posted
Hi! I'm hoping someone here can answer this question that is stewing in my head. I woke up on Friday with a rash on the back of my leg the size of a silver dollar. By the next morning it was triple in size. Once I iced it over the weekend, it was actually a bullseye rash. (The doctor ordered bloodwork which I'll get tomorrow, no treatment yet). Anyway, here's my question: I plucked a tick off of my shin about 8 weeks ago. If that is when I was infected, is it too long ago to now get a bullseye rash? I thought you would typically get a rash between 3 & 31 days after being bitten. If that span of time was too great, then I had to have gotten bitten again and been unaware of it. Now, because I do have a bullseye rash, does this definitely mean I have Lymes? The family doc hasn't ordered drugs until I get a positive test back. Thanks for the info! Kell
Posts: 11 | From PA | Registered: Aug 2010
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
It's almost 100% Lyme (some claim spider bites can cause a bullseye...but I am sure that is an extreme rarity). If a tick causes a bullseye, it's 100% Lyme.
You could have been rebitten and not known it. That's my guess. It IS summertime afterall. Prime tick time.
Get on antibiotics now. Call the doctor's office...if they can't squeeze you in, ask if they could just call in a prescription for you.
You want to PREVENT this infection from settling into all your body's systems. So you need the antibiotics ASAP.
If the doctor won't cooperate, I would go to an urgent care clinic, and tell them what happened. Or try a third doctor if you have to. You would think they'd be worried about lawsuits from possibly undertreating. Sheesh. Guess not.
A bullseye is "diagnostic" for Lyme. Your doctor is very ignorant to not realize that, no offense. Even the IDSA tells doctors to treat early when Lyme is even suspected.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
From Burrascano's lyme treatment guidelines, page 7:
"ERYTHEMA MIGRANS Erythema migrans (EM) is diagnostic of Bb infection, but is present in fewer than half. Even if present, it may go unnoticed by the patient. It is an erythematous, centrifugally expanding lesion that is raised and may be warm. Rarely there is mild stinging or pruritus. The EM rash will begin four days to several weeks after the bite, and may be associated with constitutional symptoms."
The bulls eye rash is called an EM. As it says above, it can appear several weeks after the bite.
Notice first sentence. If you have the rash, you have lyme disease.
Suggest you read through this document several times to get your education on this complex disease.
Contact lyme support groups in PA (see Support Groups on left side of page) to get names of doctors who are getting people well from this disease. You can also post for a doctor in our Seeking a Doctor forum. But, again, you want to find out from people in the know which doctors are getting people well.
Lots of doctors treat lyme disease, but not many know how to get rid of it for people.
I had undiagnosed lyme disease for 10 years. I completed my lyme treatment over 5 years ago and I am still symptom free, enjoying my life. But, I had to learn who the best lyme docs were. I ended up going to two other docs before I found the doc who cured me.
Glad you found LymeNet.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Some people never see the ticks and never get a rash, so they don't know they were bitten.
I got bit at the top of my left leg, but most of my pain has been on the right side of my body, especially my right hip. I asked my LLMD about that, and he wondered whether I could have had another bite on the right side that I never saw.
If you start antibiotics within a week of the bite, you have a good chance of getting rid of it quickly. Otherwise it will spread and take high doses of multiple antibiotics for months or years to get into remission.
You need the advice of a good LLMD as soon as possible, and meanwhile it would be a good idea to get antibiotics from your family doctor right now if you can. (See the Dr. B. guidelines cited by the previous poster.)
-------------------- Don't forget to laugh! And when you're going through hell, keep going!
Bitten 5/25/2009 in Perry County, Indiana. Diagnosed by LLMD 12/2/2009. Posts: 756 | From Inside the tunnel | Registered: Jan 2010
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posted
Thanks everyone. The piece I left out is the fact that I have been bedridden for the last 4 months. The one time I was well enough to be outside is when I was bitten in my front flower bed. I haven't been outside since, other than to walk to the car to go to the doctor. I'm confident this is when I was infected. Which means it's been 8 weeks since. I had my labs drawn this morning. They will only do the Lyme titre. If it is positive, THEN they will send it for the Western Blot. They will not do a Western blot if the titre is negative. My doctor will call me next week with results. I'm currently trying to find a local LLMD. The burning joint pain is all over & miserable. At least now I know why I have not been sleeping well the last two weeks and very sleepy during the day. I hope we can get IV antibiotics started by the end of next week so I can get the best results. Thank you all! )
Posts: 11 | From PA | Registered: Aug 2010
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lymednva
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9098
posted
To find a LLMD go to Seeking a Doctor forum on this site. It is highly unusual to be able to find a LLMD locally, although some of us are lucky.
There are quite a few in PA, so get the list and start calling. Good luck!
-------------------- Lymednva Posts: 2407 | From over the river and through the woods | Registered: Apr 2006
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