Tick Season?

[REM505]

Can you take a clear closeup photo of the critter and post it here? I can ID it if the photo is clear enough. If it was a deer tick found on the child, I'd get treatment ASAP. Particularly in your highly-endemic area. An ounce of prevention is worth 30 pounds of your child's health.

Hope this works. Thanks. For reference the dime is there for size purposes. This is the best I could do and I hope it's good enough.

Thanks again.

Both my wife and my daughter have had the bullseye rash. I would go to a doctor and tell him/her that I want my kid on a cycle of antibiotics. If that one said no I would find one that agreed given the problems associated with the disease and that a certain percentage of people have NO bullseye rash .
While it is not the same in every case my daughter also had a slight fever a couple days after she was bitten.

 

[Waulie]

I thought you were gonna say you had one in another part of your anatomy

So this is a true story:

We don't have any ticks in the northern lower peninnsula, yet. However the UP is has tons of them. I gather they're moving across from Wisconsin. Since we don't have them here, I've never thought twice about them.

Well, last summer I traveled to the UP for a couple days of outside work. Came home in the evening and took a shower, and took another shower the following evening. That night, I woke up with a weird aching pain in my crotch. Went to the bathroom to piss and looked in the mirror. I could see there was something on the underside of my man parts but couldn't tell what. I had to wake up the wife (who thought I had lost it) to check it out. Of course, it was a big ol deer tick buried nice and deep. She managed to get it out, and thank god. I did not want to go to the hospital for that one.

Now, I don't know if it was in there for three days before it staring aching, I brought it home on my clothes and it found it's way to me later, or what. I just know I don't like ticks, and pray they do not find their way here.

 

[weatherguy]

I had a deer tick on me a couple of weeks ago and went to the docs office. Took the tick with me and he said they no longer test them. Gave me a scrip for the doxy one dose and have a nice day. Said to keep a look out for any rashes anywhere on my body and flu like symptoms. So fa nothing. Lyme is not something you want to go thru from what I hear.
I would get my little one to the docs asap.
Will

I took a shower this morning and as Im drying off admiring my out of shape ass, what do I see embedded on my side, a freaking deer tick, have the bullseye, went to the doc today, they gave me a script for doxi, Im going to go pick it up in a few. Ive managed for years to not get one in me but this year they're so bad I guess it was luck I didnt get one til now.

 

[uggabugga]

i was pulling a minimum of 3 per week off myself from may thru july, then they suddenly stopped. then i found one just beginning to dig in on my side about 2 weeks ago.

the teeny tiny ones worry me most, they're so little you tend not to see them until it's too late..

 

[Battenkiller]

I could see there was something on the underside of my man parts but couldn't tell what. I had to wake up the wife (who thought I had lost it) to check it out. Of course, it was a big ol deer tick buried nice and deep. She managed to get it out, and thank god.

Man, I hope you at least took her out to dinner for that one.

My wife had to get a dog tick out of my belly button one night. She got careless with the tweezers and busted the frickin' head off. I made her cut it out with my college dissecting scalpel. I was laughing so hard the whole time she cut me more than she had to. It was just too dang funny.

 

[PapaDave]

I thought you were gonna say you had one in another part of your anatomy

So this is a true story:

We don't have any ticks in the northern lower peninnsula, yet. However the UP is has tons of them. I gather they're moving across from Wisconsin. Since we don't have them here, I've never thought twice about them.

Well, last summer I traveled to the UP for a couple days of outside work. Came home in the evening and took a shower, and took another shower the following evening. That night, I woke up with a weird aching pain in my crotch. Went to the bathroom to piss and looked in the mirror. I could see there was something on the underside of my man parts but couldn't tell what. I had to wake up the wife (who thought I had lost it) to check it out. Of course, it was a big ol deer tick buried nice and deep. She managed to get it out, and thank god. I did not want to go to the hospital for that one.

Now, I don't know if it was in there for three days before it staring aching, I brought it home on my clothes and it found it's way to me later, or what. I just know I don't like ticks, and pray they do not find their way here.

