posted
This is a question about how many of the people on these boards actually saw a tick on them. and directly linked it to the cause of their lyme.
I myself NEVER saw a tick. Never had a bullseye rash etiher. I live in a suburb but I am NEVER outside. at least not in my yard at all. I also dont own any pets and I never have. Ive never been camping, never been into the woods. etc. I personally am almost 100% sure that I got my lyme from my friends dog. I was always over his house and he had a beautiful black lab and I used to ALWAYS cuddle with it. I even used to bring it in my car with me and take it for rides. I was always hanging all over it. I'm convinved his dog had a tick on him and it fell off and onto me.
Posts: 995 | From somewhere out there | Registered: Oct 2010
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posted
I got bitten by a tick, then got sick. I saw the tick, my husband removed it within just a few hours. No rash that I know of, the tick was in my hair.
I also got bitten dozens of times as a kid, but after three briefly disabling encounters with Lyme (3 or 4 months each), I managed my illness up till that new bite.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
Never knew I was bitten, never saw a rash, never had even heard of lyme disease at that time.
Many, many, many years later traced it back to a BBQ in a wooded area and waking up the next day with flu like symptoms and vertigo. Then the saga began. Symptoms waxed and waned. Misdiagnosed 14 years with everything under the sun.
Years later after getting a Lyme and babs dx. I remembered that day waking up sick, also had a distorted sense of taste and smell and was put on ABX for a clogged Eustachian tube.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
never saw a tick, no bulls eye but did have rocky mountain in 2005 so suspect it was just before that, last year was when I got really sick with a lyme diagnosis the end of last year......
-------------------- Oct 09 Positive CDC Western Blot Jan 10 Positive Babesia Duncani Jan 10 Cd57 28 Mar 10 EBV, IgM, IgG HHV-6 IgG Posts: 739 | From NC | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
I never saw a tick, a rash, or anything.. Cannot figure out when this happened, but LLMD said that bands on my test indicate that infection started (or at least entered my body) well over a year ago. I live in a rural area and am typically outside a lot. We also have two dogs. I guess it could've happened anytime.
-------------------- "The simple things can get you through the hardest times." Posts: 628 | From Connecticut | Registered: Sep 2010
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posted
Never saw a tick. Lived in Maryland at the time. I've never been much of an outdoor person, but did maintain the wooded lot next to the house I rented back then. I also worked with injured wildlife, including deer.
Had an unbelievable bout of flu, also had a raised pink/purple round lesion on my leg, but no bullseye ring around it. At that time, I thought you HAD to have a bullseye for it to be lyme.
Spent the next 20 years with neuro symptoms going to doctor after doctor. Diagnosed with CFS, fibromyalgia, peripheral neuropathy, and of course the "it's all in your head" cr*p.
-------------------- "To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art" - LaRochefoucauld
Lyme neuro symptoms for 20+ years. Infected in Maryland. Diagnosed with Lyme Jan 2011. (previously diagnosed with CFS, Fibro, peripheral neuropathy) Posts: 261 | From Colorado | Registered: Oct 2010
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lyme in Putnam
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11561
posted
Never saw a tick, big time leg heaviness in 1988, ebv high positive back then, lived in Bronx, no one thought of lyme. 1985 depersonalized for first time, Dr. B. suspects around 1983 (I believe even before that). Moved to new house in Putnam county in 1996, unaware, mowing grass barefoot. (A sick thing to do realizing it now, it was my fault). Worked in a job in woods delivering supplies to villas 1998, God knows how many times re-invected. Diagnosed in 2002. Lived in Bronx, sister in PA, went to Poconos alot, trail walks, Catskills, Palenville, Upstate ny, never gave this a thought. Am I sorry now. Son was 6 when he has his tick on his neck. Pediatrician said dog tick, don't worry. Month later, knees swollen, irregular bloodwork. Dr. to Dr. Thank God found our way to Dr. J. On antibiotics from 9 yrs old till 12. He's 15 now and a typical 15, dormant, thank God.
-------------------- He took u to it, He'll you through Posts: 2837 | From NE. | Registered: Apr 2007
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I never even seen/felt a mosquito or other bug bite.
I never saw a doctor that had a clue of what he/she was talking about.
And boy, am I p!ssed.
