Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Lyme Disease

AIRASSAULT

AIRASSAULT

PMA Member
Thought it would be interesting to hear any experiences with this that people may have had, or people they know. Sounds like it can get nasty. Maybe help with some awareness of it as it is getting to be that time of year.

This last Sunday, I discovered a very small tick, un-like the "usual" ticks that I find on myself, and it was latched on dangerously close to my left nipple... I pulled it off with some tweezers, and, knowing someone that's had lyme disease before, it kind of concerned me being that I was pretty sure it was a deer tick. The next day or two, it became red, started itching, was swelling a little bit and I could feel the pressure of it in my whole left peck/man-boob. I went to the doctor on Wednesday to get it checked out. They couldn't confirm it without blood tests, but, being that I came in early enough after possibly being exposed to it, they put me on 1500mg of Amoxicillin/day for 15 days and said that should take care of it.

I don't think i've ever had ticks on me this early in the year, but, the weekend before that, I pulled two ticks off of my dog already. I've also been swarmed by mosquitos already. Heck, I even caught a leopard frog in my yard the other day.. I can't believe how early it seems things are "coming back to life" this year.
 
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] At this writing, Lyme disease is pretty much diagnosed clinically. As a result, it often becomes a diagnosis of exclusion. In other words, unless a person has the classic Lyme disease rash and tests positive for the disease in a blood sample, the physician will usually attempt to eliminate other ailments before suspecting Lyme disease as the culprit. For that reason, Lyme disease is often called "The Great Imitator." It produces a wide range of symptoms that mimic nearly 200 other illnesses. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, and is not difficult to treat if it's diagnosed quickly. Unfortunately, diagnosis remains a big problem and, left untreated, the bacteria multiply and spread quickly, increasing the risk of serious complications. A quote from the book Coping with Lyme Disease, illustrates this point: "The diagnostic problems surrounding Lyme disease are derived primarily from the fact that there have been no tests that could simply and positively detect the Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete, thus confirming Lyme and initiating the traditional therapeutic process."
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is from an article by Charles Alsheimer.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lymes is scary and from what I have read you are supposed to look for the "bullseye rash" If someone even thinks that they have it they need to get checked immediately. I have never seen so many damn ticks as I pick up in Iowa. I have had one on me in my life in Michigan where I am from and here I pick them off nearly every time I'm in the woods! Thank god it's still butt ass cold up here in NE Iowa!
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I started wearing "skin tight" under armour under my camo while Turkey hunting just to keep the damn things off my skin!
[/FONT]
 
Last edited:
I dont know if its true, but I always heard you should save any ticks you find latched on, so it can be tested for it. Who knows.
 
I live int he county that has the most cases of Lyme disease in the nation. I know a LOT of people who have had it including most of my neighbors. I also know personally two people who have died from complications resulting from not being diagnosed early, including a friend of my wife's who was sitting on the floor paying with her 2-year old son when she fell over dead. They claim it was because of organ damage from having lyme disease three eyars earlier. They estimated that she had it for two years before it was diagnosed. My neighbor across the road got it last spring and spent some time in the hospital. neigbor lady to the north got it and was on health leave of abcense for six months. She is a nurse and caught it pretty early.

Problem is, the tests are not very reliable. It is amazing to me that my family has not gotten as much time as we spend in the woods. My wife tought our boys from a young age to look themselves over very carefully inthe shower every time they come in from paying in the woods.
 
6x6 said:
I dont know if its true, but I always heard you should save any ticks you find latched on, so it can be tested for it. Who knows.
Click to expand...
I pulled a tick off me last spring after a morning of turkey hunting. I felt pain in the area, that's why I looked at it. Had a decent welt starting by the time I drove home. I put the tick in a pill bottle and took it to the Doc with me on Monday morning.

The tick was sent to the State Hygienic lab where they did confirm that it was a deer tick.

My Doc did his residency in Wisconsin, said that the bite area did not look like Lyme, commented he should know cause he'd seen tons of cases in Wisc. He put me on antibiotics anyway.
 
I picked it up 2 summers ago in Minnesota... Its nasty stuff!

I had fever, UNBELIEVABLE migraines, and crazy muscle and joint aches, especially in the neck/shoulder area... just wears ya down, but those are the initial symptoms. If left untreated, it goes after your organs, immune system, you name it. It can do widespread damage.. and long term! I was hard sick for 2.5 weeks before doctor diagnosed it... just stubborn on my part for not getting checked out.

I had the bullseye, but I was told it only shows up some of the time, so GET CHECKED OUT if you suspect it.... way better safe than sorry with Lyme, and like Iowa1 said, its not always detectable in the tests, so if there is reasonable suspicion of it being Lyme, take the meds anyways. If you don't catch it early, the medication isn't guaranteed.... damn ticks!
 
Last edited:
I had lymes disease about three years ago... It absolutely sucked... I got flu like symptoms to the point where i thoughtmy head was going to explode... At that point i went to the dr. he told me i had the flu... Then about three days later i still felt like i had the flu and i could not move my head because my neck was super stiff. At around that time i got a circle type rash all over my body. So i went back to the dr. and they took a blood test and put my on antibiotics... Not a very fun experence!
 
Amputate.... right below the neck....

:grin:

Let us know what you find out, Billy. Hope its nothing!
:way:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom