unable to shower.
Add to that, you've commented on having to spend a lot of time actually in bed so you could have some pressure points adding to possible fungal patches on the skin. "Ringworm" can look like a faint bullseye in some regards.
If you have a pet, another possible variable.
Whatever, though, a clean night shirt each night is best until this clears. And try to keep your bed aired out when you are not in it so it can get dry.
Foam mattress? These can get very hot can cause excessive sweating (of the person, not the bed - har-har!).
Synthetic fibers for bed clothes and linens can also cause more sweat buildup. Cotton is best.
Also consider any new changes to your personal care products or any new clothing irritation or dye reactions.
So, what do about it? Treat it just as another annoyance but do tend to it with things that have multiple properties. Such as:
Do you have an CALENDULA ointment? That is very soothing and helpful topically, whatever the cause. And it has some antimicrobial help as well.
SHEA BUTTER is very nice and soothing with some antimicrobial properties.
SILVER ointment would be good, too. Or Allimax' garlic ointment. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
Lyme Disease; Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of this tick-borne illness.
. . . rashes can mimic spider bite, ringworm, or cellulitis. Multiple, so-called “satellite” rashes may appear on different parts of the body. . . . -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
Dermatophytosis is a clinical condition caused by fungal infection of the skin . . . .
. . . The most common term for the infection, "ringworm", is a misnomer, since the condition is caused by fungi of several different species and not by parasitic worms.
The fungi that cause parasitic infection, collectively dermatophytes, feed on keratin, the material found in the outer layer of skin, hair, and nails. These fungi thrive on warm and moist skin, . . . .
[See PHOTO and more detail at link.] -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
No there's no rash yet, just a pinprick sort of puncture.
[IMG]http://[/IMG]
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Well, that center is certainly suspicious. The satellite rashes I had all has a similar center yet with the outer part more defined circle.
I do see an oval around the center here, I think. Going back, to variables, if a satellite rash / lyme, it wound not mean a new bite. They did not for me.
PETS?
SPIDERS?
I don't know if this could be bed pressure sore or fungal but I'd dress it with something good and then put a sterile gauze pad over it to protect that center from further irritation.
Could it be staph? If so, that would require more serious ointment and isolation of the spot.
Does it itch, is it hot or painful? Not sure any characteristic would point to or eliminate any variable, though.
Might you be able to send the photo to your LLMD?
That seems the most logical of any doctor who would help - and they should know about this so as to make any changes in your treatment. If some kind of swab test needs to be done, they'd best know who could do that for you, too.
Be mindful of your towels. I might be good to treat this as staph just in case so that it does not spread to your eyes or other parts via towels.
Sorry for this new upset. I just hope it's not itchy or painful. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
No, doesn't itch, isn't painful. But I'm aware of a break in the skin there.
I'm already treating Lyme but I'm wondering if i should treat this new thing too as if it's got all the coinfections in it, and switch to doxy for a month Or half doxy and half mino.
Man I can't believe it.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- As you say you've barely been out - and I assume not really exposed to ticks (?) by running through their habitat.
I would not assume this is a new tick bite. Unless you have a pet.
Ask your LLMD to help ID & about any changes.
I added a thought to my last post while you posted. It's about considering staph. And, if fungal, your abx might need better balance.
It also could just be a spider bite. Look for stray legs, eh? -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
Thanks Keebler. I usually react to spider bites pretty strongly.
I'm totally overwhelmed now.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Well, all you can do today is bring in some fresh air, so to speak. Tomorrow, contact. LLMD.
Covering all the bases, proactive steps that might help whatever the cause:
Can you wash your sheets today, mattress pad, etc.?
Wash towels and then create a method to dry that rash with a fresh paper towel?
Put some silver ointment or allimax ointment on it? The allimax may be good in case it would be staph. and cover with a clean gauze patch.