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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onbam
Unregistered
posted
I almost missed my tick. It was the only tick I'd ever seen in the 4 years I'd lived in my house (or in my life, for that matter), got me in my sleep, and looked like a scab when I saw it on my back after my shower.
Re: getting it from dogs...it gets into all body fluids, and I think Keebler told me about one family where every member got it except the one who stayed away from their infected dog and its toys (on the other hand, I know a family with a sick dog where nobody has any symptoms...go figure.)
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Pinelady
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18524
posted
Nymphs are so tiny they can blow in the wind.
You could be driving down the highway sitting in your car with the windows down, and have a whole nest blown in on you and never know it...
One tick can produce a nest of babies as large as your hand, that you can see if they are together---the cloud moves....
But if they are not---you won't see. You might feel it such as a chigger bite..
But the avg. person won't see without magnification.
-------------------- Suspected Lyme 07 Test neg One band migrating in IgG region unable to identify.Igenex Jan.09IFA titer 1:40 IND IgM neg pos 31 +++ 34 IND 39 IND 41 IND 83-93 + DX:Neuroborreliosis Posts: 5850 | From Kentucky | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Never saw a tick but given the size of deer tick that isn't unexpected. Wood/dog ticks can even be difficult to see at times, deer ticks are so much smaller and can easily be casually overlooked as a spot of dirt, lint, small skin irregularity like a mole etc...
When I was at risk and the years previous I was definitely in a high-risk area. My education had me tromping through woods and tall grass from everywhere from West Virginia to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, flopping about in mud and all sorts of natural environments, for protracted amounts of time.
Posts: 690 | From East coast, USA | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I never saw the tick. I suddenly became sick with high fever, excruciating headache and flu like symptoms. Three days later I noticed a bite on my leg but thought nothing of it until the next day when a bulls eye rash had developed.
I think I got the bite from working in the yard and carrying leaves back into the woods where we see deer on a regular basis or from kids weekend activities out in a grassy area. Will never know for sure since I never saw the tick.
Posts: 26 | From New England | Registered: Mar 2010
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Who knows when it may have happened? Growing up, I was always outside, in the woods, in the fields, playing by a neighbor's pond.
We had a dog for most of my growing up years, and when I was in college, the dog we had at the time got a HORRIBLE flea infestation. I was bitten from head to toe, so if there had been a tick bite or rash in the mix, I was so covered that I'd have missed it.
Had a bad, bad bout of flu that ended in passing out at church and a bad spell of vertigo several years later.
Then in December 2004, when my son was 10 months old, I had a strange rash--not a bullseye, but a very large itchy rash on my right knee that was dx'ed as stress-induced eczema. I've always wondered about that, because I never had it before and have never had it since.
Began the actual lyme journey in June 2008, although the LLMD seems to think the infection is more recent than I believe.
If I could be granted one piece of knowledge, I swear, I would love to know when and where I got bit.
Posts: 303 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
I've had literally hundreds of tick bites. I don't even know how many. We used to get them every weekend at our place in the country (wooded area) in the 50's and 60's .. before anyone knew ticks caused diseases.
I don't know which one got me .. but one blood sucker sure did! Took me 42 yrs to find out the cause of all my health problems.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
The tick sat buried in my daughter's scalp. The Dr removed it. She was sick with the flu within a short time, but never associated it with the tick. Fast forward 12 years and I have one sick daughter!
Posts: 333 | From Lyme Here Too | Registered: Mar 2010
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Approximately a month and a half before I came down with this illness, my husband pulled a tick off the back of my arm. I felt an irritation in the shower and had him look.
A few weeks later my husband recalls my showing him a rash on my stomach. I remember showing him the rash but I can't remember what it looked like. I gave it no real thought after that.
But we live in the middle of the woods and I've been an outdoor freak all my life. And before I got sick I used to run, hike my dogs and bike all through these woods, picking ticks off year round.
There was also a time 10 years ago that my husband and I biked through woods and tall grass in Missouri and my husband noticed his legs were covered in deer ticks.
Clearly we biked through some nests because we COULD see them. I was covered too. Once he started working at getting them off, they became very hard to see and I can't imagine that we really got them all.
It was late, growing dark in the middle of a state park and it took us 4 hours to get home afterwards - so who knows how many dug in and hung out...
