Bitten by tic -- need advice asap

seaweed said:

He took my blood to get a baseline test for lyme to make sure I was not already infected in the past and will take another blood test in three months to confirm no changes.
He put me on doxocycline 100mg for 10 days as a precautionary measure and he did confirm that the tick was a black legged / deer tick and a nymph and was indeed fully engorged.
I sent the tick overnight to University of MA to get it tested.

You're already being treated. So why bother to get the tick tested? I would think the simple and easy thing to do when bitten by a deer tick is just to get treated.

There are other diseases besides Lyme that can be transmitted by a dear tick, and may require somewhat different treatment, so it is helpful to clarify exactly what the tick had.

Seaweed, you'll be fine. I got bit by something a couple of weeks ago and have been on Doxy since Wednesday as a precaution. Turns out I do have Lyme so I'll be doing the Doxy dance for at least a month, but I've been detected early, I'm on the right stuff to clear it and I'll be Lyme-free and able to enjoy a glass of wine and stand in the sunshine for more than 2 minutes before you know it.

gerryl said:
I found out I had Lyme titers because my doctor ran a battery of tests because of symptoms I was complaining about. I have no idea when I was bitten. She did send me to an infectious disease doc. He gave me two long rounds (6 weeks?) each of antibiotics. The second round was "just to be sure". The symptoms seemed to have subsided and nothing more has happened. T

Can I be nosy and ask what kinds of symptoms?

BG9, the tick has already been sent off for testing, so it's not worth questioning it. Besides, if the tick gets a clean bill of health, Seaweed can relax!

Seaweed, I'm glad you went to the doctor and are taking the doxy course. You are covered!

Jasmo said:
There are other diseases besides Lyme that can be transmitted by a dear tick, and may require somewhat different treatment, so it is helpful to clarify exactly what the tick had.

More interesting is the new tick-born disease, Powassan Virus that is more dangerous than lyme. It seems to have made its way to N.J.

Just wanted to say that Im glad you were able to see your doctor and reassure you that you don't need to worry! The antibiotics will handle any risk at this point and you caught it right away, which is the best case scenario. I hope you're feeling well. Although I'm opposed to using chemicals in my yard, I know there is a tick spray you can do on your property, as my sister gets it yearly. If the tick did turn out to carry lyme, you might consider spraying next season. I mean, if I got bit and the thing had lyme, I would spray!

Also, interesting tidbit - people who have been bitten by a lone star tick (most common in southeast) cannot receive certain IV cancer drugs later in life because it will cause life threatening allergic reaction and shock.

The lab I sent the tick to will test it for four known diseases that are carried and potentially transmitted to humans, lyme being one of them.

I am indeed glad that I found the bugger, it could have been very easy to miss him since he was done and almost fully out when I noticed it and so if I had ignored the little speck of dirt that fell off my leg instead of picking it up to see what it was, then I could have possibly been in much more trouble and not even have known it.

Thanks everyone for the reassurances again.. I was really worried the night I found it, running around the house, googling, and worrying ... but now I'm a bit more calm about it.. My dr told me to watch out for a few things like swallen glands, joint pain (both of which I had coincidentally), fever, tiredness.

Coincidentally, my dr had been bitten by a tick too a week ago, so that made me feel reassured a bit too in a weird way...

As for spraying, I have already thought about this and will definitely do it as soon as I can because honestly I feel uneasy walking around my yard right now and gardening is one of the things I love doing and am not willing to give it up.

I had a brush with Lyme around 1998-99; one day the bulls eye rash appeared on my leg out of nowhere. Had never noticed a tick, and definitely hadn't been hiking in the woods or anything like that. My family dentist also happened to be a Lyme specialist because unfortunately his daughter had been severely afflicted with Lyme which wrecked her health, including losing her hearing. So he took charge of my treatment. Got a blood test, which came back positive for the Lyme titers. Was put on a monthlong course of Doxycycline; interesting to see that years later, that's still the go-to antibiotic. Finished the doxy, blood test repeated, negative for Lyme. More than 15 years later, no health issues (or at least none that can be traced back to Lyme disease)... One bit of advice: doxycycline is a double-barreled antibiotic that is likely to shred your stomach. My dentist told me to take acidophilus while I was on the doxy, and I did and think it helped protect my stomach.

If the doctor had Lyme, I imagine he did all KINDS of research to make sure he didn't get sick, so he is probably very well versed on the topic now, LOL. Glad you are feeling less stressed about it.

The acidophilus would address issues such as thrush or other yeast infections, but it wouldn't really help the stomach. One problem with high-power antibiotics is they destroy all the good bacteria as well as the bad ones, which leaves any yeast in your system without a natural predator to keep it in check. At least, that's what I have always heard -- acidophilus is a good idea, regardless.

I think what would help stomach reactions to the doxy is taking it with food?

seaweed said:
The lab I sent the tick to will test it for four known diseases that are carried and potentially transmitted to humans, lyme being one of them.

Four diseases, good to know. Also a good deal for only $50.

BG9 said:

seaweed said:
The lab I sent the tick to will test it for four known diseases that are carried and potentially transmitted to humans, lyme being one of them.

Four diseases, good to know. Also a good deal for only $50.

Yes, I think this was a good idea. What lab did you send it to, Seaweed? Might come in handy for someone else.

carolanne--I was having heart palpitations. The infectious disease doc was surprised that the antibiotics helped. He also told me to take the antibiotics with food so it wouldn't be so hard on my stomach. A couple of friends encouraged me to buy probiotics and take that while I was on the course of antibiotics.

The lab is at University of MA @ Amherst
Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ)
Fernald Hall, University of Massachusetts
270 Stockbridge Rd.
Amherst, MA 01003

https://ag.umass.edu/services/tick-borne-disease-diagnostics

The results are still pending, but they have received my tick and sent me pics of it dissected ... now they are doing a dna analysis for the four diseases ... Here is what they have sent me so far in addition to the dissected photos from under a microscope :

Tick Information

Tick Received: 2015-06-15

Species: Ixodes scapularis
Sex: unknown
Stage: nymph
Feeding State: engorged

PeggyC said:

BG9 said:

seaweed said:
The lab I sent the tick to will test it for four known diseases that are carried and potentially transmitted to humans, lyme being one of them.

Four diseases, good to know. Also a good deal for only $50.

Yes, I think this was a good idea. What lab did you send it to, Seaweed? Might come in handy for someone else.