Lyme disease question
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Franzen
17-Apr-17
I wouldn't be too concerned about finding that "answer". The science around lyme always seems to be evolving, thus one can't put a lot of certainty in today's best guess. I think I would assume every tick can transfer and protect yourself accordingly. Good luck with the turkeys.
From: Buck Watcher
17-Apr-17
I know 2 people that have Lyme disease. Both from a regular (large) Wood Tick. Central WI.
http://eekwi.org/critter/insect/ticked.htm
From: Charlie Rehor
17-Apr-17
I live 40 miles from Lyme, CT and we've been dealing with ticks for 35 years. The disease here is transmitted to the tick via their first blood feeding and comes from mice (we have a lot of old sone walls). The ticks don't have the disease until they feed from the mice. It's different every where but its likely the specie they get their first feeding from is the culprit.
My advice is never look for a "harmless tick" but avoid at all costs by spraying with permethrin.
From: Butternut40
17-Apr-17
Dermacentor variabilis (American Dog Tick)
From: Grubby
17-Apr-17
I'm up by lake of the woods, I've had 2 dogs contract lymes, I had a deer tick on me yesterday. A few years ago it was unheard of here. Take precautions against it.
From: sticksender
17-Apr-17
I don't care to be bitten by ANY tick, but for what it's worth, the CDC says: "The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks. The blacklegged tick (or deer tick, Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. The western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast."and...."Ticks not known to transmit Lyme disease include Lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum), the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), and the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)."
From: Fuzzy
17-Apr-17
sticksender, that was the info I was going to post. Tere also seems to be another variety of Lyme, and "are not known to" doesn't mean "can't". Charlie Rehor posted a very good layman's explanation of vector/reservoir relationships and transmission mechanism. I can't add anything to that. Bottom line, avoid tick bites.
From: Jeff Durnell
17-Apr-17
Jeff Durnell's Link
Take anything the CDC says about Lyme disease with a MONUMENTAL sized grain of salt.
No Lyme in dog ticks? Lyme has been found in, and understood to have been passed to humans by fleas, mosquitoes, flies, mites, and other biting insects... It's also been passed in utero, and may be sexually transmitted as it's been found in semen and vaginal secretions... and you won't hear any of that from the CDC. How about a little cut on your finger coming into contact with the blood, urine, synovial fluid and such of an infected deer?
Plenty of reading at the link
From: r-man
17-Apr-17
you may not see the one that gives you Lyme D. You can find the big ones and yet may miss the little deer tic . Get a high fever with out any other common cold problems and see a DR. Like most spiral bacteria they can enter man ways .
From: t-roy
17-Apr-17
Lyme disease is VERY often misdiagnosed. A friend had it and it was misdiagnosed for several years before they figured out what he had. They even removed his gall bladder, thinking that what's what was causing his symptoms.
I saw an article just the other day about a treatment that supposedly cured a girl of her Lyme disease. They used some sort of hyperthermic (high temperature) therapy. The procedure was performed in Germany I believe.
From: Mad Trapper
17-Apr-17
Lone star ticks can transmit it as well. Never heard of anybody getting it from a wood tick, but it would not surprise me. Modern medicine is still struggling with understanding Lyme. Many MD's still swear that it doesn't exist. If you think that you may have it, I would seek out a specialist. There are a few good ones out there and they will admit that they are still learning. I know of a few people who would not be here today had they not sought treatment from a specialist.
From: jjs
17-Apr-17
Spray down when out and check yourself after the hunt. Lost a son last year from lyme, developed A-fib while on treatment and his heart stopped while working from home. Stop at your local vet office and they will have all the information on tick born diseases in your area. Hunt smart and be smart, ticks are no joke.
From: Bowriter
17-Apr-17
My son was misdiagnosed. I finally had to step and threaten a lawsuit to get him treatment. He has had no problems since...EXCEPT...he contracted muscular dystrophy at age 36. I have no idea if Lyme disease was a contributing factor or not. I do know, the symptoms in the early stages were quite similar. Do not count on seeing a bulls eye rash. He had nothing of that nature. His started with a a stiff neck, low-grade fever and overall soreness.