Just tend to it - don't let that ruin your day - and then try to find some beauty or art, or humor for a better summer Sunday. If you watch PBS, a new "Endeavor" episode is on tonight. That is so good. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- If you don't have Allimax cream, Colloidal silver on the gauze pad should help.
You might call around and find this at a market near you:
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
Oh my goodness, let's go Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
bluelyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 47170
posted
A mosquito did the same to me the other day...i think the mino will cover it ..spiders can have borreliosis but you are alredy doing awesome treatment. ..in addition to keebs posts
.if yoj have really fine twezers you can pull out a bee stinger and do encompassing taps around it (circle the dragon(... how many stings how times per week?...thives oil and dmso made my ear blow up the other day...id sah silver too
-------------------- Blue Posts: 1539 | From southwest | Registered: Dec 2015
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
I'm going to sting it and then I'm going to do doxycycline plus mino for two weeks -- the dose goes down to 200 dox plus 200 min plus zith and tinidazole plus BVT. That should cover it unless I get the Heartland virus or something.
I shouldn't have even typed that...
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- If it happens to be staph, "stinging it" (which I assume you mean inject bee venom with a needle?), well that could cause all sorts of havoc.
If fungal, increased abx could make it worse.
In any case, directly "stinging" it sounds painful but also with possible bad outcome for festering, etc.
Seems best to treat it with tender loving care, not breaking into it. I've broken open mosquito bites by accident that took weeks to then heal. If this is a mosquito bite (something that I did not think about as I've just not yet seen one this year) . . .
well, or whatever it is, best to not break it open as [if like a blister] the fluid inside could be your body's immune response & medicine for it (and to contain bad boy microbes, not have them ooze out).
I'd add an multiple antimicrobial ointment, though, one that is not petroleum based. Cover with gauze dressing.
Please do not puncture it. Put my busy mind to rest on that one, pretty please? -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
No, this is broken already. What you're looking at is a small puncture at the site.
I really think it's a tickbite -- its location was right where my backfat (sorry) folds in at my waist; right at the top of the beginning of the fold, exactly where a tick would go.
Although I don't understand why it wouldn't have found other places first. And I don't understand why I didn't see it earlier since I sting my back three days a week in a mirror.
Stinging next to it should knock out some pathogens, or at least that's the theory.
That's really scary though. If it was a tick they're incredibly aggressive suddenly.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Why can't it be a mosquito or other insect bite?
You always get a certain amount of irritation around an insect bite, so you get a small red circle or oval around it.
The chances of it being a tick when you have barely been outside your door are pretty slim. Lyme patients get paranoid about tick bites.
So, there are so many other insects that bite us (fleas, flies, chiggers, etc.), it is really most likely something more likely such as a mosquito or fly bite.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
I actually went and dragged the front yard with a white tshirt just to check to see if it was possible. There's a lot of extra foliage out there and things a person could brush up against.
Guess what, two I Scapularis " as small as a period at the end of a sentence" crawling around on it. Hardshelled, little legs.
There's no bullseye though. There's a chance a safe one got me.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
Here's a different picture. It's blurry but I don't think it can be anything else:
[IMG][/IMG]
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Looks to me like the bite of a hootchie cootchie banard bug. I sure hope not!
They are mostly found in Florida and Georgia and can be deadly if you are bitten three times. (2 x if you are a child.)
To stop any further problems you will need to wash the area in prune juice and when it dries you should place a piece of sliced papaya on it, then cover it with a sterile gauze pad.
If you start getting green striped bands around your knee caps you best call 911. That means the hootchie cootchie organism has traveled to your brain and may try to jump out of your ears and onto other unsuspecting victims. (At the hospital they can do brain surgery to remove it.)
While it is in your brain- it only stays a few days- it will absorb all of your thoughts and then pass them onto the next person it bites. (For you it may only stay a few hours.)
Be aware- if you start mooing uncontrollably in the next few days you will know the bug recently bit a cow. If you feel the urge to crawl in a swamp and eat marshmallows that tourists feed you- it was probably on a gator before it bit you.
