OT: latest hike -- bitten by a diseased tick

C

cognitivefun

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Oct 24, 2004
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I hiked on Sunday in the Shenandoah National Park.

Monday I woke up and noticed something hurt on my right hip. I didn't look at it. I go the day mostly preoccupied I suppose.

Around 2:00pm I got a shower and saw a little teeny tiny tick pokin' out of a big red area there. I removed it and flushed it down the drain (shoulda kept it).

The area hurt a lot. I went to the doctor and am on antibiotics. I had a blood test but it won't show Lyme's Disease until about a month from now. I doubt it is Lyme's though, probably too soon. It is some type of infection though. I never had a tick that hurt this much.

Anyhow, even my kardas wouldn't cut the tick in half. The blades are too thick :( :) :D
 
good health. so glad you went to the doc's and got your hit of antibiotics.

Lyme disease is no joke.
 
Wow, Cog, Do take care of yourself. I hope it's nothing serious too. I have a friend with Lymes. She was down for quite awhile. Will say a prayer for your recovery. :(
 
the red inflamed area is the first sign of real trouble. Sometimes though people have a slight allergic reaction and it's nothing to worry about.

I've pulled several roaming tics off this season, one that was lodged, and two of my sons had tics that had lodged also. No skin erruption though.


munk
 
I pulled a wood tick off of my neck about 2 weeks ago. After I pulled it out I had a red place like a mole that itched. It wasn't dug in but had a small peice of skin in it's mouth. Had the same last year in my scalp. I was surprised how quick this one attached. It was a wood tick, not a deer tick so I wasn't real concerned, except for Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever but so far so good. :eek: No bullseye rash either.

We have grassy hay fields all around the house which are bad for ticks. The cats bring them in real bad too. We also have guineas that love to eat ticks, but between the hawks and other predators we are down to 2 so more ticks than usual. I need to buy some more guinea keets soon.

I have a buddy in NJ who both he and his wife had Lyme. I guess it's a hotspot up there. It's fairly rare here.

Cognitive,

I believe my friend Mr. Hyker AKA Mike J does some hikes in your area. He invites anyone to go along free, and has numerous maps and detailed trail descriptions on his website. It is www.midatlantichikes.com I believe.
 
Best of luck. Cog

I got a nasty infectious bite from a seed tick last year. Bit me right in the groin and caused my lymphnode in my left groin to get infected. At first it felt like I had the flu, then my hip hurt and I thought I had maybe strained something, then my neck started to hurt...not good. I went to the doctor after about 2 days. He put me on doxycyclin (sic) to see if that took care of it before any more tests were done. That did the trick, but talk about the cure being worse that the disease! I HAD to eat when i took that crap. if not i felt like i was going to vomit within 2 mins of taking it. What's worse is that is the antibiotic that they give to people with the clap;) I felt REAL cool stroling in the CVS to get my meds and having the girls behind the counter kind of look at me weird. A young guy in his twenties does not usually get doxy for a tick bite:D oh well, so a couple of local girls think i'm a walking STD..big deal;)
Anyway, i hope the meds do the trick. I hate those little bastards. Deer ticks at least TRY to make it to your head. seed ticks just seem to LOVE the...um lower tropics.
Smoke for you, buddy.
keep us posted.

Jake
 
I am overwhelmed. Thank you so much.

Steely, I'm on Doxy as well and I feel the same way. I normally eat nothing all day, but with this stuff I have to eat and even so my GI system ain't the usual.

I'm sure it will be fine. Lymes happens when people don't realize they've been bitten and the disease progresses. This thing still hurts like the dickens so not much chance of ignoring it :) The Spiritual Being that Is Everything is as usual on my side helping out!
 
Lymes also has a variety of impacts; even if you had it, it may not be very severe.


munk
 
Cog, that sucks! I used to not mind bugs, but the bastids creep me out anymore! I caught viral encephalits from a skeeter they think, and my youngest got bit by a spider that made skin sluff off and fester for months :mad: I will say a prayer for a speedy recovery.

Oh, someone mentioned no bullseye ~ something like 20% of the people who get lyme disease don't get the "mark of the beast". BE CAREFUL!

bio-laha stevo
 
They did a blood test that establishes a baseline. Then another test in about 4 - 6 weeks that will help determine if I have it or not. I doubt I do. But the tick clearly caused an infection in any event.

Thank you again.
 
I am about as certain as I can be that I have a tick borne illness. 10 years or so ago I was hiking through a swampy area a little north of Orlando, Fl and got bit by a tick- well, 14 of them actually but only one that I didn't find immediately.

That one stayed at the base of my skull for just under a week before I finally noticed him. It didn't hurt or anything, I just had a friend of mine get it to back out with a lit cigarette. I saw it splat on the ground, felt better for it and immediately put it out of my mind.

A few weeks later I woke up with a stabbing pain at the base of my skull and my eyes went blurry. Stayed that way for nearly 3 days. It went away and again, I put it out of my mind.

What can I say? I was a dumb kid. I never even thought to mention it all to anyone who might have told me to, ummm, go to a doctor.

Now, I've read some horror stories from people with Lyme's disease, I thank the heavens every day that I am mobile. I typically have constant joint pain in basically every joint but concentrated in my knees, ankles and feet. I get low grade fevers on a regular basis that are sometimes accompanied by a red, upper torso rash.

When that happens I've had to cover my upper body in ice to try and cool down. It's been a year or so since it was that bad. Actually, that was in Baltimore so it was two winters ago.

There are some days that I am working and it feels like every step I take is a matter of willpower instead of instinctual locomotion.

I need to get health insurance again but I am tired of doctors. I am tired of being treated like a freaking drug addict; I had to go to the emergency room in Maryland one time because I felt so poorly- I had no less than 3 different doctors question me as to drug use and check my arms and groin for needle marks.


I ended up pulling the hydration IV out of my arm and leaving. My girlfriend pulled the shunt or whatever that little plastic thing is called out of my arm later.

I have a great dislike for doctors. Some time this year I will bite the bullet and do what I have to do to get it fixed though. Life is too damn short.
 
Good luck, man. Take heart: that tick's dead and you're not! Man vs. Nature. ;)

Take care. Good move seein' the doc promptly.

Nam
 
cognitivefun said:
Steely, I'm on Doxy as well and I feel the same way. I normally eat nothing all day, but with this stuff I have to eat and even so my GI system ain't the usual.
Click to expand...
Run, don't walk to your local supermarket and buy some yogurt to eat with the antibiotic.:D
The yogurt helps to alleviate the nausea and also helps to restore good bacteria to your gut.
If you're like I used to be, and still am to a certain extent, and just absolutely can't stand the fruity yogurts get a carton of the plain.
That's how I learned to like yogurt. I could stand the plain but not the sickly sour/sweet taste of the fruity ones.:barf: :grumpy: :barf:
Then I learned that if I put in fresh fruit that the yogurt wasn't all to bad that way either.
I still can't hardly stand some brands of the boughten fruity yogurts though and my favorite is still the plain.
I prefer the plain yougurt to sour cream on baked taters even, not something anyone that once knew me would've ever believed.:D :cool: :D
 
Best of luck, cog. You were smart and did the right thing. I've been very lucky here in NJ, ticks are pretty rampant. I always wear long sleeves and/or lots of deet tick repellent when I go hiking, and I try to stay on the trails. Haven;t been bitten yet, but I know plenty who have.
 
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