Fun With Ticks
You may as well benefit from my pain:
http://patients.uptodate.com/topic.asp?file=inf_immu/7714
Dear readers, I do it all for you. Even being bitten by a tick.
http://patients.uptodate.com/topic.asp?file=inf_immu/7714
Dear readers, I do it all for you. Even being bitten by a tick.
posted by PeaceBang at 11:04 PM
6 Comments:
If you get bitten by a deer tick rather than a wood tick, call your doctor right away. In your area there's a good chance it carries Lyme disease. If you get antibiotics early enough, you can take them for two days and nip it in the bud. If you wait, you might need to be treated for 6-8 weeks. If you wait too long it could be untreatable.
I wish my doctor could have seen me today. I'll have to wait until tomorrow. What can you do? So far no symptoms, just uncomfortable where the bite is.
Believe me, I had a friend whose entire life was ruined by Lyme disease. I'm plenty freaked.
My sister-in-law had Lyme for four years before anyone knew she had it. Her only symptom was an occasional heart arhythmia. It took a while, but she was successfully treated for it (which is not to say that it was a picnic for anyone). If you were just bit today, you should be fine, even if you have it, because they can catch it so early.
Because of the Lyme Hell, my brother actually took the tick that bit him recently to the doctor to have it tested, which is what I plan to do if I'm ever in that situation. I'd think that's much better than trying to describe it to the doc.
Regardless, good luck!
I'll see the doctor tomorrow. They couldn't get me in today.
Meanwhile, I feel a slight paralysis coming on on the right side.
This tick bite thing is just not a good match with my melancholic hypochondriac tendencies.
In my county, the department of public health tests ticks for you.You don't have to wait to fit into your hmo's schedule.
Was it a teeny tiny (pinhead sized) tick or a regular (thumbtack sized) one?
Lyme is only carried by the tiny ones.
When I got bitten by a deer tick a few years ago, my doc didn't even bother with an appointment to see it. He figured: deer tick bite, eastern Massachusetts, chances are good for Lyme, play it safe, phone in the Rx, same day, no worries.
If your doc is willing to wait that might be reassuring in itself.
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