Anyone ever contract and have to deal with it before????

Symptoms etc....

Please post up!

My brother got it (works backwoods in western MA), but was lucky enough to recognize the bulls-eye around bite, and got the antibiotics right away. Unfortunately, most victims don't get a clear bulls-eye.

Symptoms are highly varied, depending on stage -- even Bell's Palsy (incl. facial paralysis). It's a long list -- check
http://www.medicinenet.com/lyme_disease/article.htm

If it goes really far, folks can be on an antibiotic drip for months. I've known 2 who got that far (2nd-hand).

Out west, the vectors seem more varied than back east.

Are you thinking that you have it?

Sonoma Valley is like the haven for that. My mother-in-law was very much at the center of tick born diseases and the studying of them a few years back. I have a call to her and I'll get you some info as soon as I here from her. Troy

I may have had a bout of it this past summer. Had fever and chills that lasted about a week and had a bug bite and red area about 4 inches in diameter at the inside of the knee. The doc gave me an antibiotic (doxycycline, I think), but didn't test for it (the test is not very accurate).

Thanks Troy!

BUZ, did yur bones and joints aches something fierce??

How big was the red area when you initially noticed it?

Beside the bulls-eye (which often is just a red area), FLU-like symptoms -- and in every flu I've had, my body ached, seemingly around the joints.

If you have a chronology of suspicious bites, and the "flu" within a couple weeks, go to the doctor. At worst, you will get strong antibiotics.

Back in 2003, I got a case of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever, caused by the Borrelia hermsii bug. Was very difficult to diagnose, as there are only about 20 cases per year in the US. Or, as my doctor said, “Wow, who ever heard of that?” Pretty sure I got bit while camping on the ground at the Mather campground on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The disease is pretty well described in this brochure:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Documents/TBRFbrochureFINAL.pdf

"Symptoms vary and diagnosis can be difficult. Lyme disease can start as a mild flu-like illness and then develop into severe chronic health problems. The early stages of the disease can include a red, expanding skin rash, chills and fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle and joint pain, weakness of some facial muscles and heart irregularities."

From here: http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/23071/files/insert-lymedisease-1up.pdf

I thought Lyme Disease was very rare on the East Side... coasts and the Central Valley mainly, I thought...

Got two small 5-6mm cylinder indications on my inner rt thigh. Know all about that symptom.

Nurse at the MMLH Family Clinic saw em this morning and scheduled me to see the Doc tomorrow along with a blood test. The only other physical symptom that I have noticed is some profound aches within my joints and bones. Specifically my hips and shoulders

As I figured, the nurse let me know that this a very common deal around these neck of the woods and shouldn't be a major deal if taken care of early as I am doing.

Too many folks ignore the obvious symptoms and get really really sick.

Rusty Gregory's Wife, the MMSA CEO, contracted it, waited too long and got really sick. She had to have both her hips replaced as it got into the joints and dissolved em. OUCH!

Well, I pulled a tick off my daughter last summer. I squeezed the dickens out of it and then put in a tupperware container. I kept it for about a month and then threw it out.

I got a chest rash, but thought it was from the lake water. Then I felt sick, feverish, tired, sore throat. Then my wrist hurt. The next day it REALLY hurt. The next day my other wrist started hurting. Then I noticed I couldn't open a diet coke bottle anymore, because it hurt so bad. When my ankle started hurting.....

I went straight to the ER. Antibiotics for a month. No questions asked. All symptoms went away. Was wishing I had kept the little bugger a bit longer!

The Chief wrote:Got two small 5-6mm cylinder indications on my inner rt thigh.

Yeah... ummm Chief... that might not be Lyme Disease...

Fletch wrote:

The Chief wrote:Got two small 5-6mm cylinder indications on my inner rt thigh.

Yeah... ummm Chief... that might not be Lyme Disease...

Antibiotics will work for that as well.

Seriously, the bulls-eye (or just red area) is usually a lot larger than 6mm.