Tick bites and Lyme disease

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A guy I know suddenly fell ill and was in ICU for awhile with encephalitis and Bell's Palsy. Found out he had Lymes. Had a PIC line in his chest for awhile. His face is still paralyzed on one side. Never knew he was bitten. Wonderful.
 
Here's a recent article from our local news station: https://wtop.com/health-fitness/2018/11/us-officials-report-a-record-number-of-tick-diseases/ .

Basically, the number of tick-borne diseases reported to the government last year (59,000) jumped 22% from the year before. About 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported each year but experts think that the real number of new cases is closer to 300,000. Stay safe, friends.

when i go in the woods im literally doused in chemicals from head to toe. i could care less what people think of how i look. with those numbers its going to millions a year
 
Have a a coworker that has A daughter that was diagnosed with Lyme's but a few months after she was bitten. Went to her brain. She has a problem with memory and other not so nice issues as a result. They got her to Hopkins in Baltimore quickly after diagnosis and is able to "live with it" but was told she will probably never be rid of it. The bite happened in the backyard of the house in Maryland. Actually I think Hopkins made the diagnosis that others could not. Please check yourselves over after being outside. Nothing to play around with. Kevin
 
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A friend of mine was bit while hunting outside Carrollton Ohio in 2017/18. Wasn't aware of a tick bite, but thinking back I guess he had a rash, but no bullseye so he brushed it off. Knew something was wrong when his face started to go paralyzed and claimed his whole body started to ache. Went to ER.

The strange thing was that the doctors didn't want to test for lyme and just diagnosed him will Bells Palsy. A staff member from the ER room later called him on a personal cell phone and stated that he probably had lyme disease. Odd! Pushing a little harder and reexplaining that he had been in the woods (near PA) and possibly bitten by a tick they finally agreed to test for lyme. He tested positive (they acted shocked. ??) ....and was given few rounds of antibiotics and seems to have no lingering effects luckily.

Didn't read the whole thread, but just thought I'd share this. Read a few posts about conspiracy theories and tinfoil hats. I'm not sure about anything, but do know these doctors in Ohio were very reluctant to do anything other than diagnose the bells palsy.

Shortly after this occurrence I've been seeing tick billboards all over the place so I guess they are warming up to the idea that people are being infected with lyme in this area.


I've pulled hundreds off my dogs and stopped going to the country property because it was so bad the last few years. Finally gave them bravecto chew and no longer find swollen ticks on the dogs. I'd find dozens of tiny ticks crawling up me. Pulled a few out of me unfortunately that I didn't get in time and the bite area looked pretty bad for a couple days.

One of the dogs tested positive for lyme and was given some doxy, but I haven't returned to retest.
 
I use the seresto collar for my dog and she hasnt had a tick for two years. That doctor sounds like it was up here 10-15 years ago, now that's one of the first things they look at. I've been bitten by deer ticks several times and my doctor gives my doxycycline right away just in case.
 
Thought I'd share this with the community.
View attachment 169441
The only downside to the mild temps. I feel these things biting and this was on back of my shoulder. I couldnt see it no matter what I did in mirror so I tried the phone.
Up close this thing is buried. The bites take a really long time to recover from.
I had a hard time convincing a doctor to do a Lyme test for me once. He argued that my exposure was minimum to the possibility of getting Lyme disease. I said, just do it.
The shoulders a popular spot for those little buggers, that's a female. I hope he gave you a couple doxy.
 
I'm really glad this thread is available! I learned a lot. (I'd talked with our veterinarian and he was much less helpful!)

I have been pondering my predicament over the last few weeks---we own 30 acres of hunting property
that's infested with ticks. The last time hubby went out hunting, I picked 8 off of him!
**Cue the music for the country/western song: "I wanna check you fer ticks!"**

I thought maybe I could release a few Guinea Fowl but they wouldn't last long
with the coyotes. They'd think I'd provided them with a buffet.
I'm in the process of setting up a camping trailer so we'll be spending more
time there; after reading through this thread I believe I'm going to try the recommended "tick tubes" and as an added
protection, 'gaiters' sprayed with the permethin (sp?) for my/our legs.

I have enough aches and pains --I don't want to compound it with 'flu-like' symptoms for an indeterminate amount of time!
I'm too old for crap like that! ;)

(p.s.--Thanks to all who posted!)
 
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Since I began spraying my camo and boots with Permethrin every year I have yet to see a tick on me. Before that I had them on me at every outing.
 
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Permethrin is not sold here so I've been using deet, haven't got 1 for a while. we took our dogs for walks in the woods all summer and my brother had 8 on him in one day.
 
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I've always heard pantyhose kept ticks off good. Guess they dont like the material. I cant imagine pantyhose in woods while hunting but then again I knew a guy that got lymes disease and his kidneys shut down before doctors figured out what it was. Luckily he lived but it makes me think pantyhose wouldn't be so bad to try all of a sudden
 
I've always heard pantyhose kept ticks off good. Guess they dont like the material. I cant imagine pantyhose in woods while hunting but then again I knew a guy that got lymes disease and his kidneys shut down before doctors figured out what it was. Luckily he lived but it makes me think pantyhose wouldn't be so bad to try all of a sudden

Overheard between two hunters in the woods, voice of Harry from Home Improvement, “Hey Bob, have you lost weight? Just sayin’, you’re looking good, today.”
 