From: IdyllwildArcher
17-Apr-17
Amazing to see a medical thread on Bowsite that's actually got a bunch of good and accurate information in it...
From: Skip72
17-Apr-17
I contracted Lyme disease around 5-6 years ago. I got really fatigued and achy driving home from a hog hunt in Florida. I never saw a tick, no rash, just flu like symptoms. A couple days later side of my face became paralysed ( bells palsy- looks like a stroke). Called my MD, asked about ticks and such, drew blood and sent me immediately to a neurologist. He said 80%of the time bells palsy-, esp in summer, is from Lyme. So he started me on Doxycycline. Two days later I was better, no problems since as far as I know. ( Old guy here- lots of arthritis, joint aches and such, but probably age related, not Lyme). The blood test later confirmed my MD's suspicion and the neurologist's diagnosis. Point I'd that Bell's palsy is a common symptom. I didn't know that before.
From: jstephens61
17-Apr-17
BTW, if they put you on doxycycline, stay out of the sun, even on a cloudy day. Got the worst sunburn a couple years ago after I found a deer tick on my chest. Doctor and pharmacist neglected to tell me about that side affect.
From: Charlie Rehor
17-Apr-17
Skip72: Your Doc nailed it. You are lucky he was aggressive. Many Doc's wait for the results and often it comes back negative.
jstephens61: Right on, the sun will fry you when on those meds.
From: Jeff Durnell
17-Apr-17
There are other antibiotics that kill Lyme bacteria that we should take in the summertime. Don't take Doxy. It makes your eyes very sensitive to light too.
I had Lyme 4-5 years ago. Spent most of the day in bed in unbelievable pain, heart would stop beating, breathing too. Was misdiagnosed due to CDC and insurance guidelines, self-diagnosed after much study, and sought a Lyme specialist. He fixed me up. Was on antibiotics for a year and a half... sometimes 3 different ones at a time. That was a dark time in my life. Thought I could die in my sleep and in some ways, it wouldn't have been all bad. I don't ever want to go there again. Just sprayed my clothes with permethrin again an hour ago.
Oh btw, I never saw the tick or whatever that bit me and never had the bullseye rash. Only 1 in 3 "diagnosed" with Lyme had the rash.
From: Sage Buffalo
17-Apr-17
The best advice I was given is if you get sick and go to the DRs often and they can't figure it out ALWAYS tell them you are an outdoorsmen and often handle animals with ticks.
Once they know you do they will test you faster.
I have know friends whose Dad's/Uncles were sick for years before they were diagnosed and it was bad news.
I actually think Lyme disease and detection should be taught in Hunters Ed.
From: Grunter
17-Apr-17
Went for a 10 minute walk yesterday in central Wisconsin through a 3 year old clear cut.
No kidding, I had 12 ticks on me. Luckily only 1 was attached and only for a short time. Won't be walking in that area again till bow season that's for sure
From: WV Mountaineer
17-Apr-17
Diagnosed 20 years ago, I was lucky. 30 days of some strong antibiotics and, two huge syringes of some blue antibiotics later, I was back. The Doctor told me that the antibiotics were the same that they gave people exposed to HIV. I was lucky. Doctor started med's before the blood test came back due to the bullseye rash on my butt. I went in with a 103 degree fever and, 10 minutes after the two shots, I was down to 99.8. It is some bad stuff fellas. Never felt so bad in my life. And, life has been rough at times. God Bless men
From: Tonybear61
17-Apr-17
I am a 25+ yr survivor of Lyme's picked up in MN or Western WI.. CDC has missed up to 300K new cases of the disease on a annual basis. Lyme's isn't the only tick borne disease you need to worry about. There are over a dozen AND you can get more than one at a time (co-infection) AND just because you have been treated once doesn't mean you can't get it again.
See if you can get Betty Malone's Lessons in Lyme series. Fills in a lot of gaps on the mystery around this disease and proper treatment.
The disease has been around for a long time Otzi (The Tyrolean Ice man) had it, about 5,000 years ago.
From: notme
17-Apr-17
I live in the lower end of ct and the tick numbers are huge here. Ive been fortunate that everytime i found one latched on ( at least 6 times) i would bring it to my dr and he would start me on dxy right away rather than wait.lost count on how many times i had symptoms after the fact
From: Genesis
17-Apr-17
Permethrin isn't worthless maybe you didn't mix it correctly? Used it with great success for many years...