The danger is you can't stay under water as long as a gator and you could drown. I'd wear a life jacket around the house for the next week or so just in case.
The worst case scenario is if it bit a manatee prior to biting you. If that is the case I'd highly recommend you start ripping all your shirts into large pieces, and the same with all your pants.
You can then sew them together into one HUGE outfit because once you start gaining the manatee weight it's too late to try to properly cover your privates!
The other simpler solution is to put some raw organic honey on it 3-4 times a day till it disappears. Here are some rash pics in case you are interested.
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Just in case someone may think the above was a serious post and want to send J some flowers, I was kidding!
But, not about the honey. That is what I'd do. You are already on enough meds to kill a horse. In my opinion, or let's say I wouldn't add more to the mix. See post below.
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Trying to guess what bit you and then trying to address whatever organisms may have been transmitted, if any, is nearly impossible.
For example- here is my list of just SOME of the vector borne diseases found in Florida.
Borrelia Strains in Florida
Borrelia americana Borrelia andersonii Borrelia bissettii Borrelia burgdorferi* Borrelia garinii Borrelia lonestari Borrelia turicatae Unnamed- (divergent strain clustered between Borrelia bissettii & Borrelia carolinensis) *Standard lab tests are only designed to detect exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi and those tests miss up to 75% of people who have the Borrelia burgdorferi strain of Lyme disease.
TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
So, why CAN'T it be a mosquito or other insect bite?
You won't collect mosquitoes or flies on your T shirt that you dragged around in the yard. That is a method designed to capture ticks.
So, what did you EXPECT you would find on that T shirt?
I hope you can see that you really have no good reason to conclude that you know this is a tick bite. The odds are really small given that you didn't go out in your yard for any length of time recently, right? Oh, except for your T shirt test.
How much time did you spend walking around in the yard to try to collect ticks on that shirt? Does that make sense to do that since you could get a tick on you doing this?
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
Lol, both TC and TF.
I'm not in Florida anymore but you're completely right, there's no way of knowing what was in the alleged tick unless I caught him on me and sent it off somewhere.
Well TF you have a point. But I just actually wanted to see if there even were any ticks in the yard. I couldn't believe I actually caught some -I didn't expect to find anything! I have never laid eyes on a tick in my life, including the ones that did or did not bite me.
And even if it did, there's no point fussing over it I guess. I'm on treatment for Lyme and co regardless, that's true.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
bluelyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 47170
posted
I assume you stung it ...tincup is funny and wise ..yes manuka honey it !...keep us posted ...brussels get bit often now ...that list is pretty awesome...thanks tincup
-------------------- Blue Posts: 1539 | From southwest | Registered: Dec 2015
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
I did sting it -- never got a bullseye rash.
My LLMD says doxy and mino together with daily tinidazole for three or four days.
He said getting a new bite was a stroke of luck since it mobilizes all spirochetes, but if that's the case, pulsing isn't enough.
Something for the files.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Thanks Blue. You are too kind.
J- I suddenly got a picture in my empty head, and you will like it.
Your spirochetes were all mobilized and wearing little military uniforms and big hats. Some even had tiny swords by their side. And they all have very big shining polished military shoes on.
No, I don't drink or smoke dope. But, when things like that pop in my brain I get wondering about myself. DO I drink? DO I smoke a little dope?
Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13480
posted
Jordana, just for your information, as I get rebitten the whole time...
During chronic lyme, if I were re-bitten with an infected tick, I fell ill almost IMMEDIATELY.
REally, badly ill. Reinfections were the worst thing ever.
Your LLMD follows what dr. K. kept telling more than a decade ago: every new infected tick bite reactivates the whole SET of lyme bacteria that were dormant in the body or low grade.
You get them fully again well, ready to join fight with the new set of pathogens. The result, is an awful reaction, really.
I get bitten many times, and most of the times, I feel nothing. I assume the ticks were clean.
