IckyTicky
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21466
posted
I know that Lyme has been reported in all of the United States. Does anyone know which states are least likely to have much of a tick population or occurance of tick illnesses?
-------------------- IGM: 18+, 23+, 30+, 31+++, 34+, 39IND, 41++, 58+++, 66+, 83-93IND IGG: 31+, 39IND, 41+ Also positive for Mycoplasma Pneumoniae and RMSF. Whole family of 5 dx with Lyme. Posts: 1014 | From Texas | Registered: Jul 2009
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Sorry to say if the ticks aren't there in abundance yet..
They will be coming to a theater near you soon.
Ticks can adapt to survive in all sorts of conditions... and there are tons of different kinds of ticks.
The spirochetes have been found in fossilized rock that is millions of years old... so they won't be disappearing anytime soon.
And you can't go by "reported cases" because as we know... it is rarely reported... especially in states the dopes at the IDSA say it can't be.
If you want to avoid them, you can adjust your lifestyle .... for some of us it's worth is (I'm not outdoorsy anyway), for others it's not.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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D Bergy
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Member # 9984
posted
I don't try to avoid them, as it is impossible in my area. I am not going to sit in the house to avoid ticks.
When I get bit, which is given, I take MMS immediately for a week or two. It does not matter how long it was stuck, or what kind of tick. I just treat it. I have not caught a tick born disease yet, and statistically, I should have by now.
Very early treatment is nearly 100% effective. It is when you wait for a diagnosis, and waste time that you are in trouble. I do not give the disease any chance to establish itself.
Dan
Posts: 2919 | From Minnesota | Registered: Aug 2006
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Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
However, it's not always possible to know if you have been bitten, especially if you live alone.
If you have been bitten on your scalp or your back one may never know that they were bitten, which is often the case.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
Yes...I'm one of the many, no recollection of a bite, no rash...years passed ill until diagnosis...and I supposedly do not live in an endemic area; so of course, doctors dismissed this as even a possibility.
Of course, now, I have met many Lyme friends here, also infected here - in our "non endemic" area.
Posts: 566 | From West Coast | Registered: May 2008
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Abxnomore
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posted
Living in a city probably has the least risk but it's not 100% risk free either.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
My sister contracted Lyme from a tick bite in the city (shrubbery outside of her condo complex, aligning a concrete sidewalk in the most densely populated city in New England!).
So with cities (at least in the northeast US) you are definitely at high risk as well.
Most people forget that it's not only deer that carry ticks.
And as most people do not have deer in their yards, it's actually birds, rodents/mice, dogs/cats, squirrels, and chipmunks which carry the majority of ticks into your yard, neighborhood park, etc..
Posts: 366 | From MA | Registered: Apr 2006
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Melanie Reber
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posted
"Most people forget that it's not only deer that carry ticks.
And as most people do not have deer in their yards, it's actually birds, rodents/mice, dogs/cats, squirrels, and chipmunks which carry the majority of ticks into your yard, neighborhood park, etc.. "
VERY important! Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
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Abxnomore
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Member # 18936
posted
I said it had less risk leaving in a city but many people get Lyme disease living in cities. Plus, how many people go to vacation homes with their pets and bring back ticks on their animals, birds, rodents/mice,squirrels and chipmunks aside.
So yes, you can get Lyme disease in a city, I agree.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
desert ticks are the worst! I have a family member that is a nurse near an indian reservation in arizona and the indians always come in there with tick bites and "strange" "unknown" illnesses that no one can figure out and they just stay sick for years and years until they die.
Plus I lived in a desert before getting sick too.
Posts: 499 | From Indiana | Registered: Oct 2007
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nenet
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Member # 13174
posted
I must have a twisted sense of humor/logic, because to me, it makes the most sense to move to a highly endemic area, rather than one that denies Lyme and is ill-informed about human tick-borne diseases.
