Lyme Disease - Warning

[GroomedWoodchuck]

Just a friendly heads up/warning about Lyme Disease for you outdoorsmen. Spring is the start of tick season with May being national Lyme Disease awareness month. Lyme is the fastest spreading infectious disease in the country with CDC verified infections reported in over 85% of all counties in America. Most people that get sick don't even remember a tick bite. I myself am a Lyme Disease victim (now survivor) from Utah and was chronically/mysteriously sick for 5+ years. It took tens of thousands of dollars and trying hundreds of various treatments before I was able to find my way out of it.

If you spend a lot of time out of doors, do regular tick checks and protect yourself.

Prevention is the best cure. 1lb of prevention is worth 20lbs of cure.

This is from the CDC website on tick prevention -

Before You Go Outdoors

• Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, or even on animals, so spending time outside camping, gardening, or hunting could bring you in close contact with ticks. Many people get ticks in their own yard or neighborhood.
• Treat clothing and gear with products containing permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, or 2-undecanone. EPA’s helpful search tool can help you find the product that best suits your needs. Always follow product instructions.
  • Do not use insect repellent on babies younger than 2 months old.
  • Do not use products containing oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) or para-menthane-diol (PMD) on children under 3 years old.
• Outdoor workers can find additional information at the NIOSH Tick-borne Diseases Safety and Health Topic.

After You Come Indoors
Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing. Any ticks that are found should be removed. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed. If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks effectively.

Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.

Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, which even includes your back yard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check these parts of your body and your child’s body for ticks:

• Under the arms
• In and around the ears
• Inside belly button
• Back of the knees
• In and around the hair
• Between the legs
• Around the waist

What to Do if You Find an Attached Tick
Remove the attached tick as soon as you notice it by grasping with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible, and pulling it straight out. For detailed information about tick removal, see the tick removal page.

Watch for signs of illness such as rash or fever in the days and weeks following the bite, and see a health care provider if these develop. Your risk of acquiring a tick-borne illness depends on many factors, including where you live, what type of tick bit you, and how long the tick was attached. If you become ill after a tick bite, see a health care provider.

 

[Merle]

Fricken Atlanta metro is one giant ancient forest and there are many times more ticks than humans, mammals, & birds together. And they can be so dang tiny! Permethrin sprays in the eves, the attic, and around the foundation. Gawds I hate these things.

 

[kfbrady]

Lyme is quite prevalent here in Central New Jersey. I've been diagnosed with it 3 times since we moved here 30 years ago. With a couple of miles of scrubby woods behind my house that are teeming with white-tailed deer, we see lots of ticks.

The first time I was diagnosed I had a rash all over my torso, the second time I had the classic "bullseye" rash and the third time I had no rash whatsoever, just flu-like symptoms and headaches. My doctor is still not sure if it was a re-infection or a recurrence of a previous one. The good news is that if caught early, a simple treatment with antibiotics usually takes care of it, although I have to say that since my first go round, 25 years ago, I don't think I've ever had quite the same energy levels.

 

[GroomedWoodchuck]

Lyme is quite prevalent here in Central New Jersey. I've been diagnosed with it 3 times since we moved here 30 years ago. With a couple of miles of scrubby woods behind my house that are teeming with white-tailed deer, we see lots of ticks.

The first time I was diagnosed I had a rash all over my torso, the second time I had the classic "bullseye" rash and the third time I had no rash whatsoever, just flu-like symptoms and headaches. My doctor is still not sure if it was a re-infection or a recurrence of a previous one. The good news is that if caught early, a simple treatment with antibiotics usually takes care of it, although I have to say that since my first go round, 25 years ago, I don't think I've ever had quite the same energy levels.

There have been some studies on subsequent lyme infections in the last year. It was found that the majority of recurrent cases of Lyme are actually new infections. This was proven by identifying different strains of Lyme in the patient. I'm sure there are cases of recurrence, but research is showing some interesting findings there. Fortunately, antibiotics are fairly effective IF caught early...but unfortunately most people do not catch it in this time frame.