Posts: 6 | From Little House in the Big Woods | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
I never saw a tick or a rash. Never knew I was bitten by a tick. I am not an outdoors person, and in fact have always been almost phobic about being outside. I can trace my lyme back 15 years though.
I was away at college in upstate New York. As I said, I hated being outside but I had a creative writing class that met in a wooded area one morning so we could "be one with nature" and write about the experience. Being away at college I wasn't exactly checking myself out naked in the dorm bathroom mirrors every day in front of all the other girls!
I had a week of unexplained headaches, and an opthalmologist found swelling on my optic nerve in one eye. He couldn't explain it, but the headaches went away shortly after. But then I came down with the flu which turned into viral meningitis. I was told meningitis was very common on college campuses, and none of us gave it another thought.
Lyme disease wasn't on my radar then, but I am sure that is when I was bitten.
-------------------- Untreated Lyme for 25+ years. Two kids, too much pain & fatigue, no hope of ever being able to treat. Posts: 310 | From Northeast | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
In August 2000 while I was on vacation in Croatia I was waken up by sharp pain in my toe. I jumped out of bed thinking I was bitten by snake or "black widow" spider but nothing - no bite site just pain.
Within 24 hours I developed flu like symptoms and next day my skin on upper parts of both legs and feet was purple red and burning. I had terrible burning in my muscles too. There were two doctors on the island and they were puzzled. First I thought it was allergic reaction on the sun?? I got worst by third day I cut my vacation short and returned to Bosnia. I saw dermatologist who was also puzzled saying she has no clue what is going on. She gave me some antihistamine injections and said if I dont get better within 24 hours I need to check into hospital.
Upon returning to USA my PCP tested me for Lyme but test came back negative.
2000-2008 headache, fatigue, fly like symptoms, sinus infections, some days I would wake up shaking.
Long story short in 2008 after receiving Hepatitis B vaccine I started developing MS symptoms and within few months september 2008 I crushed not able to walk.
The same PCP tested me for Lyme in 2008 and it came back POSITIVE through QWEST.
Posts: 191 | From va | Registered: Sep 2008
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BoxerMom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25251
posted
Never saw my tick. No rash.
In 1990, I took a trip to Oklahoma that included horseback riding with a friend. When we got back, we were told to check ourselves for ticks. Didn't find any, but I didn't take it too seriously, either.
After I'd been home for about a week, I got the most horrific flu of my life. High fever, vomiting, neck and back pain, fainting. My mom took me to the doctor, where I was diagnosed with "flu."
I made no connection with a possible tick bite. My symptoms resolved after about 4 days.
I was fine for several years. My CFS symptoms began around 1993/1994. Saw way too many doctors. Usual worthless diagnoses.
Finally got my Lyme diagnosis in 2008, 18 years after my infection.
Oh, the friend with whom I travelled to Oklahoma? She was also diagnosed with Lyme.
Bartonella henselae 1:100 Posts: 2027 | From British Columbia | Registered: Jun 2010
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MichaelTampa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 24868
posted
No recollection of tick, bite, or rash. Symptoms since childhood. Diagnosed at age 42.
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- You NEVER ever went outside? Not to any parks, gardens, walks even in the city? Anywhere birds fly, mice scamper and squirrels cavort, there can be ticks. Anywhere.
If you truly NEVER went outside before becoming ill, you could be severely deficient in Vitamin D.
I'm curious, though, you just don't LIKE to go out of doors? I would give my eye teeth to not be trapped inside so it's just hard to imagine that others are fine never, ever going outside.
Remember that mosquitoes also carry lyme - while you never went outside, they could have gotten into your house. It may have been the dog but don't blame the dog or the owner - or even the tick.
Blame lack of citizen education. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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payne
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26248
posted
shot a turkey mothers day 1998,
carried it over my shoulder to the farmhouse,
threw it on the cement-lots of bugs fell out.
cetapeds, ants, grasshoppers,etc.
hint;(don't carry turkeys on back)
week later on bathroom floor was what look like,
a spider ready to hatch(big white puff)
stomped it, went to kitchen for papertowel,
and it still was slowly moving, stomped it again,
picked it up with towel and it was still alive,
grabbed a hammer and its dead know, some blood
so i throw in stoole and flushed it..
started to notice the middle of back was itchy,
so what right!.. a month and my right knee had a
pus bag the size of a nickel..then another one a
week later..went to MD and he said i know what
that is its MRSA... so culture test/negitive..
heavy MRSA antibiotics for 10 days and all seemed
fine...then all H broke out that fall.