That way you have far more chances of getting properly *clinically* diagnosed, treated by a knowledgable physician, evaluated for co-infections, and even reported, without added hassle and disseminated disease.
kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
I know there are ticks in AZ, but where I live I have yet to see one.
I also talked to a person who goes hunting in this area and he also said he has never had a tick on his dog nor has he seen one.
But, I do not hesitate to move back to CA where ticks are in every county in order to get help from my LLMD in CA.
I just figure I will need to find away to keep myself safe. I also do not plan on not going for a hike in the woods either.
I think I read in one of the books about something that you can take to help. "Healing Lyme" possibly.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
quote:Originally posted by kam:
I think I read in one of the books about something that you can take to help. "Healing Lyme" possibly.
Yep, that has a lot of great options for keeping your defenses up.
Another great strategy is using a natural tick repellant - we use one called Eco-Blends. There are many you can use all the time, perfectly safe, non-toxic, and good for your skin.
Some, like Eco-Blends, work even better than DEET!
So you can just slather up with some anytime you plan to go outside, or if you are outdoors often, just put it on after a shower. Make it a part of your daily routine.
quote:Originally posted by nenet: I must have a twisted sense of humor/logic, because to me, it makes the most sense to move to a highly endemic area, rather than one that denies Lyme and is ill-informed about human tick-borne diseases.
Dunno it certainly doesnt look like being endemic area makes physicians lyme literate here in MA
Posts: 856 | From MA | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
Not sure why you are asking but there are so many other ways to contract it and it has become such and epidemic now that it doesn't really matter where you live. People are now going on 3rd even 4th generations where the entire family is infected.
Think of all the blood donations...sexual transmission...placentally or through the breast milk after birth. There is no escaping it anymore.
-------------------- If you keep doing nothing...nothing changes!
nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
quote:Originally posted by coltman:
quote:Originally posted by nenet: I must have a twisted sense of humor/logic, because to me, it makes the most sense to move to a highly endemic area, rather than one that denies Lyme and is ill-informed about human tick-borne diseases.
Dunno it certainly doesnt look like being endemic area makes physicians lyme literate here in MA
Yeah, I agree with you. It seems MA is the worst of the endemic states for this kind of willful ignorance in the medical community. However there are more informed people in pockets of endemic areas like in CT and RI.
It does seem to be a common part of the Lyme Mythos� that Lyme-endemic areas are more Lyme-literate. Sadly this is rarely the case.
To speak to your question, I really can't fathom what areas might be less likely to have Lyme. Many states do not fund tick drags and Lyme or co-infection tick testing, since they assume they are not Lyme endemic. Kind of cyclical logic, but there you have it.
All I could do would be to hazard a guess - maybe somewhere very dry, with little to no vegetation, and no reptiles even (ticks like them too).
I wish I could answer more fully, other than to say you could look at the CDC reporting graph and decide it is meaningful in a useful way.
They really defeated the entire purpose of the epidemiological program right off the bat, with their absurdly narrow case definitions and reliance on faulty testing that skews to false negatives.
nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
quote:Originally posted by Zebco 33: Nenet...Your funny and I like crazy. I also agree with you.
Kinda like if a certain plane goes down, I figure the same kind is safest since they are scrutinized. ...
Can fleas carry the lyme bacteria? ... I had a friend in Ohio who's son is in construction. ... He got sick 2 weeks ago with a high fever and bad body aches. ... Turns out is is Weils disease. ... I googled and it is caused by the spirochetes. He is still in the hospital. ... As I was reading my google, it said the spirochetes carry 3 diseases: Lyme, Weils and Syphillis.
Anyone know if this is true?
Haha thanks Zebco, I think I've grown to have any even more dark sense of humor since this all started for me. "Trench humor" if you will. It gets us through!
Wow, Weil's Disease is caused by Leptospirosis... this is completely new information to me, and makes me wonder about a weird illness I had years ago, after getting many flea bites. There are many species of bacteria that are spirochetes - Treponema Pallidum, which causes Syphilis, being another one.
