OT: May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

[Eric15]

thx for this. I got Lyme last month. Red bite I should have focused on sooner turned dark and a bit painful and then I had fever for 2 days. On verge of going to ER per my doctor but after 2 rough nights fever broke and was on antibiotics 3 weeks. Curious if you think I’ll be effected by this down the road? Thank you and good luck to you.

Man I hope not, but I'm not really sure. I've read about people dealing with this for years, so I'm just trying to stay positive. Good luck to you, as well.

 

[Owens guy]

I got Lyme about 5 years ago with a similar story to many here. I had my knee swell up 2-3 times, got it drained and it would swell up again (dr thought it could be age/an old sports injury/or strained MCL). Then I got night sweats so bad my pillow would be soaked in the morning. After the night sweats I luckily I went to a doctor that figured out Lyme disease quickly and put me on drugs.

One more rare possible effect of Lyme disease is memory loss which my wife swears I have some of since getting Lyme disease but I think it's really just selective memory on my part because I can still remember Syracuse game details from 30 years ago.

 

[Oakland]

Thanks for the heads up. I just picked up a tick about a week ago. Pretty sure I don't LD: pulled the tick out after just a few hours; no erythema migrans; also, the tick was all black. We do have some lyme disease here in NoCal but not much. I saved the tick in scotch tape in case it would help with a diagnosis later.

 

[PhatOrange]

Thanks for the heads up. I just picked up a tick about a week ago. Pretty sure I don't LD: pulled the tick out after just a few hours; no erythema migrans; also, the tick was all black. We do have some lyme disease here in NoCal but not much. I saved the tick in scotch tape in case it would help with a diagnosis later.

Not sure what your lyme situation is in NoCal but if that were Saratoga County they would have given you 2 pills of doxycycline. 100mg each.

 

[PhatOrange]

How's this for irony. My son found it crawling on his thigh last night as he was getting into the tub. He had been wearing compression pants all day long so it got underneath them. I could barely see it, just looked like a spec of dirt, so I asked him what made him react to it and he said he it was moving. (he'd only been playing in the neighbors front lawn to not the woods.)

 

[Fly Rodder]

I found a tick inside my waistband and had the bulleyes rash a few years ago, took the antibiotic course and it was effective, maybe. I don't know. Unfortunately, it seems like some of the symptoms for Lyme can be mild and unnoticed until they aren't.

I went for a hike near Green Lakes the fist nice day this spring after the snow melted, maybe late Feb, early March. Pulled four ticks off my clothes. I carry one of these tick keys on my key chain now and I put one on the dog's collar when he was still alive. Just to have it handy.

 

[Forloveoforange]

This covid-19 is also a big compromise to figuring out possible symptoms of Lyme disease.

I felt like I was fighting Covid-19. Two weeks later I was feeling well enough to do some necessary yardwork. A few days after that, I had this huge headache overnight that I could swear was a Lyme headache, but I have decided later that it was part of Covid-19. But its all a guess, including if I actually had Covid-19, but I think I did.

 

[alphaorange]

Permethrin...
Amazon.com : permethrin

You'll pay less..maybe a lot less, at your local farm store.

 

[Eric15]

About five years ago I shared with the board my experience with Lyme Disease. I know Marsh has talked about his experience also.

Justin Timberlake had to cancel a concert tour because of it.

Justin Timberlake reveals ‘debilitating’ Lyme disease diagnosis after tour backlash

Justin Timberlake told fans about his diagnosis in a lengthy Instagram statement.

nypost.com

Reminder to please take this very seriously. It can completely derail people's lives if not caught early. This is the best product for pre-treating your shoes:

Sawyer Products Premium Permethrin Insect Repellent for Clothing, Gear & Tents​

 

[FrancoPizza]

This is giving me nightmares. How is it worth going outside if it takes 2 hours of prep and sanitizing like you’re in a radiation zone?

 

[PoppyHart]

About five years ago I shared with the board my experience with Lyme Disease. I know Marsh has talked about his experience also.

Justin Timberlake had to cancel a concert tour because of it.

