posted
hi everyone..i know that i have a tick phobia...i am very fearful of lyme..i feel like a tick magnet..i just picked a deer tick off of my jeans as i was sitting on the couch..i am not feeling too good tonight..tomorrow i go for another bicillin injection..i am freaked out right now..i live in central new jersey and it seems like winter was just yesterday..then we have a few nice days and i am finding ticks on myself already..i am really sick over this..does anybody go through this too? i am seeing a therapist, but i don't think she gets it..
posted
okay..just one more thing...my anxiety level is so high right now..i feel like i need to check my body for ticks ..like i am fearful that there are more on me right now..
am i crazy or what..i don't think i can handle always feeling like this..
posted
Honestly, I wouldn't be able to live in the NorthEast. I would be driven crazy with tick phobia!
I never see ticks here. I know they are here, but they're not all over the place. The only one I've seen here in the past 8 years was on my husband after he played a round of golf.
I don't think you're crazy. Lyme has ruined your life and it's not easy to be in constant fear that you'll have to start treatment all over again.
posted
you have every right to be concerned but must keep things in perspective.
if you are on abx treatment if a tick bites you, and it is infected (not all are) then the abx should kill any new spirochetes before they have a chance to proliferate.
i know a woman who has been bitten 3 times over 10 yrs. the first time she had a chronic case. the other two, after remission from the first, were expediently and easily taken care of by her LLMD.
keep on eye on hard bodied ticks, they are the ones that transmit borrelia and friends.
posted
I often wonder how I'm going to handle exactly this once I'm well enough to actually be anywhere near a tick again.
This is absolutely a valid fear for any of us, and you're not crazy. But there's good fear (keeps you from harm) and fear that's gone to far ... it sounds like you may be having the latter, and so therapy could be a great idea to help put it in perspective.
I think any therapist that doesn't 'get' something this serious may not be the right one for you?
monkeyshines (fomer central Jersey girl)
Posts: 343 | From Northern VA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I am right there with you... I live in Northeastern Connecticut, surrounded by woods. I bought the house out here because I thought it was great living out in the boonies. Even though I know I was infected 5 years ago when I was living in suburbia, I pick ticks off of me everytime I mow the lawn or tend the chickens. I have two young daughters and I am a freak if they go off the back deck out into the yard. I take of thier clothes, inspect them, and put them in the bath. I'm not afraid for me, because I feel like I can deal - but if one of those buggers get one of my little girls, I'll be a mess.
I saw a therapist once and he told me that I had "victim energy" and that as long as that was unresolved, the universe would continue to victimize me. I said "thank you very much for your support" and walked out.
I don't know what the answer is. Meditation? Faith? Relaxation?
Posts: 13 | From Chaplin, CT USA | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I live in MA and I used to look forward to spring and summer, but now I am totally paranoid!!!
This is a new house built in an older forested neighborhood which is exactly what we thought we wanted until our 3 year old got Lyme last summer.
We think she was bit in the back yard. I think I was bit before her in the backyard as well. I just tested positive a few mos ago.
I have two little one and I'm scared to death and check them from head to toe every time they come in. I actually have a magnifying glass that I use and then it's in to the tub.
We are going to spray this year and we are putting up a fence.
It's hard not to be paranoid, but I'm going to try to enjoy the outside anyhow and just be careful. Don't think we'll be camping anytime soon thouh.
posted
I know the feeling and I have spread it to my friends and neighbors. I am in Maryland and after a few nice days, it has already started. Just last night, I got a frantic call from a neighbor to check her daughter. She came over with a tick in a sealed container. Yes,it was a deer tick. Luckily, that one wasn't attached,just found crawling on her hair. But, were there others? Instead of spreading fear and anxiety, I look at it as spreading education. Because of what my daughter and sister have been through, we now know what to do and what to look for and I tell everyone so now they are aware. Hopefully, one day, people will not go through the suffering that others have gone through. So, sometimes a little paranoia and anxiety can keep us safe. Good luck, it all can be so overwhelming.
Posts: 70 | Registered: Nov 2001
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posted
I also have this problem. The one thing I would look forward to every spring is mushroom hunting, I doubt I will ever experience this again. My husband and I own a small grocery store/meat market. We process deer every fall, I would think nothing of seeing ticks on the deer until I got lyme. I no longer help with the the processing because I am to ill. How ironic.
Posts: 7 | From Coloma, MI | Registered: Jul 2004
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lymiecanuck
Unregistered
posted
Hi,
hear ya there. Last September outside front of my house, my son was playing and I flicked off a tick from his arm not was not imbedded, but was a big tick being september, and I almost couldn't beleive my eyes. So I understand your fear. I have also come across a few people during medical visits, one had lyme rash and showed me, and another became very ill after being around fleas.
I think avoiding areas that have ticks will help, but if they are in your home, maybe consider moving if at all possible, if you are not seeing them it would be much easier to deal with, I would think,
It's horrible to live in this fear, I did for two years.. not anymore.