At the time they thought I had Bartonella, but never tested me for it. I wish the best for your friend's son. Here is a website I reckon you already looked over about this:
I am going to look into this more - I never really see this come up here, maybe ever, though I may have just missed it.
Lymenet Melanie Reber might know more about this, since she collects a lot of data on co-infections from many vectors. The question of whether fleas can carry and transmit Lyme exists, and there is a high likelihood.
There are threads about fleas and Lyme here - you might try a search for that too.
Amanda
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14107
posted
Very generally speaking, dry climates will have fewer ticks than humid climats.
But since people bring water with them wherever they live, rodents and other hosts that carry ticks are attracted to the water. So, even the desert areas might be a problem.
The thing to look for are recent and local studies that scan ticks for lyme and co-infections. If there are no recent studies for your area, then there is no way of really knowing.
And beware of county averages. ticks and lyme are not evenly spread over a county. The county where I used to live said 3-4% of ticks carryed lyme. But what they really found was a couple of parks where the number was around 20%, and other parks where the number was 1%.
So you can see where giving people an average across the county is misleading, especially for the poor fools like myself that used to go trail running in the 20% park....
-------------------- "few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" - Mark Twain Posts: 1008 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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seekhelp
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Member # 15067
posted
Don't know, but the docs sure say it ain't in my state. lol.
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
Well, if an area isn't endemic for lyme, there's gonna be something else we can catch instead!
Here we have lots of RMSF, and tularemia.
However, contrary to what the nincumpoop-SP? ID doc said recently, my husband caught both lyme and RMSF from the same tick.
At least that's what our llmd thinks.
The ID doc told us our son could not have gotten lyme here in Arkansas.
He could only have caught it in New England or Wisconsin.
He had several EM rashes on his ankles, but the ID doctor said that didn't necessarily mean lyme.
I'm not kidding. He actually said that!
So if you want to find an area with no ticks, just go consult your local ID.
They seem to know exactly where the ticks start and stop.
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
linky said.. "So if you want to find an area with no ticks, just go consult your local ID. They seem to know exactly where the ticks start and stop."
IckyTicky
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21466
posted
Ugh.. well it is what it is then. No place is safe.
I've been wondering also about fleas... I would think that anything that feeds on blood could transmit Lyme and everything else. Mosquitoes as well.
I have no idea if my RMSF, Myco and Lyme are from the same tick..I've been bitten by so many in TN and Arkansas that I have no clue where I got what.
We want to move to Missouri or Arkansas, and we want to live away from the city. We want to grow our own crops and have sheep, goats and chickens.
I don't imagine we can do that without major tick exposure. But I don't want to live in fear either. ugh.
-------------------- IGM: 18+, 23+, 30+, 31+++, 34+, 39IND, 41++, 58+++, 66+, 83-93IND IGG: 31+, 39IND, 41+ Also positive for Mycoplasma Pneumoniae and RMSF. Whole family of 5 dx with Lyme. Posts: 1014 | From Texas | Registered: Jul 2009
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Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
We have to keep things light sometimes.
There are those states where the deer and rodents know better than to cross the state border.
I'd focus on one of those states where the wildlife are cooperative and have better manners.... Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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pamoisondelune
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11846
posted
1) We have had NO TICKS for several years since the fishercat moved into our woods and ate all the squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, etc. You could try to import a fishercat pair to your woods; i don't know how you could do that. They are found in New England, but i don't know where else they occur; in the weasel family.
2) Some people raise guinea hens to eat the ticks.
3) Use herbal repellents like GSE drops in water, sprayed, or Dr Bronner's peppermint castile soap diluted in water,as a spray, or Herbal Armor.
4) There's a garlic powder that you mix with water and spray on your lawn to repel ticks, carpenter ants, etc, which is said to last a month and not be detectable to human smell.
You could search on "Brussels" to see what herbal and homeopathic tick repellents she uses to protect herself and her daughter.
