More information about my family's health is surfacing.
As you know, I have been suffering from what has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease since Sept 2005. With more than 14 months of antibiotic treatment, I have made slight improvement in my sense of well being. That being said... we have more data about the junk that ticks carry.
Joey (my dog) has been limping for the past two weeks. We took him to the vet and had him examined. The vet figured it was a sprained knee, but I urged her to test him for tick born diseases. Fearing that I sound like a paranoid tick freak, I delicately explained to her the history that the Atchison farm has. Joey has had many instances of spending 10 days at the Farm with Grandma. With each trip up there, we pull as many as 5 - 10 ticks off that guy when we get him home. Some of them have been engorged with blood and appear to have been attached for more than 24 hours.
We got the results this morning. Joey is suffering from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This is another tick born disease that can cause major complications if not caught early. In our case, Joey has not been to the farm for more than a year, so he's probably been carrying this for quite some time.
His prognosis is a bit unsure. We are to start three weeks of doxcyclene ASAP. He has a bit of a battle ahead of him... but we are optimistic. My understanding is that dogs are easier to treat than are humans. As with everything in medicine.. there is no guarantee.
So with this information, and my history of slight improvement on antibiotics for Lyme disease.... I will be tested for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever on Monday 1/21. I'm fearing that I've been a RMSF sufferer all along.
As always, we appreciate your thoughts and prayers as my family goes through this rough patch.
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
Your poor doggy!!!! I will knock on wood for his best recovery!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by DesperationIn (Member # 13121) on :
My LLMD tested for RMSF when I was first diagnosed and it did come up very borderline positive. I was retested again after about a month on doxycycline and the RMSF titer was negative. I hope that is one thing that went away but it is definitely a possibility, although if you ever took doxy, I doubt it's a big factor.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Poor Joey!! I do hope he feels great in 3 weeks!! At least ONE member of the family would be "well!"
I agree with Desperation that if you've already taken doxy, you're probably covered. Let's hope so!!
Posted by lymie tony z (Member # 5130) on :
I always had the understanding that the ehrlichiosis associated with RMSF is a quick killer of the human host.
I know that lonestar ticks or whatever type of tick carries RMSF also carries many strains of Bb spirochete as well as co/infections.
Please correct me with a website on this as I would like to update my information.
Thanks zman
Posted by map1131 (Member # 2022) on :
Visual see my post today on Spiders and Tick bites. More info on RMSF in humans.
Good catch on asking for further tests for your dawg!! I hope he mends quickly. Bury those pills in a chunk of meat and he'll wolf em down!!
As you YOU, hoping you DON'T have anything like that. Do keep us posted, and good luck!!
Hugs,
Michelle
Posted by Visual Afterimage Man (Member # 10435) on :
We put him on doxy last night.. and I saw improvement within an hour! I know thats crazy, but he was running up and down the stairs! Prior to that, he wasn't able to get up the stairs without considerable effort and pain.
21 days of doxy for him. The thing is... we filled our script for him at CVS. They said, "Oh thats for the DOG?" "You need to go over there (pointing to the front counter)".
I know he's just a dog, but he's still a memember of my family. I don't want him to feel as sick as I do! Atleast one of us can get better.
Posted by cottonbrain (Member # 13769) on :
I'm going to have my dog tested too. We've had her 13 years (she's 15) and she's always been lethargic and lumpy. Cranky too!
We always thought it was "just her breed" until I recently found out I have Lyme disease.
When we brought her home from the animal shelter, she was covered in ticks
-- thanks for reminding all of us to get our pets checked!