Just a quick question. I never got the classic rash when i was bitten, does this mean i will NEVER get the rash if bitten again??? I understand its a reaction to the saliva, so i would assume i wouldn't. Does anyone know if this is correct?
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- You could. Or not. Your response can vary. Your body now is not the same body as before, so to speak. There have been changes in your immune function.
And some days we may have reactions that we won't other days, even for those who have certain food sensitivities and test those boundaries.
Each tick is different, and each tick's saliva has a different mix.
I did not have early rashes from tick bites - but got them with some later bites - sometimes. I think it's still just a toss of the coin.
Maybe. Maybe not. Chances are still not, though, as most people just don't develop a rash. Very few actually ever see that rash. -
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
I did get bull's eye rashes from the many tick bites I had as a child.
I got one from the tick bite that made me sick with Lyme.
Hopefully I will never have one (tick bite) ever again!
Posted by erikjh1972 (Member # 20964) on :
thank you for your quick responses.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
I discussed this with my now-famous lyme doctor. I read that once you get lyme, you will get the rash if you are ever bitten again and the tick gives you lyme.
My doctor said that he agreed with this.
It was true in my case. I never saw a rash with my original lyme infection. Thanks to that, I went undiagnosed for at least 10 years.
After my lyme doctor treated and cured me, a few years later, I got bitten again. I didn't see the tick, but I had laid a few long weeds on my arm for about 1 minute.
A few days later, right where the weeds lay, I got a hive which turned into a large bulls eye rash.
I got to my lyme doc within a week of the bite, and he treated me for 30 days.
I had a mild herx.
I never got any other symptoms and so I was done in 30 days.
So, I have had lyme twice. First time no bulls eye. Second time bulls eye.
I think the theory is that now that your immune system has made antibodies to the lyme bacteria (due to first infection, which has been overcome), these antibodies will react to a future infected tick bite by giving you the rash--your body's immune system response to the disease.
The antibodies stay in your bloodstream for years and years. They are the body's "memory" of the disease.
I am counting on getting a bulls eye each time I get bitten by an infected tick for the rest of my life. (Our property backs to a woods, so we have lots of deer and ticks in the yard. We treat the yard a lot and I take many precautions when in the yard. I stopped gardening due to getting ticks on me.)
Praise God, it is now 7 years since I completed my original lyme treatment and I am still symptom-free, enjoying my life. I have the same life I had before lyme disease.