Lymes Disease .... Beware

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Sandor

Sandor

Minister of Fire
Dec 9, 2005
917
Deltaville,VA
Here I go again.

Pulled off one big tick behind my knee a couple of weeks ago. Big, red vulcano looking wound.

But, two days later, I discovered the deer tick on my right doodad. Looked like a freckle, but the area around the freckle was bright red and itching. Had the women inspect, and sure enough, it was the tiny deer tick imbedded in the package. I do mean imbedded!

Fast forward nearly 3 weeks, to today.

Ankles, knees, hips and muscles are killing me! Headache and swollen throat. Night sweats and 102 temperature. Right eye is twitching. Worthless tired. This is all classic Lymes symptoms, like the episode I had about 5 years ago! Same crap.

So, all of you (new?) Northeastern wood scroungers, beware and check yourself frequently. Call it foreplay with the significant other, but just look carefully!!!!

Hello Minocycline.
 
Boy do I know that feeling! :sick: Had it twice in the Marines and was treated for it again last year. Occupational hazard in my field. It's like the worst case of flu I ever had but worse. I was on doxycycline for 2 months. Doc said I had to stay out of the sun....yeah right!!! Told my boss that and we both laughed.

Good luck and hope you feel better soon!
 
hopeing for your quick recovery. It's not just the woods, grass, anything you can pickup or brush up against.
and not overstated, a serious problem and concern working outside today. I mean fishing, golfing, any outdoor activity,
there is a risk a tick can get attached to you. One has to check themselves out every day
 
I had about 5 years ago, I had no idea that I got bitten, and didn't have the rash. Also didn't have the achy joint's and flue like symptoms. I had neck and back pain, like I really needed to get the my chiropractor.. it got worse as time went on, the about day 4 I got chest pain. went to local hospital. I waled in , they took me right away. hooked me up to there moniter and it showed 3rd degree heart block ( i am a FF/EMT by trade). I knew what I was looking at, I was in very good shape, I was running 4-5 miles 3-5 times a week.
The Doc looked at me and said you either are having a massive heart attach or you have Lyme disease. So we are going to treat you for both, and they did. I spent 4 days in ICU, and 3 more in the hospital before I was able to go home. I was on (Rocephin) a I.V antibiotic, for 2 months after. I couldn't do anything...( that sucked)

The hospital did some research while I was in ICU about Lyme and they found that it has and does attack the heart in middle age men 25-55. so you won't have the normal symptoms.

The moral of the story,( if there is one) be careful and get checked often

Jeff
 
Best wishes Sandor. I think getting treated early is the key and it sounds like you did. I hope you make a quick, full recovery.

My brother-in-law (#2) says he had/has third stage Lyme. He didn't get treated for a couple years. He's messed up good with no relief in site. Periodic treatments just make him more miserable. This is one serious disease. But like I said, you will likely be fine having taken it seriously and having received treatment early on.

I hate ticks. I've got them everywhere in my yard. From what I've read, they are almost impossible to get rid of. My neice and Mrs. Mo Heat were sitting while doing some light and brief gardening in our front yard (about a half hour). I picked 44 seed ticks off Mrs. Mo Heat when she came in for a shower! Called the b-n-l and told him to get the neice's clothes off and check her carefully. She had 66 seed ticks on her! Little monsters!

I'll only go off my walkways with my rubber booties on. I bought Mrs. Mo Heat a pair last year and insist she wears them. Only a tick or two since then.
 
My mom has already found three on the dog (who is treated with frontline), plus two from my little brother and a few on my dad. Seems like it's going to be a bad year for them.


Usually when I'm turkey hunting I just watch them jump on and off me. I think last year I pulled about 25 off of my skin during turkey season. ugh
 
Get well soon Sandor. I've had about 6 ticks so far this season. I finished up my firewood collecting before they got too bad. I have a friend that had a tick bite with a red circle around it, now he has to get checked out. Doesn't seem like any repelant out there helps either.
 
Big problem is that the repellents which work are so frigging bad for you that you have to think twice about even putting them on yourself.


I have the mil-issue stuff (perm.....I can't remember the rest of the word), and it works, but you spray it on the clothes and then have to let them sit for a while before even putting them on your body. It just doesn't seem safe either.


Sandor, please get well mang!!!!
 