---Polly Polygonum
Posts: 1226 | From USA | Registered: May 2007
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linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
Icky Ticky,
I know how you feel. We live in Ar. and love it here, but I am no longer the outdoor gal I used to be, and I just hate that.
Some folks seem to have been able to resume their outdoor lives without fear of the ticks and their little cesspools of disease.
I, for one, have not, and I literally grieve for the lifestyle I have given up.
I, my husband, and son are all sick. We think my husband and son were infected here.
Our llmd thinks my husband's lyme and RMSF also came from the same tick.
I believe I got mine a long time ago, and who knows where, as I have lived all over.
There are lots of good threads on ways to cut down on exposure and the use of good repellants.
My son is only a few short months away from getting his Eagle Scout badge.
We are going to have to figure a way for him to do that, which of course involves lots of outdoor activities.
We are not going to take that away from him; he's worked way too hard for it.
Lots of repellent, tick checks, and prayers I guess.
Best of luck to you and hope your dream comes true.
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
I think we could bet safe on living on the moon with TinCup! AAAOUUUUUU!!!!
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posted
I lived in AZ for almost 20 years where I minored in Wilderness Leadership in college, was a complete outdoors person. Never saw a tick, not once.
We moved to NC (where Lyme *doesn't exist*) and my son joined an outdoor adventure program - backpacking, climbing, camping, canoeing, caving, etc. He did it all school year. He was bitten on a climbing trip in May, no doubt. Although the ID doc says he was bitten in MD where we went for a little weekend trip and stayed in an air-conditioned townhouse and visited a mall, so it won't be recorded as contracted in NC, god forbid. Two weeks after the climbing trip he had the rash, fever, headache. Two weeks later he went on a canoe trip in KY/TN and was brushing swarms of ticks off his arms. One month later his eyes were crossed, he was in the hospital and his ICP was immeasurable.
Long story short we're now dealing with an extreme case of neurological lyme and I'm really grieving losses...
Long story short, move to AZ but be aware that *it doesn't exist* there, too.
Posts: 43 | From Southeastern US | Registered: Jul 2009
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"The most densely populated city in New England," huh? Would that be . . . Somerville?? (grin) Where you can reach out your window, across your driveway, and touch your neighbor's wall? heh heh
My former home of many, many years.
For the record, Middlesex County now has the fastest rising rate of Lyme in Mass.!
However, I didn't get it till I moved out to rural Western Mass.
I agree, there's less chance in the cities, but it's flourishing in the suburbs and the country, and you can still pick it up anywhere....
-s
Posts: 223 | From Western Mass. | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
Received my lovely dose of the Lyme in Ocean County NJ so I would not recommend living there.
-------------------- aka: Lyme Warrior
In order to do "real" science, you have to have a "real" conversation with nature.
Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History!
"Just Demand your Rights" Posts: 869 | From nor - cal | Registered: Apr 2008
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Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13480
posted
Borrelia burgdorferi LM6 nosodes, taken once a month. I swear you don't get bitten by the nasty critters that have borrelia (but you can still be bitten by the ones NOT having borrelia but other coinfections). The number of bites though falls CONSIDERABLY.
Since being on them, we never got re-infected with Bb.
Now I'm adding something called Psorinum Vet from Herbamed, twice a week, to see if we stop being bitten by these non-Bb-ticks too.
My daughter got 4 bites this summer (none infected it seems), but after this Psorinum Vet, still no further bite. I still didn't get any bite this year...
We check for ticks almost every day because we catch them in our garden or anywhere else closeby.
Before those Bb nosodes, we've been bitten MANY times too, and I guess we were ALWAYS unlucky.
Either the amount of infected ticks is enormous, or I had the impression we ONLY attracted the infected ticks.
I swear the abx preventative treatment for kids didn't work even if we caught it day 1 after the bite. I don't buy this story of "treat it fast with abx and you'll get well soon". Specially for my daughter that took only amoxy.