My daughter reacts the same way: either she falls ill very fast (in a matter of hours after the infected tick bite), or she would feel nothing (except itchy on the bite).
My lyme doctor sees patients being reinfected while still on treatment and said the same: he can 'see' how agressive new pathogens are and can test if these pathogens are newly infected, or the old gang who woke up.
Since he saw how much I was suffering with constant reinfections, he gave me his secret recipe for not being bitten so often (homeopathic remedy). Since then, I get most bites 'clean', without Borrelia, at least.
so in short, if you are not VERY SICK due to new tick bite, you probably were not reinfected (I hope).
I really can say, in my case, if the tick had Borrelia inside or not, just because lyme comes back full force very fast, and about day 3 I get most of my old lyme symptoms back, full force.
so just relax! You probably didn't get reinfected! If you read posters here in the past, you see that MANY react like I do with newly infected bites: it's hell, really.
So, just go on treating your old lyme!!!
Posts: 6199 | From Brussels | Registered: Oct 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
Actually I have been very sick since this happened. I was already sick but getting comfortable with my progress, but the past four days have been awful. Shaking, brain fog and yesterday I had a migraine all the way down to my shoulders. Heavy, clear sweats.
I am treating with antibiotics and bee stings so these were herxes, but worse than anything I'd experienced this whole year.
The area around the bite where I stung it is huge and inflamed and red. Dr has me on doxy, mino and tinidazole with no breaks for this week.
I was hoping I would be some percentage of better by Christmas. This has got me wondering if I'm going to get better, ever.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
me
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45475
posted
Can you post an updated pic? Hang in there, Jordana.
-------------------- Just sharing my experiences, opinions, and what I've read and learned. Not medical advice. Posts: 1431 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2015
| IP: Logged |
Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13480
posted
Sorry to hear that, Jordana... So it might be infected, indeed...
Anyway, your reaction is normal. You gotta attack the new infection as well as possible. I use photons for that, now that I know how to use it.
Before, it was HELL to re-build my daily intake of herbs and supplements, to keep me well.
Do you put some essential oils or garlic on the bite? I do. Stuff like peppermint oil or oregano oil (a bit diluted though) kill virtually anything due to strength. Dr. K recommends to tape a slice of garlic too...
Posts: 6199 | From Brussels | Registered: Oct 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
So what you're looking at is bee venom chasing the infection. The red bump on the right ( or actually the bottom bump) is the sting; the long wound is the tick bite.
You can see how the entire area is raised up -- that is NOT FAT!!Lol. It's a lump of inflammation about the shape and size of a small cucumber; directly under the tick bite and fanning out underneath. The erythema underneath this thing is mottled red.
[IMG][/IMG]
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| IP: Logged |
me
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45475
posted
Thank you for posting the pic. Hopefully some other people are able to chime in bc I can't quite tell what is going on. Hang in there.
-------------------- Just sharing my experiences, opinions, and what I've read and learned. Not medical advice. Posts: 1431 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2015
| IP: Logged |
TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
When you call something a tick bite, the readers of this thread are going to assume that you have some evidence that it was a tick bite and you will get advice on what to do now that you were bitten by another tick.
Since you don't have any evidence of what bit you, you really should just call it your unknown insect bite.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- It could also be a skin eruption not caused by any insect. There are multiple variables. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged |
Jordana
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 45305
posted
What evidence would I get? It's a painless, itch free hole in a fold of my body that appeared the day after I went into my front yard.
After the bite but before I knew what it was I had the worst Lyme herxes I've had since I discovered I had Lyme.
I showed the photo to my doctor and asked him what to do. He told me what to do; and I asked here also.
It's a tick bite. I don't want it to be but it is.
I'm not as worried about Lyme right now as I am about co-infections, since I thought I mostly had those figured out. Thus taking doxy now for potential Ehrlichia or RMSF.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
| 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!
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)
![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic