posted
daise, my understanding of the life cycle of the tick is that it is a 2 yr process to adult-hood. The first year, the nymph goes into the dirt to stay until spring. So, if I was gardening, and had dirt under my nails, I could easily have a nymph there and not know it. Lyme paranoia.
We live in an area that was cattle grazing land before it was a neighborhood, and we have rats, not mice, in the area running around. Not many rats, but even one grosses me out. Our neighborhood has many natural-habitat ponds and creeks.
So, since I don't even know how I got it the first time, I guess I am overly paranoid about the whole thing.
I just wondered if you can be getting "better", get bit again, and get it "more" than you had it previously, if that makes any sense. Co-infections are probably the worst threat, as y'all have said.
Thanks for putting up with me, Bunny
-------------------- 4 strong winds that blow lonely, 7 seas that run high.
All those things that don't change Come what may. Posts: 103 | From Dallas/ Fort Worth. TX | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Yes, Bunny, it happened to someone here - they already had Lyme and got bitten here and now are sicker than ever, probably with more Lyme.
I don't see any reason for taking chances anymore. I always suggest tick repellant use.
Posts: 13171 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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tailz
Unregistered
posted
I'm more scared of cell phone towers than ticks or gardening.
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daise
Unregistered
posted
Hi bunnyfluff,
You wrote, "thanks for putting up with me." Now wait a minute, your questions are sound! It's OK.
In a garden on your hands and knees, in my opinion, gloves will not help you, because what about the rest of your body?
Putting on tick repellant head to foot almost daily scares me. Is there a natural repellant? What's a gardener to do?
quote:Originally posted by daise: In a garden on your hands and knees, in my opinion, gloves will not help you, because what about the rest of your body?
That was where my mind was going!! It's being in the grass, etc that is the biggest danger.
What you said about the nymphs in the ground is disconcerting too!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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daise
Unregistered
posted
Hi Bunnyfluff,
I don't know much about how they overwinter. May I ask where you got your info? Maybe I'll learn something about nymphs.
I'm a gardener from way back, but not since I moved to this desert city. It's too hot--burns our flowers and veggies.
There is a lot of desert-type grass around rocks and stones in town: fields of it. These are the places I'm concerned about. It's where the little critters roam.
The life cycles of hard and soft ticks differ. Most hard ticks undergo a 2-year life cycle in which they begin as 6-legged larvae. Amblyomma, Dermacentor, and Ixodes are the 3 genera of hard ticks that transmit diseases to humans in the United States. These ticks generally feed for many days, a fact that has some bearing on the treatment of tick bites. More details are discussed in the articles dealing with specific tick-borne illnesses. The following representative cycle is that of I scapularis in the northeastern United States.
The larvae hatch from eggs in summer and begin seeking hosts in August; these ticks have only 6 legs and are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. If the larvae do not find a host for a blood meal, they die. The preferred host is the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. Larvae that successfully feed then fall off the host and live in the soil and decaying vegetation over the winter. The next spring, most often in May and June, the larvae molt into 8-legged nymphs. These nymphs are quite small and seek their blood meal from a small vertebrate. Humans may be infected as accidental hosts at this point in the cycle. Then, the nymph either dies (if it fails to find a blood meal) or lives in the soil to molt into an adult in the fall season.
The 8-legged adult tick is somewhat larger and seeks a larger host for its required blood meal. The white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, is the preferred host for adult ticks, which mate on deer over the winter months. Because the deer plays a key role in the mating of ticks, the increase in the deer population in many parts of the country is an important factor in the epidemic of some tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease. The adult female lays several thousand eggs and then dies. Eggs that survive the winter hatch into larvae the next season, and the 2-year cycle begins anew.
So, since I am always diggin in dirt, I felt like this could be plausable.
Bunny
-------------------- 4 strong winds that blow lonely, 7 seas that run high.
All those things that don't change Come what may. Posts: 103 | From Dallas/ Fort Worth. TX | Registered: Dec 2007
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METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
Simple answer: Yes. You could get not only sicker with Lyme alone, but also with other infectious diseases passed through the second tick.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
posted
hi bunny I think thats what happened to me. I got bit in 1992 thats when I had the em rash, and also suspect I got bitten again in early 2007 thats when most of my symptoms hit me like a freight train and I crashed big time. thats when my buddy tutu recomended I see dr c.
Posts: 294 | From sw chicago suburbs | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
My understanding is that there are several strains of Lyme so you could get infected with a different strain than the one you had. This would be bad.
I've also read that the BB already in your body will travel to the site of new infection. This is also not good.
Posts: 129 | From Virginia | Registered: Feb 2008
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TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
Besides new co-infections you could end up with several strains. I've read that some ticks carry more than one strain. So much is unknown about the interactions of these infections. I think it's possible that these strains could combine to make something worse than the first infection. They could either be partying or warring inside your body.
As far as gardening, you would need to wear good shoes with long pants and the pants tucked into the socks. Also, long sleeve shirt. Basically, don't leave any skin out if you live in a highly endemic area. Maybe even if you don't. Also some sort of chemical deterrent.
Terry
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
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