Uh, hate to break it to 'ya Waulie, but we DO have 'em here in troll land. Found a few on the dogs this past summer, and a couple on me. I'm about 40 minutes east of Gaylord.

 

[Battenkiller]

Here are a couple Lyme incidence distribution maps for 2009 and 2010. One dot = one case reported to the CDC and accepted into their database. As I said earlier, the CDC itself estimates there are 10-15 time more cases occurring each and every year.

Notice how the same areas keep getting hit the hardest.

 

[charly]

Just took my 2 dogs and my big cat for a walk through my woods on my logging trail. Mostly leaves on the trail. 30 minute walk. Came back, one tick on each of my dogs, 2 on my cat, and three on my shirt, one on my carhart sweat shirt. Later on, I put my sweat shirt on to do something and another tick was on my neck after coming back in. Had to be a left over on my hooded sweat shirt. Ticks are bad here. Definetly want to hunt from a tree stand or you'll be covered in ticks.

 

[Waulie]

Uh, hate to break it to ‘ya Waulie, but we DO have ‘em here in troll land. Found a few on the dogs this past summer, and a couple on me. I’m about 40 minutes east of Gaylord.

Yeah, after I posted I did a little research. Seems they are nearby. Sounds like they're mostly along the shores of Lake Michigan and in southern Michigan, but then again, you are in the middle of the state. I've never seen any over my way (Leelanau) and I spend a great deal of time outdoors, but I suppose it's just a matter of time. >:-(

 

[weatherguy]

If they are imbedded use tweezers and pull SLOWLY on the thorax or hard body parts not the abdomen. It will be a slow tug of war but eventually the tick will tire and let go. Burning with matches or other hot items will only cause them to spit when they release which they mormally do but pulling slowly where they get tired supposedly gets them out with out spitting. Never had Lymes but have had friends that have used the above (and medically suggested) pulling method. They were treated for lymes but never deveoped any symptoms. Maybe it was the early/preventative treatment or the removal method or both. Once snow flies and sticks rabbits are common carriers. There may be wisdom in rabbit stew.??

I use an OTOM tick puller. 2 sizes are in a pack. They look like minature cat paw nail pullers. Simply slide under the tick, start slowly turning with slight up pressure and the whole tick comes right out. Gets the head and all everytime. WWW.OTOM.COM.

I ordered one last week, came in the mail in 6 days, cost $5.95 total including shipping and taxes (no tax) and it is by far the best tool Ive used yet, Ive tried most every gimmick out there and this one is the easiest to use. Already pulled a few ticks off my cat with it. I highly recommend. Thanks for the link.

 

[charly]

If they are imbedded use tweezers and pull SLOWLY on the thorax or hard body parts not the abdomen. It will be a slow tug of war but eventually the tick will tire and let go. Burning with matches or other hot items will only cause them to spit when they release which they mormally do but pulling slowly where they get tired supposedly gets them out with out spitting. Never had Lymes but have had friends that have used the above (and medically suggested) pulling method. They were treated for lymes but never deveoped any symptoms. Maybe it was the early/preventative treatment or the removal method or both. Once snow flies and sticks rabbits are common carriers. There may be wisdom in rabbit stew.??

I use an OTOM tick puller. 2 sizes are in a pack. They look like minature cat paw nail pullers. Simply slide under the tick, start slowly turning with slight up pressure and the whole tick comes right out. Gets the head and all everytime. WWW.OTOM.COM.

I ordered one last week, came in the mail in 6 days, cost $5.95 total including shipping and taxes (no tax) and it is by far the best tool Ive used yet, Ive tried most every gimmick out there and this one is the easiest to use. Already pulled a few ticks off my cat with it. I highly recommend. Thanks for the link.

Your welcome. Glad you got to see for yourself. Now you'll tell someone else. It's nice getting the whole tick out. It's hard to believe that tool makes it so easy. I've even had to use the very small one at times too. That's when you really appreciate the tool. ;-)

 

[basswidow]

Criky, the map shows the entire state of NJ BLUE!. I get them from time to time and just pull them off. I usually get them before the get embedded. I woke up at 3 am with a pain in my back, turned on the bath light and saw the red bulls eye. Pulled the little sucker off. Unlike any time before, this is the first one I've had with the red bulls eye - actually looks like a ciggerette burn. And the skin is painful in the circle. It's been a few days - I will go to the doc's monday or tuesday.

This unusual warmth isn't helping. Split in short sleeves again today. It's awesome outside!

 

[weatherguy]

Criky, the map shows the entire state of NJ BLUE!. I get them from time to time and just pull them off. I usually get them before the get embedded. I woke up at 3 am with a pain in my back, turned on the bath light and saw the red bulls eye. Pulled the little sucker off. Unlike any time before, this is the first one I've had with the red bulls eye - actually looks like a ciggerette burn. And the skin is painful in the circle. It's been a few days - I will go to the doc's monday or tuesday.

This unusual warmth isn't helping. Split in short sleeves again today. It's awesome outside!

Looks like one got you too, Ive had quite a few on me over the years and last week was the first time I got the rash, make sure you go to the docs, get that taken care of before it gets too bad. You have one of the classics sign of lyme, its not always a bullseye, sometimes its a round rash.

heres a list of rashes, some are lyme and some are not.

http://www.lymemd.org/quiz_answers.html

 

[basswidow]

That is very useful. Going by those photos, I'd say I don't have lyme!

Thanks.

 

[itsanaddiction]

I harvested a small buck this deer season, noticed several ticks in the croches of it's legs while looking him over. I've had 'em crawl right on to my hand while dressing out deer in the past.

So I got to thinking, if they're all over the deer, and I eat the venison, can I get infected that way? I love my venison real rare...

 

[charly]

I harvested a small buck this deer season, noticed several ticks in the croches of it's legs while looking him over. I've had 'em crawl right on to my hand while dressing out deer in the past.

So I got to thinking, if they're all over the deer, and I eat the venison, can I get infected that way? I love my venison real rare...

With all the ticks on the deer, why do we not see lame deer walking around? Do they not get Lyme disease? No one is pulling the ticks off the deer , they're on the deer until they're engorged and then drop off. Just what it takes to transmit the disease.

 

[Battenkiller]

Criky, the map shows the entire state of NJ BLUE!. I get them from time to time and just pull them off. I usually get them before the get embedded. I woke up at 3 am with a pain in my back, turned on the bath light and saw the red bulls eye. Pulled the little sucker off. Unlike any time before, this is the first one I've had with the red bulls eye - actually looks like a ciggerette burn. And the skin is painful in the circle. It's been a few days - I will go to the doc's monday or tuesday.

This unusual warmth isn't helping. Split in short sleeves again today. It's awesome outside!

How big was the rash? Lyme rash is huge, and it won't show up while the tick is still on you. Sounds like you had a reaction from the bite itself. I got one on me a couple years ago and went in to the clinic to have it removed because I couldn't get it out. I was certain is was Lyme because of the rash (see pic below), but the PA at the clinic told me it wasn't a Lyme rash at all. It was pretty nasty, though, for a non-Lyme bite.

Problem is, although I never got the rash, I got sick about 3-4 weeks later and stayed pretty sick most of that summer. Never even put things together until I got sick this time and had the rash as well. You don't always get the rash.

FWIW my recent rash was neither round nor was it a bull's eye. I had a negative serology (ELISA test) as well. Don't matter, Lyme is a clinical diagnosis. If you have all the symptoms (especially the neurological ones), rash or no rash, you got Lyme. Their are legions of folks out there who never saw a tick, never had a rash, never got extremely ill, and yet months later were in very serious shape because they went untreated.

Get the doxycycline at all costs. There is no great harm in taking it, they actually use it as a prophylactic agent against malaria in endemic areas. Also, kids are given tetracyclines for years for bad cases of acne. 28 days on the stuff is a heck of a lot better than going through Lyme.

 

[basswidow]

The mark on my back was no bigger than that. Still haven't seen the doc. I feel great.

 

[weatherguy]

The mark on my back was no bigger than that. Still haven't seen the doc. I feel great.

You might be ok, sometimes it takes a while for the symptoms to show, if you start feeling like you have the flu in the future days/weeks just get a blood test to make sure. I dont think it would show up in a blood test this soon anyway.
good luck

 

[Battenkiller]

The mark on my back was no bigger than that. Still haven't seen the doc. I feel great.

Don't matter how good you feel right now. You need to get at least 200mg of doxycycline in you ASAP. The ELISA test will not come up positive until after the rash appears. Takes time for your body to mount an immune response to this pathogen. Don't give it chance to multiply any further in your system. In NJ the vast majority of deer ticks carry the disease, so chances are slim that you caught one that uses a condom on its mouth parts while feeding on them infected white-footed mice. Stop it now, or face the possibility of being on oral doxy for a month, or even long-term IV antibiotics if it gets into your nervous system or heart.

BTW Lyme can cause varying degrees of heart block to occur. If it progresses to third-degree heart block your heart could just stop beating (flatline), and that will be the end unless you are in a hospital with a team of surgeons ready to install a pacemaker.

 

[weatherguy]

I got another one, as I was changing for bed last night I felt a bump in my groinal area and sure enough, another little sucker attached sucking blood out of me. I used that new otom tool and got it right out no problem, I still have a week left of doxy so I dont think this one can do anything to me.
Just a warning, with the warm fall weather the little buggers are still out in full force, thankfully the weathers getting colder and will probably slow them down.

 

[Battenkiller]

If you are picking them up on your property (like around your wood shed or processing area) you can now get granules that have the professional tick killer in them. All the big box stores carry them now. Supposed to be good for months. After this year's Lyme fiasco, we spread about 80 pounds of the stuff everywhere we work or hang out. We have tons of white-footed mice around these areas, but so far, not a tick from our property on either of us this fall.

Glad to see you are on the doxy. This thing takes no prisoners.

 

[weatherguy]

If you are picking them up on your property (like around your wood shed or processing area) you can now get granules that have the professional tick killer in them. All the big box stores carry them now. Supposed to be good for months. After this year's Lyme fiasco, we spread about 80 pounds of the stuff everywhere we work or hang out. We have tons of white-footed mice around these areas, but so far, not a tick from our property on either of us this fall.

Glad to see you are on the doxy. This thing takes no prisoners.

Whats the product BK? I was thinking I picked the last one up in my wood area, my dog had one tonight too and thats about the only place we've been in the last two days where we could pick up ticks.

 

[firebroad]

I got Lyme in 2009. According to the titer count, the Doc figured I must have contracted it sometime in early January. I had been feeling really tired, and chalked it up to bad diet and Winter blahs. Never saw a rash, felt a bite. nothing. When I got the news about the Lyme, I was actually considering the possibility, given the time of year, when I felt a slight tickle sensation under my arm, and when I investigated--you guessed it--it was a little black tick. So that's when I figured it must have come from the wood.

If you are feeling run down, get your Sawbones to run a Western Blot (lyme) test. I had to take megadoses of antibiotics, and I swear, it made me sicker than a dog, but it's best to treat this stuff while it's still new in your system. These little rascals can really pack a punch, and knock the stuffing out of you. I think it took me about a year to start to feel anything close to normal.

Where can you get these granules? What's the name?

 

[weatherguy]

I got Lyme in 2009. According to the titer count, the Doc figured I must have contracted it sometime in early January. I had been feeling really tired, and chalked it up to bad diet and Winter blahs. Never saw a rash, felt a bite. nothing. When I got the news about the Lyme, I was actually considering the possibility, given the time of year, when I felt a slight tickle sensation under my arm, and when I investigated--you guessed it--it was a little black tick. So that's when I figured it must have come from the wood.

If you are feeling run down, get your Sawbones to run a Western Blot (lyme) test. I had to take megadoses of antibiotics, and I swear, it made me sicker than a dog, but it's best to treat this stuff while it's still new in your system. These little rascals can really pack a punch, and knock the stuffing out of you. I think it took me about a year to start to feel anything close to normal.

Where can you get these granules? What's the name?

Ive known a few people that share a story similar to yours, thats why I didnt mess around and went to the docs right away. The doxy seems to be some potent stuff, I havent felt that good since Ive started taking it, glad I only have 5-6 days left.