If you live in the Northeast understand that Lyme Disease is now epidemic.
Zika is getting all the funding $$$ and press time but Lyme is very bad. Take it
from a guy who has been fighting Lyme all summer. It's been mostly a
generalized joint pain and chronic fatigue. For a long time people said to look
for a kinda red bull's eye rash after a deer tick bite. That is NOT always
true. If you got a tick this summer or get a one during hunting season
then see a Doctor.

Lyme's is one reason our old hunting camp was sold, plus everyone was getting old.. Scary when I visit relatives in that country.. Best of luck keeping safe..

Its been a big issue out here for years. The best thing you can do for prevention is wear protective clothing and avoid times when ticks can be more active. I spent many years doing field surveys for the Forest Service and developed a habit of hitting the shower immediately after coming in from the field. Those little buggers usually spend a fair amount of time crawling around on you and your clothing before they find someplace to bore in. I always felt that getting rid of your field clothes and blasting yourself off with water probably went a long way with prevention. Best of luck with your condition Hotload.

Lyme's Disease isn't the only tick-born virus. There's a nasty little bugger called the lone star tick (smaller than the average tick, and with a white dot on its back), prevalent in the south and showing up now in the mid-Atlantic region that carries STARI/Master's disease and a particularly nasty condition that makes one allergic to red meat- but it doesn't carry Lyme's, that's the domain of the common deer tick. Think about that- red meat allergy. I know two people here where I live that contracted it. The one person, a lady, was halfway through a steak dinner in a restaurant when she felt ill, headed toward the restroom, and went into anaphalitic [sp] shock on the way. Ambulance, emergency room, etc. Then her son, who is my hunting pard, developed the same symptoms. This virus is spreading rapidly.

Screw Zika. I'm not likely to get pregnant, and can endure flu-like symptoms. But Lyme's or this other new one would lay me low.

The scary thing is I'm going to their place on Saturday for a crab feed. I'll be armed with 20-30% Deet, will take a hot shower immediately afterward, and do 100% body searches with the GF (one positive unintended consequence of living amongst ticks ).

I beat down STARI two years ago. My local doc said that since I did not test positive for Lyme's I did not have a tick borne disease.

Told him it was time to switch docs and went to Duke. They confirmed, hit me hard with antibiotics for 3 months, and thankfully I am OK now.

Don't play around with this stuff.

Here is what we are up against:



I had 5 or 6 larval stage ticks on me and thought they were just chiggers. Treated them as such and thought no more about it. About 3 weeks later I felt like a Mack truck had hit me.

Good posting.

I've had more cases in the last two years of those tiny ones you can't see or feel till they turn red and get itchy. So far no problems.

Lyme Disease is just not the disease-of-the-minute, but it is really an issue for outdoorsmen and people who have to work in the woods.

One of my hunting buddies in upstate NYS was a really type-A guy. Did everything at max effort, which made him a great bird hunter, among other things.

But he also thought he was immortal. Ignored symptoms of Lyme until one day he was driving up in the Adirondacks with his family and said to his wife (an RN) "You know, I guess I really SHOULD see a doctor." She said, "OK, I'll make you an appointment." He said, "No, I mean RIGHT NOW!" A hour later he was in the back of a volunteer fire dept. truck with a volunteer EMT placing a temporary pacemaker in him to keep his heart going. Lyme disease inflammation of the pericardium. He survived but never quite recovered, and died recently (10 years later at 58) from complications. A good guy, a talented, useful guy gone early for no good reason.

I moved out of the NE almost ten years ago but still have my blood tested every time they do blood work. Not a thing to screw with, guys.

Mike Armstrong aka Mesa

Really sorry to hear about your buddy and 58, just a little older than I, is way too young to go. But there is a huge cautionary tale to be told in your recounting of his experience. Again, so sorry to hear of someone going well before their time.

Sad story about your friend Mike. My insurance pays for a full physical every year. I'm going to start having them check. I actually had a bulls eye show up where I pulled a tick off, and it tested negative at least 5 times. I felt like crap for a couple years. Never real sick, just not good. I had a pile of tests and the final result was stress related. I had just lost my delivery job due to other medical problems, had to go on the night shift, my Dad passed, who was always my best friend, my Mom was in a bad car accident, my wife got sick and almost bled out, so I did have a pile of stuff going on, but I didn't feel stressed. Then, after the doctor said it was stress, I started to concentrate on chilling out, my wife got better, my mom got better, and I started feeling better. That was around 2004. Then a couple years later the symptoms came back, more tests, still negative. I feel pretty good now, but, while they are doing blood work, might as well check that too, Joe.

In 1998 Smith Kline came out with a vaccine for Lime disease. "Lymerix" as I recall. A series of shots that you took. Initial shot, one 1 month later, one 2 months later and one 1 year later. I think I started the series about 1999. By 2002 it had been taken off the market. Apparently a small percentage on the people that took it had averse reactions to it and sued Smith Kline. At the time I was working as a Forester for a large wholesale Christmas tree farm and I can tell you nobody has pulled more ticks out of bad ass places than I have over the years. Probably got bit by hundreds or thousands that I didn't even know about. I can't believe anybody has had more exposure in the past 25 years than I have. I never had any adverse reaction to any of the shots I took.

Never contracted lime disease despite most of my colleges who didn't take that series of shots when it was available. Many of them currently have serious health problems as a result.

So there is chemistry out there that could help most people. In the world we live in where legal liability and profitability takes presidence, this is the result.

Me, I just got lucky.

I live 15 miles from Lyme ,Ct. where the disease was first diagnosed. Been lucky to have never contracted it, but know plenty of folks who have. I use Sportsman's Repel , never had a tick on me while using it. The deer ticks also carry babisiosis and erlichiosis , diseases that are as bad or worse than Lyme. Seresto collars work great for dogs, a little pricey - about $50 ,but they're good for 8 months.

Ticks are bad around here in early spring.

Almost makes me wished they hadn't banned DDT.( I said "almost")

Lee

I think that by the time DDT was banned it really wasn't very effective anymore. At least that seems to be the story.

Very interesting off topic. I was curious as to the identity of the ticks pictured. Is the small one a deer tick, and the next smallest a lone star tick? What are the 2 larger ones? Thanks, Mike

Took my first dose of doxycycline this morning, positive for Lyme. Had about a week of low grade fever, rash all over the torso. Not sure where I got bit by a tick, but though it was related to a spider bite. Anyways, a lot of joint pain, and tired ALL the time. Hope this antibiotic isn't too bad on my gut.

That is the life stage of a tick. From larvae to adult.

I went years working in the woods without being bothered by those little bast*rds then one day it seemed like the flood gates opened up. I even pulled a tick off me once in the middle of the winter with snow everywhere while staying in a USFS barracks. I was doing office and not field work at that time. Thanks for posting pictures of their life cycle.

Go to your doctor and state the case you live/work/enjoy the outdoors. Have him/her prescribe you a broad spectrum antibiotic such as erythromycin. If you get a tick that is attached for 24 hours take it prophylactically for 7 to 10 days (preventatively) and that should take care of it. It is a proactive approach and it works.

Thanks, Mike

In early summer I went to the doctor because of joint pain. The Doc did a blood workup
which came back with the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi ( deer tick Lyme Disease ).
Been told I have a good Doc because tens of thousands people are mis-diagnosed
every year. And that Lyme Disease is difficult to detect and testing may be innacurate.