tick bite

[jazzyjas]

i was romping through the woods before Easter at my sister's farm and ended up with a tick bite. The tick was rather large and had just attached so I wasn't too worried about lymes disease but now it has been itching for two weeks and is surrounded by a solid red circle (not the bulls eye that is a tell tale sign of Lymes). I am going to the DR today but imagine they will just put my on a one month course of antibiotics (something I think is over-prescribed) just to be safe. Any one know of anything else it could be besides Lymes? Or has anyone gotten Lymes and does this sound familiar? Thanks for any information.

Jas

[gabbyh]

jazzyjas,
Could be part of the head was not removed and it has become a bit infected. I always rub in some antibiotic cream like Neosporin after I remove one from someone.

[MrsReber]

The ticks that are responsible for transmitting lyme disease are very tiny- the size of a sesame seed- and black. Ticks do transmit many other things, though, so it's a good idea to have it checked out. I know they can give you Rocky Mountain Fever, which is very bad (not to scare you). I agree with you on the anti biotics being over prescribed. Pretty soon they won't work on anything!

[Gail]

Not that I'm particularly knowledgeable about tick bites, but I am very allergic to bug bites of any kind. To make matters worse, I seem to be some sort of walking Purina Bug Chow! If, in fact, you are just suffering from some sort of allergic reaction, rather than putting you on antibiotics, the doctor may opt for some sort of corticosteroid and/or antihistamine to bring down inflammation-- which to me is what the redness and itching signifies.

[CheerLiz]

I had Lyme disease back in 1985 -- and the ticks that transmit it are as tiny as a pinhead. I did NOT have the typical bulls-eye rash, but started with flu-like symptoms (overwhelming fatigue, severe joint pain, fever, dehydration) within a week of the tick bite. I know that many researchers say that it takes 36 hours to transmit the disease, but "my" tick was only on for about 6 (an estimate -- I was working in the garden and found it on my leg that night).

I was lucky that I lived in an area in NJ where Lyme is common, so I was able to see a specialist right away. I won't go into the gory details about recovery.

I wouldn't worry too much if it was a big tick. It's those little suckers you have to be terrified of! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by CheerLiz (edited 04-24-2001).]

[mariakj]

jazzyjas-It is possible that you are allergic to ticks. I got a tick bit when I was nine and the lymph nodes on my neck stuck out like Frankenstein. My poor mom thought I had Leukemia or something awful. The doctor said that it was a common reaction to tick bites. I'm not sure if I had any redness around the bite because it was on my scalp. Hope this helps.

[jazzyjas]

Well, I went to the Doctor and waited forever -- she decided that there were tick mouth parts still in the bite wound (it was in the middle of my back and hard to reach) so she dug those out gave me a prescription for Cortizone and said to watch for secondary infection as well as Lymes' symptoms (flu like) and if so to come back and after 30 days they can test for Lymes.
So no antibiotics for now and now I just hope it is getting better.

jas

[traci june]

Just learned my lesson - never read a thread about a tick bite while you're eating...

Ewwww!!

Traci