You wouldnt believe how warm a pair of pantyhose is under your camo pants.
 
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Try Amazon, they sell Permethrin.
I bought some in Maine last time I was there but it's very toxic to cats and we have 4 so I've just been using deet.
 
I bought some in Maine last time I was there but it's very toxic to cats and we have 4 so I've just been using deet.

I saturate my camo with permethrin but I do it outside and let them hang until dry. Then they stay in the back of my Jeep for when I go out hunting. I dont take them in the house where the cats are. They would be laying on the clothes in a heartbeat. (nosy cats). I heard that about being extremely toxic to cats.
 
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Permethrin is extremely toxic to cats when it is wet and can be absorbed into their skin. When it is dried on your clothing it is fairly safe to pets. Obviously safer though to take your treated clothing off outside before coming inside with the cats.

I treat all my exterior hunting wear with it and haven’t had any trouble with ticks. I also treat my chainsaw chaps with permethrin, and spray with picaridin bug spray. That has been working good so far.
 
A few times a season I load up the pets and bring them to my in-laws house. I cut the grass nice and short and have the wife follow me with the sweeper to pick up the clippings. Then I fill the ATV mounted tank sprayer with the Permethrin SFR mix and drive around the entire open yard space. I made a sprayer bar with some PVC that mounts to the hitch on the ATV and hooks up to the pump on the tank. After that I put the wand back on and drive around spraying around the bushes, flower beds, fences, buildings, etc, etc. I have 5 acres so it takes a while. Once that's complete I hook the spreader to the ATV and drive around spreading Diatomaceous Earth on to the acre surrounding the house, pool, and playground. Also spread it by hand in the flower beds around the house. Haven't had a tick or flea on a kid or pet in a decade. Also don't really have issues with other unwanted insects either. I live in an agricultural district and have a feed/supplies distributor 5 miles from my house that sells both the Diatomaceous Earth and Permethrin SFR for way cheaper than you could get it anywhere online.
 
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A few times a season I load up the pets and bring them to my in-laws house. I cut the grass nice and short and have the wife follow me with the sweeper to pick up the clippings. Then I fill the ATV mounted tank sprayer with the Permethrin SFR mix and drive around the entire open yard space. I made a sprayer bar with some PVC that mounts to the hitch on the ATV and hooks up to the pump on the tank. After that I put the wand back on and drive around spraying around the bushes, flower beds, fences, buildings, etc, etc. I have 5 acres so it takes a while. Once that's complete I hook the spreader to the ATV and drive around spreading Diatomaceous Earth on to the acre surrounding the house, pool, and playground. Also spread it by hand in the flower beds around the house. Haven't had a tick or flea on a kid or pet in a decade. Also don't really have issues with other unwanted insects either. I live in an agricultural district and have a feed/supplies distributor 5 miles from my house that sells both the Diatomaceous Earth and Permethrin SFR for way cheaper than you could get it anywhere online.
Check out Allectus, available as a granular mixed with fertilizer product. I haven't done the research to compare, but I suspect it has a longer barrier life on the ground, versus the permethrin. In any case, it's been working great for me, on both grubs and tick control.
 
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I got bitten by a tick yesterday, and I had to pull hard to remove it from my skin. It had only been there for an hour maximum, and it was completely flat so it hadn't drawn blood. I don't see any marks on my skin where it was. I'm in Ohio, where Lyme disease is rare. Although now I'm a little worried. _g
 
I got bitten by a tick yesterday, and I had to pull hard to remove it from my skin. It had only been there for an hour maximum, and it was completely flat so it hadn't drawn blood. I don't see any marks on my skin where it was. I'm in Ohio, where Lyme disease is rare. Although now I'm a little worried. _g

I believe your risk is low, they usually need a much longer attachment to transmit Lyme, from what I’ve read. Google is your friend.
 
I believe your risk is low, they usually need a much longer attachment to transmit Lyme, from what I’ve read. Google is your friend.

Provided you pull it from the head and dont squeeze the body. When we find an attached tick we go to MedExpress and the give a dose of Doxy as a prophylactic.
 
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Worked on a new ATV trail last weekend . . . found five ticks during the course of the day on my clothing and on my stomach.

When I returned home I stripped off the clothing outside and asked my wife to do a tick check on me . . . I found some without my wife's assistance as I had seven or eight around my ankle/calf.

Ended up with a total of 15 ticks on me by day's end.

I've never seen so many or had so many on me at one time.

This seems to be a banner year for mosquitoes and ticks up this way this year.
 
Wow... I had no idea they were so bad, up your way. I find maybe one on me each year, often none in a whole year, and I spend a lot of time outdoors.