From: safari
17-Apr-17
Lyme is easy when you have had Babesiousis. Same mouse vector same tick, used to be called Nantucket Fever. Same symtoms as malaria, same treatment, and can come back at any time without reinfection like malaria. That crap almost killed me. The Prov. RI VA hospital found it with the help of an infectious disease specialist that was my primary care Dr. Permethrin my friends.
From: Tonybear61
18-Apr-17
My camo sprayed with permethrin works well.
One morning in the turkey blind my wife placed one on me that was crawling on her camo (non-permethrin) and the thing went nuts couldn't get off of me fast enough.
From: Genesis
18-Apr-17
I use Doxy a lot in my practice.... Skin sensitivity is photo toxic and patient /dose dependent.Use sunscreen,limit direct sunlight for long periods ....It doesn't make many patients eyes sensitive in fact it helps regulate the oils in tears and provides more ocular comfort in many.
From: Fuzzy
18-Apr-17
whoa! Otzi had Lyme disease?!
From: Glunt@work
18-Apr-17
I went from ticks every year to never having one when I started using Permathrin.
From: Mad Trapper
18-Apr-17
I have used Permethrin for years. It works. If you thoroughly sprayed and still had a tick, then you had a bad batch.
From: Cocoon Man
18-Apr-17
I used to spray my clothing with Permethrin but found it easier to send clothing in to a company called Insect Shield and have it treated. Its good for 70 washes, the effective life of the garment. The cost was $10 per item. I do spray my boots, gloves, hat and day pack. I spray my truck seat covers also in case I have one on my equipment. I have not had a tick on me since I started using Permethrin about 6 years ago.
From: Huntcell
18-Apr-17
Huntcell 's Link
Try this link if your interested in getting your clothes treated.
From: huntr4477
18-Apr-17
I watched ticks climb up my permethrin treated pants leg and drop off dead before they made it up to my knee! The stuff works!!
From: Tonybear61
18-Apr-17
Otzi was also killed by a broadhead, shot into him form below...
From: mission man
20-Apr-17
First off any tick can transmit Lyme disease. If detected early no problems, if it's like my situation where I went years with it big problems! Don't think my life will ever be the same!
From: Gerald Martin
23-Apr-17
Scoot, I didn't read through all the replies but my wife contracted Lymes from a wood tick. Local docs said it wasn't possible, but we dont' have deer ticks in MT and I kept the tick that bit her and it was definitely a wood tick. The Lymes specialist that she finally got help from after suffering symptoms for a year and a half told us that any insect that bites an infected vector and then bites you can transmit Lymes. That could include fleas, any tick, potentially mosquitos..... By far and away the most cases of Lymes come from deer ticks but other ticks can transmit.
From: Jeff Durnell
23-Apr-17
Exactly Gerald. My Lyme specialist said the same thing and it just seems like common sense. It's downright criminal how uninformed and negligent others in the medical field are about this epidemic. I don't put all of the blame on the doctors, nurses, surgeons and such though because many of their failing diagnostic and treatment protocols are dictated by the government and insurance agencies. It's a mess and countless people suffer needlessly because of them.
From: arlone
25-Apr-17
Like Gerald, I didn't take time to read every thing above, but from an article I just read some where(?) all ticks can transmit some kind of a serious illness/disease, so precautions should be taken. My brother and his wife live in east central Minn. and both have had limes, so they save all "stuck" ticks and record where it was found in case symptoms appear. Good luck with the turkeys. Never been there, but my Grandmother was born in Ada.
From: greenmountain
25-Apr-17
I have learned a few things about Lyme disease. I have been bitten by black legged ticks(deer ticks) many times. I have been tested several times but this is the first problem. Many times certain tests give you false negative results while others give false positives. The medical community is more fractured than the tests. I know of some doctors who have never diagnosed Lyme while others treat for Lyme in over 90%of the people who seek advice there. In between those poles the truth probably exists. I hope in the near future we get better more accurate testing and doctors who are open to learning more in this area.