I took MANY herbs to get rid of acute infections too, it took me MONTHS to get back to normal after a reinfection, because I suppose these ticks come almost always with coinfections.
So no matter what you take (abx or herbs), you'll need a combo from day 1 to get rid of the new re-infection.
Unless your immune system is good, which is not the case of all of us, who's got once chronic lyme disease...
so nope, the best protection is not moving to a non-endemic area (I wonder if it exists), but to use these nosodes, in my opinion.
You are still not protected against bartonella, mycoplasma and all the rest, but it is PRETTY much a big help!
My cat was my tick barometer. He usually caught HUNDREDS of ticks from spring to fall. He was my guinea pig for the borrelia nosodes.
From literally hundreds of ticks a year, the number dropped to about 10 a year after being on Bb nosodes (1 or maximum 2 a month, not his average 5 a DAY in tick season). He could catch even 10 a day and that was not exceptional.
I learned that with my lyme doctor. Since then, I heard about it from other 2 different unrelated sources, that this remedy is used against tick bites. So I guess, the word is spreading here in Europe.
Even my local pharmacist suggested that to me a few months ago (another potency though)!
I wonder if this protects against flies, flees and other biting critters that have Bb too...
Posts: 6199 | From Brussels | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
We went out to AZ for 2 weeks this summer. Dr. J told us there really isn't any problems there. Was 115 degrees in Phoenix, I wouldn't live there if I were a tick, lol. Sedona was beautiful....
Anyways, guessing there are ticks there, but just not at the level where we live now in MA. I live in an endemic area & after 2 years of trying to find treatment had to go out of state.
-------------------- Mom to a 5 year old lymie.... Taking it one day at a time. Posts: 182 | From Ipswich, MA | Registered: Jul 2008
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heiwalove
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6467
posted
selma --
where do you get LM6 nosodes, and what is the corresponding USA measurement?
posted
It was reported this week in the newspaper that Sanibel Island, Florida had two cases of Lyme.
One dog was dignosed with it also before the people were. Maybe we all should have gone to vets to get dignosed
No deer on the island but plenty of small mammals.
Posts: 671 | From Fort Myers, Florida | Registered: Jun 2009
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Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13480
posted
Heiwa,
I bought mine in Switzerland but I know that the pharmacy in Belgium (Hildegard pharmacie) also has it.
My Swiss pharmacy won't sell abroad but Hildegard will probably do it.
You can buy the Borrelia burgdorferi K 1,000 that dr. Woitzel uses in his photon treatment too there.
Posts: 6199 | From Brussels | Registered: Oct 2007
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MADDOG
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 18
posted
There isn't hardly any lyme arround here.
There isn't hardly even any polinating bugs either.
Everything is so nuked with farm and yard chems arround here every bug that crawls or fly's is dead.
I live between Dayton and Cincinnati but allmost in indiana.
I got lyme in KY at Mamoth Cave National Park,the ticks there are so numerous they carry the dead trees arround for exercise.
MADDOG P.S. Stay out on the water ticks don't swim well,and the fish eat them.
Posts: 3996 | From Ohio | Registered: Oct 2000
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just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129
posted
I am sorta scared to tell Maddog,,,ticks can swim!!! They can actually live entirely IN water for 2 weeks.
Are they as vicious out there in water,probably not,but they are alive!!
Around here, not many ticks do we see. Some,I wont say none,but counts are lower than MOST places.
Especially if you stay away from all brush and river areas
less people here with lyme too BUT still TOO many!!
See for me it pays to be an OLD dried up prune/sourpuss. Can only remember ONE tick on me in last 20 years!!
BUT he must have been a hum dinger!!
-------------------- just don Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
i wouldn't tell "middle of the midwest" ppl to let their guard down
a friend from kansas counted 100 on him a few summers ago...they were crawling on his computer
also dogs dying from no one knows what
and family members getting dementia in their 30's and docs not knowing what is making them sick
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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