Damn ticks

so last Saturday I was dragging a bunch of branches from my back yard to the front where I loaded them into a trailer, and take them to the mulcher at the landfill. I ended up taking two trips, so a big ole pile of sticks. Then on Tuesday morning I crawl out of bed to let the dogs out and bumped my leg on a table and felt pain. I looked at my thigh and saw the red bullseye mark that everyone knows as the Lyme disease-carrying tick bite. I went to the doctor that morning and he looked at it and knew right away that I needed to start taking antibiotics. The next day I felt like I had been kicked by a pi$$ed off bull. Aside from the bullseye turning into a solid red welt and VERY sore, my back hurt, headache, dizzy, nausea. It took until Friday for me to feel anywhere close to normal, but the red spot on my leg still hurts and is the size of a coaster.
Anyone ever had Lyme disease? I'm wondering if/when the bitemark will go away? I am fortunate to have caught this so early. I heard stories of people not being diagnosed for a month and ended up in bed for almost a year, and some symptoms never did go away. And I never saw a tick.

Never seen any one with Lyme disease. That looks like it really sucks.

Yes I had a friend that had it, His wasn't diagnosed for 2 years. you wouldn't believe the changes in him both mentally & physically. PLEASE DO WHAT EVER THE DR. SAYS! Even after you start feeling better don't stop taking the medicine until your DR. says so.

Wow, that is not good. I hate ticks. When my GF and I would walk her dog sometimes we would find them on our legs, and luckily we got them before they imbedded into the skin.

Hope you get better soon.

Don

I just looked up Lyme disease, here is a pretty good writeup on it:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/

Don

donsrods said:

Wow, that is not good. I hate ticks. When my GF and I would walk her dog sometimes we would find them on our legs, and luckily we got them before they imbedded into the skin.

Hope you get better soon.

Don

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My understanding is that they burrow into/under the skin and need to be removed to start the healing [S

sawzall said:

Yes I had a friend that had it, His wasn't diagnosed for 2 years. you wouldn't believe the changes in him both mentally & physically. PLEASE DO WHAT EVER THE DR. SAYS! Even after you start feeling better don't stop taking the medicine until your DR. says so.

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I know a guy too that has it. He's been bed ridden for at least 10 years. From what I understand, it affects people differently and they don't really know of an absolute cure.
Take care of your self and do what the docs say for sure.

I worked with a guy that had it, they thought he had MS. He died from it after it put him in a wheel chair.

donsrods said:

I just looked up Lyme disease, here is a pretty good writeup on it:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/

Don

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I saw that one. Believe me, I read a LOT about it. My wife actually works at NIH Library of Medicine where that article is from. The doc said that 50% of people with Lyme dont show the bullseye, so dont go to the doctor. They just feel like they have the flu. While not taking the antibiotic the disease gets more of a foothold. So those that dont start the meds for a long time after the bite may not ever come back all the way. Lingering problems, possibly severe, make life miserable with stiff joints, pain, and general lack of energy.
Believe me, the whole huge bottle of pills will definately make their way down my gullet and hopefully I will wind up feeling no lingering effects. The biotch is that unlike some diseases, just because you get it once does NOT mean you wont get it again. It may not recur, but if you get bit again, you may get it all over again. Be careful out there, ladies and gents. Wear long clothes and repellant, and check yourself when you come back inside.

A friend's wife got it bad & she had to quit her killer job & had a tuff time for about 5 yrs. Some Dr's .& ins co's refuse to treat it with antibiotics & the patients are the ones who suffer! If you treat it quickly, you have a much better chance!

BoB

wow like already said do what your doctor says and by all means take care of yourself.

My one friend has it. sometime it put him down were he can not even get up or walk. They think he had to over two years before he was treated.