I was talking about this on another thread but thought I would ask the topic on its own..
**Is getting a bullseye rash after a tick bite a 100% indication of lyme?
**Can you get the bullseye rash and not get lyme?
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
It's a 100% indication of lyme.
If people get the rash they are lucky because then they (should) KNOW and don't have to get tested and possibly get a negative test and still wonder if they have it...
Posted by adamm (Member # 11910) on :
1. Yes
2. No
Posted by Rianna (Member # 11038) on :
1. Yep 100% 2. No
Rianna
Posted by lightfoot (Member # 2536) on :
1) Yes
2) No
And you can get a bulls eye during treatment or again with no treatment. It's to your advantage if you have a bulls eye......get pix of it and get it witnessed by a doctor pronto. This will help with obtaining treatment now and in the future.
Run don't walk to a knowledgeable LLMD.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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check out the NEWBIE links at the top of the medical posts.
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**Is getting a bullseye rash after a tick bite a 100% indication of lyme?
YES
**Can you get the bullseye rash and not get lyme?
NO
However, Lyme may not become apparent - subsiding to return later, when under stress or another infection. The lyme bacteria, a spirochete, can become disseminated and change form to elude the immune system.
That is why even a person seems fine and feels fine, if a bulls-eye rash is present, prompt and aggressive treatment is vital.
Bb, the bacteria, has several stages and forms and can change back and forth. Different drugs - and combinations of drugs - are required for each stage.
Early aggressive treatment can help to prevent that.
Also know that the rash does not always appear for everyone infected . . . and, while the bulls-eye is right on, lyme rashes can have various appearances and characteristics.
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CO-INFECTIONS, too.
Even if a characteristic bullseye rash is clear for lyme, the patient must be also evaluated for coinfections. This would be both clinical evaluation and labs tests by a LLMD who is expert in all tick-borne diseases (TBD).
The timing of the tests, as well as a patient's exposure to certain meds can alter the test results. Be sure a LLMD guides testing.
www.Igenex.com - is a specialty lab and more information can be found there.
Co-infections can sometimes be treated with the same drugs as Bb, however, some co-infections require different drugs and the timing of treatment is important.
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES TO FUEL THE "LYME WAR" By Virginia Savely, RN, FNP-C
***** As two medical societies battle over its diagnosis and treatment, Lyme disease remains a frequently missed illness. Here is how to spot and treat it.
Excerpts:
`` . . .Patients with Lyme disease almost always have negative results on standard blood screening tests and have no remarkable findings on physical exam, so they are frequently referred to mental-health professionals for evaluation.
"...If all cases were detected and treated in the early stages of Lyme disease, the debate over the diagnosis and treatment of late-stage disease would not be an issue, and devastating rheumatologic, neurologic, and cardiac complications could be avoided..."
. . . * Clinicians do not realize that the CDC has gone on record as saying the commercial Lyme tests are designed for epidemiologic rather than diagnostic purposes, and a diagnosis should be based on clinical presentation rather than serologic results.
- FULL ARTICLE AT LINK ABOVE.
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Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
my new doc says a rash is 100 percent proof you have lyme -- no further explanation needed.