Justin Timberlake reveals ‘debilitating’ Lyme disease diagnosis after tour backlash

Justin Timberlake told fans about his diagnosis in a lengthy Instagram statement.

nypost.com

Reminder to please take this very seriously. It can completely derail people's lives if not caught early. This is the best product for pre-treating your shoes:

Sawyer Products Premium Permethrin Insect Repellent for Clothing, Gear & Tents​

Hid tour ended yesterday. He could easily have canceled the last several stops instead of leading a glorified karaoke.
He owes most of Europe a refund imo.

 

[tbonezone]

there is a very popular APP you can download to find all about lyme disease . it's called TICK TALK .
although it may be owned by chinese spies trying to steal your medical data.
(all joking aside i know a dude who i hunted with in leatherstocking country who got really really sick )

 

[tbonezone]

I found a tick inside my waistband and had the bulleyes rash a few years ago, took the antibiotic course and it was effective, maybe. I don't know. Unfortunately, it seems like some of the symptoms for Lyme can be mild and unnoticed until they aren't.

I went for a hike near Green Lakes the fist nice day this spring after the snow melted, maybe late Feb, early March. Pulled four ticks off my clothes. I carry one of these tick keys on my key chain now and I put one on the dog's collar when he was still alive. Just to have it handy.

i myself carry a church key. not all bottles are twist off. especially the good stuff.
now just recently in my area the LYME school district changed it's name from the INDIANS to LAKERS.
i wrote in and suggested TICKS. (small but deadly) . no go . years back nearby sackets harbor changed from the INDIANS to the PATRIOTS. my write in at that time was SCHOONERS but that also was outvoted.
my wife a former sackets athlete and alum still calls them the INDIANS. but that's just her own heritage.
no disrespect intended.

 

[CuseTG2003]

Check your legs if you’re wearing shorts and hit it into the tall stuff

 

[Marsh01]

I got lyme disease in the summer of 2020. Docs (those who would actually see me during the pandemic) blew it off as covid. 2 months later and after being bed-ridden for 4 weeks i got tested and had it. I mean full blown had it. Never saw a bulls eye. Never knew i got bit by a tick.

This led to heart issues where my heart rate suddenly dropped to 33 beats per minute. Rushed to the ER and had a pacemaker put in. (Will be 5 years on 8/4) The morning of my surgery my heart rate was 26 bpm. I begged for a lyme test as i knew i had it but it fell on deaf ears (again covid covid covid). 10 weeks of doxycyclin later i felt better.

Funny thing is i had an underlying aortic anyeurism that i would have never known about had i not contracted lyme. Funny how these things “work” out

Lyme is no joke.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

I got lyme disease in the summer of 2020. Docs (those who would actually see me during the pandemic) blew it off as covid. 2 months later and after being bed-ridden for 4 weeks i got tested and had it. I mean full blown had it. Never saw a bulls eye. Never knew i got bit by a tick.

This led to heart issues where my heart rate suddenly dropped to 33 beats per minute. Rushed to the ER and had a pacemaker put in. (Will be 5 years on 8/4) The morning of my surgery my heart rate was 26 bpm. I begged for a lyme test as i knew i had it but it fell on deaf ears (again covid covid covid). 10 weeks of doxycyclin later i felt better.

Funny thing is i had an underlying aortic anyeurism that i would have never known about had i not contracted lyme. Funny how these things “work” out

Lyme is no joke.

Nor is an aortic aneurism. I hope that it's small and stays small.

 

[orangecuse]

I've been battling Lyme Disease for about 8 months now, so I wanted to share my experience with the board, and offer my support if anyone needs it.

Prior to last year, Lyme Disease to me seemed like an obscure thing that only rural woodsmen would acquire. But it's basically a statistical guarantee that if you live in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic, either you or someone in your family will acquire a tick-borne illness at some point in their life.