Todd said:
Get well soon Sandor. I've had about 6 ticks so far this season. I finished up my firewood collecting before they got too bad. I have a friend that had a tick bite with a red circle around it, now he has to get checked out. Doesn't seem like any repelant out there helps either.
Click to expand...

You need to get a permetherin based product. .5% will do it. Kills the tick on your clothes in about 30 seconds.
I use a horse product that has the same stuff in it as the human stuff. 1/3 the price.

Spray your clothes and your good to go for a few weeks. Of course it's not a guarantee, but it helps.
 
Hey hon.............. I think I have a tick on my yambag, wannah check it out %-P

I had Poison Ivy there once :bug:
 
that's too funny any coments could go south fast. Good news this rainy day........ yankees lost
still laughing
 
So is Lyme disease new or is it something that's been around forever and we're just noticing it?

Steve
 
It's really only in the last 15-20 years that it's taken off. It was first described in 1975 in Connecticut. It hasn't really hit full force here in Eastern Ontario, although some people say that's just because the medical community isn't educated to recognize the symptoms.

One thing that's certainly also taken off since about 1975, at least around here, is the numbers of whitetail deer. I can only remember seeing a couple of them throughout my whole childhood, now you swat them away like flies. I understand they are an important vector for Lyme Disease. In their current numbers they also take a toll on any number of forest plants, and they limit the population of moose because they carry a parasite that doesn't really bother them but that kills moose.
 
Hopefully not to frighten anyone, but of interest is an article I found regarding lyme disease. It seems little studied and little understood. Assumptions seem to abound, even in the medical community, but there are some current challenges to the accepted notions that it is strictly a disease caught directly from one type of tick. The group in the link claims to be seeing some evidence that may contradict existing notions. Such as other ticks being vectors of lyme, as well as transmission from human to human. Here's a link that is a bit over my head, but I can see that there are challenges to conventional thinking regarding lyme disease from what appear to be (at least on the surface) credible sources.

http://www.canlyme.com/pandora.html
http://www.canlyme.com/

One the other hand, the dot com and donation web things could be credibility red flags. Anyway...

Here's an exerpt from a very long and detailed article:

Premise 9: Sexual (horizontal) transfer between humans does not occur The CDC position on sexual intra-human Bbsl transmission is that it does not occur (17). We find no study that addresses sexual transmission of Bb among humans; conversely, we find no study supporting that it does not occur. Inferential data, however, suggest the possibility of human sexual transfer. The data come from sound veterinary studies (96,98,115), the finding of Bb in human semen and breast milk (128,129), and by similarity to Treponema pallidum where sexual transfer is abundantly documented (117,130,131). Our clinical experience strongly suggests that predictable, possibly inevitable Bbsl transfer between sexually active couples occurs. The preponderance of infected spouses we have tested to date also exhibit positive serology or PCR for Bbsl presence.
 
Mo Heat said:
Here's an exerpt from a very long and detailed article:

Premise 9: Sexual (horizontal) transfer between humans does not occur The CDC position
Click to expand...

Great. Talk about government invading privacy. The CDC position indeed. Top down, no doubt, since horizontal seems to lead to transmission.
 
Oh great! Add another one to the arsenal. "Not tonight honey. You might have a tick bite."
 
Hey guys, thank for " get well" wishes.

Just like last time, 3 days of the antibiotics seem get this thing going in the other direction. 2 more weeks and it should be gone.

The first time I had it, I let it go for three months when the symptoms first appeared... shrugged it off as a mild flu. The first time was hard to pin down, because the ELISA was negative and the Western Blot was positive. This time, I recognized the symtoms... no more tuff guy, but hey, I'm 41 now, not in my 30's.

I have read many accounts of people who test negative for several years before a positive, and by then its too late. So, even if you test negative, get and take the drugs anyway.

btw, guess I should "warn" the women. She was happy that she did not need to worry about catching the flu, and, uh, you know. And I thought I was going to have a week off!
 
Lyme ticks, know as deere ticks, are much smaller than ordinary ticks. The first reported case happened in Lyme CT.


You are right, this was not a problem. For many years, with more development the deere got missplaced and adapted closer to human
habitance. Another piece of the problem, is the reduction of hunting and natural preditors. Deere population is overpopulated especially on Mathas Vinyard.
 
I had 3 shots of Lymeryx (or something like that). Heard it was now discontinued. Scared to search the web for fear of what I might find :bug: . Heard it gave false positives.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back