The other problem is co-infections. 75% of people that end up with Lyme disease have a co-infection of a mycoplasma - usually mycoplasma fermentans. The other top co-infections are bartonella, babesia, erlichia, anaplasma, and some of the tick borne viruses. If you have even 1 of these co-infections, treatment becomes much more difficult. I myself had a mycoplasma infection (most common) with the Lyme, which prevented antibiotics from working short term. It took a couple years of antibiotic therapy to effectively treat the mycoplasma and address the Lyme. Many Lyme patients who are chronic and just can't seem to get better have co-infections and other problems that require diagnosis and treatment in their own right. It's a nasty conglomeration of things that can be different for each person. Ticks are cesspools of many different infections...it's hard to know exactly what was passed on after a bite.

 

[ackvil]

Good advice. Lyme disease can be debilitating.

 

[kfbrady]

It’s also critical to examine pets for ticks. I’ve taken many dozens of them off our dogs over the years and 10 years ago I lost a lovely little terrier to congestive heart failure a few months after he was diagnosed by our local animal hospital with Ehrlichia.

 

[Mick]

I've had Lyme disease for 10 years.

Caught it in my back yard.

Everyone thinks about deer with this parasite but it is mice and other rodents that bring the ticks in close to you.

 

[GroomedWoodchuck]

I've had Lyme disease for 10 years.

Caught it in my back yard.

Everyone thinks about deer with this parasite but it is mice and other rodents that bring the ticks in close to you.

+1 Exactly

 

[GroomedWoodchuck]

It’s also critical to examine pets for ticks. I’ve taken many dozens of them off our dogs over the years and 10 years ago I lost a lovely little terrier to congestive heart failure a few months after he was diagnosed by our local animal hospital with Ehrlichia.

Sorry to hear about your terrier. That's awful!

 

[Brompton]

We have a bad tick population where I am too, north of NYC. I spray most of my yard with Sevin every spring and fall. It works.

 

[D1dad]

Fricken Atlanta metro is one giant ancient forest and there are many times more ticks than humans, mammals, & birds together. And they can be so dang tiny! Permethrin sprays in the eves, the attic, and around the foundation. Gawds I hate these things.

Funny you mention Atlanta. I was there last year for my sons baseball tournament when our car was totaled. I had to go to the salvage yard to get my belongings and got bit on the foot by something that was the size of a flea. Turned out it was a tick. My foot swelled up and I felt like hell for a few days.

 

[Wishoot]

Been there.

I felt like boiled over death for months on end. Fever, chills, aches, nausea and lethargy.

It took darn near 4 months of antibiotic treatment to get me back on my feet again.

 

[Ad Astra]

Wow! Once a rare thing, looks like we ALL have Lyme stories.

My sister. Time they figured it out, years had gone by and she has lingering issues since.

Also, two nephews, come to think. Less sick, though.


Here's some data:

Data and Statistics | Lyme Disease | CDC



AA

 

[realdog4]

I always thought Lyme disease was in the mid-atlantic, not the south. I was wrong.

I can honestly say that deer ticks scare me more than any predatory animal.

Just remember, Deet can melt your camping gear like sleeping bags or tents.

I use whatever is in Sawyers.

Good post.

 

[Bhugo]

Big issue. Thanks for the post.

 

[simon1]

I've been getting tick bites since I was old enough to walk outside but never have been sick...yet. But I do know a couple of people that did contract Lyme Disease. It's something to pay attention to. Check for 'em and learn how to remove them properly. After I get one out I like to dump it in the alcohol bottle cap, with alcohol in it, so they expire real quick.

 

[thematthatter]

Also keep permethrin away from your cats. You can treat your outside cloths, tents, yard or what ever but don’t let fluffy near it until it’s dry .

 

[auk1124]

Ticks seem to really bad this year. I have found three on me this past week of turkey hunting. I use permethrin religiously.

 

[Ad Astra]

+3-4-5-6-7-8-9 on the bug spray.

Got mauled by chiggers last weekend ... oh the itching. Wicked welts. Never saw them.

NEVER FELT A THING until the next day. Insidious, demonic little creatures ...

Spray and spray again.


AA