People who get bit by a tick, but see the "bulls-eye" rash and act quickly are the fortunate ones. They just take 4 weeks of oral antibiotics and it's gone, similar to something like strep throat. Unfortunately for many others like myself, I never saw the bite (it could have happened years ago), so the infection slowly worked its way into my central nervous system and is thus exponentially more difficult to kill.

Traditional Lyme antibody tests that you would get at a place like LabCorp yield a lot of false negatives. When my original test came back negative back in the fall, a wild goose chase for what was wrong with me ensued. I was tested for everything under the sun, e.g. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, etc. My primary care doctor even suggested that I might be depressed and I was imagining my symptoms (knee stiffness, crippling fatigue, brain fog, overnight sweating). It wasn't until I paid out of pocket to have my blood sent to a high-tech lab near Stanford that I definitively learned that I have Babesia Duncani, a tick-borne co-infection similar to Lyme.

I literally spent months planning a huge tailgate for family and friends for the Cuse/Maryland football game, but couldn't attend because I was so out of it. (probably a blessing in disguise, in retrospect).

After having an antibiotic intravenous picc line installed in my arm from January-March, I'm currently taking the drug Disulfarim, which is originally intended to treat alcoholism but has been shown to be very effective in killing Lyme bacteria. I've gone from about 2 out of 10 on the "feeling good" scale to fluctuating between 6-8 out of 10. So a lot of progress, but not quite to the level yet where I can exercise normally.

If you suspect you may be infected, it's absolutely imperative that you see a "Lyme-literate" physician. For example, Johns Hopkins is the best hospital in America, but they are basically on the level of Dr. Nick from The Simpsons in tick-borne disease sophistication.

So basically, I want to transition into "pay-it-forward" mode, so if you or anyone in your family thinks they may have a tick-borne illness, you can point them in my direction and I can help them navigate it as best I possibly can. Just PM me and I'll give you my email address and/or phone number.

And yes, Corona(virus) with Lyme is a solid Dad joke.

I never saw this back in '20. I hope you and all that have been infected with tick borne illnesses are managing as best as possible.

Here in Charlotte, I've taken them off my body (in the typical areas) after spending time cutting the grass, doing yard work, etc. I usually conduct a 'body check' most times after doing such work and every time I've taken one off, it had only been crawling on me.

However, about a month ago, I felt a tick in my hair right before going to bed. I had showered a few hours earlier after being outside doing work and never felt it. Anyways, my wife had to pull it off with a tweezers (as recommended) at the head area and pull upwards. It was not "embedded" and believed only to be there for several hours (less than 24) but it did bite me as there was a very small amount of blood on my scalp afterwards. We washed the bite area as recommended and then placed the tick in a sandwich baggie.

It appears the tick that bit me was not a deer tick (one's that primarily carry it), but a dog tick as deer ticks are known for their black legs and this tick did not have that. I was pretty nervous about it, and was going to contact the doc the next day, but I didn't, as my wife calmed me down some by reading further information, etc. So, I've just been staying alert/aware of particular symptoms, etc. if they were to arise. To date, I haven't experienced any.

However, I'm still somewhat nervous about it, and this thread only makes me more so.

 

[Shenexon]

I've been fortunate here in southern Colorado. I've been here 10 years and have never seen a tick of any kind and spend a lot of time in meadows and brushlots. My brother in Binghamton contracted Lyme disease several years ago, took antibiotics, and hasn't had any recurring symptoms. My youngest daughter contracted Lyme disease just recently and remembers seeing a small thing drop off of her. She thought she was having a stroke, as half her face became numb and was in significant pain all over. She's been taking antibiotics for a few weeks and feels much better. I hope it stays that way. I remember walking with my son in a field in Virginia many years ago and pulled 18 (not deer) ticks off of him after our stroll. I don't get why I haven't seen any in Colorado. I have a friend in Wyoming that complains of ticks at similar altitude and climate. Why not here? I also lived in upstate NY playing & working outside constantly for 30 years. I don't remember it being an issue. Was it an issue then and I didn't notice? I don't remember my parents ever pulling ticks off of me.

 

[Marsh01]

Nor is an aortic aneurism. I hope that it's small and stays small.