After what I have been through, I will take no chances with the health of my family.

There are many strains of Lyme, and it could be that you may have been exposed to a strain other than the one you may already have.

I obviously have more than one strain, possibly many. And have been through a very difficult time as a result. So if you have the opportunity to head it off at the pass, do it. Is there a doc locally who would prescribe a short term antibiotic for you? I cannot tell if you have already been seen at the clinic. But, if so, give them a call and report this.

similar thing happened to me last year. i wasn't on abx at the time (in fact had not yet been officially diagnosed), but was actually at the LLMD office when i noticed the tick. he took it off, saved it, and put me on 2 weeks Doxy (400mg). at the end of the two weeks, i felt odd & had fevers, and did (on my own) a week of zithromax until i could see the doc again. that made me herx, nad when i had the appt, it turned out i had tested positive for acute bartonella.

so...... my opinion is that 3 days isn't enough if you know that you are in an endemic area. if i got bit again, i'd do at least 4 weeks of a tetracycline, aimed at a possible lyme infection, and i'd test the tick extensively for co-infections at igenex. if anything was positive in the tick, i'd treat myself empirically for that co-infection. regardless of the tick results, i'd also test myself for co-infections. at a point where the doc thought they'd have the best luck catching a new infection. for example, my bartonella titers at quest (!) were positive a month after the new tick bite.

good luck, it sucks.

I've heard of too many people staying ill after two weeks or a month at even higher doses.

Yes, you can send the tick to Igenex for testing. Just be aware that there is some question now that they may not always find the Bb even in infected ticks.

So, a negative doesn't necessarily mean you are in the clear.