My R. Knee swollen bad... then a week later both,
i had them scoped and Osteoarthritis.
beyond repair, disabled from work...due for total
replacement in my future.. then my teeth started
to crumble and had to have full dentures..after
years of great teeth..? and my health slowly
down hill, bloodpressure, C-4 degenrative,
weight gain in stomach only... loss of sleep and
arthritis everywhere.. many doctors, gee you look
so big and healthy... then 2007 blood clot in
right groin dumped into my lungs and onto cumadan
for 6 mos... many MD no answers, maybe LDL ?
after the cumadan treatment.. i had the worse pain
blinding flu head to toe for 2 weeks..had to go on
vicodin to function... finnally bought a laptop
which saved me as i was typing 140 symptoms and
Lyme was perhaps an option, then i saw a photo
of a tick after endulged and that was what i
KILLED on my bathroom floor years ago..
I got the MD to do a elisa test/neg. He said we
don't have lyme in my state... really?
so back to my Laptop and found a great LLMD and
IgeneX labs said positive... yet, all my old MD's
think I am NUTS O.... I can not believe the human
body can take this Voo Doo doll pain 24/7 every
3 hours something differant... i have had $20,000
in lab and heart work just to be told theres
NOTHING WRONG with you and you look big and healty
Really, Thank God I got this Laptop and your
support at this site... you have answered 1,000
of questions in believeing us when not even my
own mother does... 10 fold your Blessings.
i am lost at sea with this Lyme and swimming for
the lighthouse.. be a warrior.
-------------------- TULAREMIA/rabbit fever ? Posts: 1931 | From mid-michigan | Registered: Jun 2010
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Saw the tick. Took it off within 4 hours of biting me.
Noted it was a tick species I'd not seen before. Examined it under a microscope for fun.
Since it was alive and well I took it outside and let it go... yes, I set it free.
Had the flu like symptoms- never connected them to the bite. A rash appeared, then another. By then I was pretty sick.
They didn't know why I was sick, said the rash had nothing to do with the way I felt, and they misdiagnosed the rash as ring worm.
That was about 25 years ago.
If I knew then what I know now, I'd have stomped up and down on that little tick.
posted
Unfortunately never saw the little piece of sh#t...nor any rash! But...I used to be very active outdoors...hiking, running, camping, coaching soccer and other outside sports ('should've stuck with hoops...INSIDE!). Plus...I live in lyme-endemic Pennsylvania!
-------------------- ? date of bite/no rash 10/09 symptoms, 4/10 diagnosed, after 6 mos. ER visits, tons of docs/tests CDC+ 23/39/41/45/58/66/93 currently on oral plaquenil, doryx, rifampin, pyrazinamide, nystatin, numerous supplements Posts: 718 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Jun 2010
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sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
Never saw a tick. I did see a small bite however after being on a golf course, but nothing like a bullseye. Never thought about a tick. Thought a spider might have bitten me.
It was a few months later when I became ill. Forgot all about that bite and wouldn't have put it together anyway because at the time I wasn't educated about LD.
For all I know that wasn't a tick bite....... then who knows when or where I was bitten. The only time I remember a tick bite was as a kid; and I don't think I had LD all those years.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
I don't know specifically WHICH tick got me sick-- I've had tons!
I grew up in Virginia and was always outdoorsy. At summer camp, I would get several ticks a day, adding up to more than a hundred over the summer.
When I lived in Kenya, the ticks were so bad I didn't have time to remove them one-by-one with forceps-- I would just take a piece of duct tape, stick it to my skin and rip it off, removing dozens at a time.
Can't imagine how many I've had over my lifetime... maybe a thousand? I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that I'm riddled with disease now.
-------------------- Currently infected with Lyme, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Mycoplasma, & Q-fever.
10 months into treatment, currently on Bicillin, Rocephin, Doxy, Biaxin, and Mepron. Posts: 87 | From USA | Registered: Sep 2010
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is its MRSA... so culture test/negitive..![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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