It helps to start doing something about it.. though, hard when you are sick.
The first and easiest thing was a good, safe, body repellant.
This one works, and the oil/lotion based product can be put on full body application when you get up and last all day. Made from 100% esential plant oils, no chemicals...these oils are actually good for you otherwise, and smell really good.
Works for pets, and to spray on LAWN, or around the house..(also comes in water base for that, or you can buy the concentrate and make gallons of your own various products yourself)
Next thing..once I had more energy...was to choose the safest tickicide for the NYMPHS.. to spray just once in May, around perimeter and hotspots (where wood meets grass..stone walls, wood piles)..and kill as many of the vulnerable larvae and babies as possible.. then maybe spray once in fall, same way, to get many adults. Over time, you will reduce populations on your property. Be careful with pesticides, though..they are highly toxic, and can kill the good with the bad, creating more imbalance. I use them ONLY on the perimeters twice a year at most. I use Perythrimin.
This year we have bathouses installed for mosquitoes (they do the job all night)
..and we are going to try for a Purple Martin colony, though...that is allot of work.. and I wouldn't advise doing it unless you look up all info first at the Purple Martin Conservation sites.. They are birds that eat tons of insects, great to have around.
Our neighbors use garlic sprays attatched to their lawn mowers..which repel ticks and the animals that carry them.
We also put out praying mantis pods every spring.
Deer fencing would help depending on your property size and layout..we have too many acres to do that.
Not to overwhelm..just to open ideas. I know it helped me to feel I could safely and effectively reduce the risks considerably by making some changes.
Beyond that..recovering from Lyme, and then focusing on immune strength from within (cleansing, changing diet) will make you less succeptible to many diseases.
Mo
[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 03 April 2005).]
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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dontlikeliver
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4749
posted
I can totally identify with that. I moved from New York, thousands of miles away largely because of tickphobia! (and,I didn't even know I had Lyme disease already by then, I was misdiagnosed as CFS).
But, I've found, there's lots of ticks where I live now also.
So, I avoid being on/near anything green (grass/bushes).......I will not have pets and ban all friends dogs from my house. I avoid their pets in their house, but worry about cathing ticks from their furniture.
It is sad, because I'd love to have a dog or cat, but am just too scared to.
I am obsessive about checking my daughter over every night in spring and summer - well others think it's obsessive, I don't.
DLL
Posts: 2824 | From The Back of Beyond | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
I know what you mean. When the wind blows around here I'm afraid it's going to blow a tick onto my scalp and I have black hair so I'm a little worried. Can't decide weather to keep my shoes inside or out. Can't a tick crawl in if I keep them outside. This is how bad it is. I think I just need to get away from here as well. I have cats but have stopped allowing them in my bedroom because I'm afraid if they get one on them it will crawl on my bedding. Hope you can enjoy the spring. I just pray for God's protection , of course I did when I got bit too so this doesn't always help
Take care.
Posts: 249 | From Healing in USA | Registered: Mar 2005
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HEATHERKISS
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6789
posted
I was just fretting over this also.
Gardening is one of my favorite activities........ I don't know what to do?!
I think we are going to get the really strong repellants.
This is a real delmia.
Heather
Posts: 1974 | From ABERDEEN, NJ 07747 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
Hey everyone..sorry for the very late reply..THANK YOU to everyone who responded to my post..I am still paranoid, but I am trying to get a handle on it...the weather is so beautiful now, but there is always this fear thing playing in the back of my mind..
Mo..thanks for all the info..I really appreciated it...
I hope everyone is feeling good..
thanks again..it is nice to have you all to turn to..thanks Cathy
Kara Tyson
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 939
posted
I suppose it is with anything...face your fears.
There are unfounded fears (such as not wanting to go into a cornfield because an alien ship will grab you) and rational fears (those things which can harm you).
Recently in Chemistry, I had to face a true horror of mine.
To get a good grade in lab I had to play with fire. Literally.
I am a former burn patient--12 years ago I caught on fire and was burned over 60% of my body. I became a human torch.
But it was a decision not to live in fear. I had to put out of my mind, what if the burner tips over? What if my hair catches on fire? What if my clothes catch on fire?, ect. ect.
janet thomas
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7122
posted
I spray all my footwear and my family's with 0.5% permethrin every 2 weeks. I don't go where ticks may be. The cats are now strictly inside cats and not allowed in my bedroom. also use frontline plus on them.
Dogs-Frontline plus and a prevenatic collar. Had Ehrlich spray their fenced yard for ticks. Had Ehrlich put Max Force boxes around my property.
Bought a set of Buzz-off clothing from llbean-impregnated with permethrin-just in case i need to go somewhere ticks may be. t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, pants and socks
was told by tick expert from county vector control that nearly all ticks are within 6" of the ground so if one sprays one's footwear, socks and lower pants with 0.5% permethrin that would offer good protection. do not spray while wearing clothing.
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