I Think I Was Bitten By a TICK-(need direction)

[Misfit Toy]

I posted about methylation yesterday and how in trying to do so my pain has amped up, but it occurred to me last night that on Wed, I may have been bitten by a tick.

I decided to sit in the sun and I was laying back and I felt a bite. When I looked down, what I saw looked like a tick was on my ankle and I took my finger and got it off of me. It left behind a little dot where I was bitten.

No rash or bulls-eye, etc. I was concerned at the time, but nothing happened. Yesterday, (Friday) my pain started going nuts and it's not normal pain. My feet and hands are killing me and I can't get relief. I put on a Butran's pain patch and it didn't touch it. Also, behind my eyes hurts. It hurts to walk.

I emailed my CFS doc and he actually called me, which is rare. he doesn't believe it's Lyme but inflammation due to the bite. He only prescribed me 3 days worth of Doxycyline.

I have already had one day's worth of Doxy.

I knew that didn't sound right and @zzz just reminded me that I need 4 weeks worth.

I am scared, as he hates to prescribe antibiotics. he is extremely conservative regarding abx. If I call him on Monday and say I need more, he may so "no."

Does anyone have any suggestions as almost all of my docs hate prescribing antibiotics. I don't know what to do and I am running low on funds to see an LLMD. They cost a fortune. I have spent almost $700 on meds this month alone. LLMD's cost about $250 for a first time appointment. Correction-found an LLMD that I used to go to actually...he is $450 for a first time appointment. He used to take Medicare and doesn't anymore. Robbery.

I have Common Variable Immune Deficiency so I can't fight things and my IGG is low, plus I have the Sjogrens on top of CFS. I can't fight infections due to the CVID.

Thank you.

 

[sscobalt93]

I dont think you have much to worry about. You usually do not feel ticks bite you. Also ticks have to be on for at least 12 hours to be a real cause for concern. If you are worried take your doxy for the 3 days and get tested in 4 weeks. Plus the symptoms to not happen that fast. Most cases in Lyme do no manifest right away. Sometimes they take years. You were probably bitten by a chigger or an ant. The pains are from methylation I can almost guarentee that. I can understand the worry, but try to stay calm. The more you worry the worst your 'symptoms' will be. If you are truely scared make you can always take natural antibiotics for a little bit. Even though I doubt you have much to worry about.

 

[Misfit Toy]

No, it wasn't an ant..I would have seen an ant and that is not what it was. It was tiny and black. It may not have been a tick, but I still am concerned because I have CVID and low lymphocytes. I have Lymphopenia and I can't afford another disease. Literally.

From what I have read, symptoms can come on within 3 to 30 days.

 

[sscobalt93]

Okay symptoms CAN come within 3-30 days. Not that the WILL. You felt the tick bite you, that just doesn't happen. If it did it would be a lot easier to detect these little guys. You also only had the 'tick' on you for a minute tops. This would make your risk FAR less than having it on for 12-24 hours which is when it becomes a cause for concern. You are not even for sure if you have been bitten by a tick. Have you tired upping your potassium to see if this helps with issues? Could have been a flea. Fleas bite and you can feel them. Fleas are also small and black.

 

[adreno]

If it had been a tick, you wouldn't be able to remove it with your finger. Also, you wouldn't feel a tick bite.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Thanks, @adreno. Not familiar with this. Meaning, ticks.

As a child I was bit by one. It hung out in my ear and my dad had to get it out. I remember he put it in a jar. I don't remember feeling it, or not. I was quite enthralled at age 7 with my new pet tick!

 

[wombat]

If it had been a tick, you wouldn't be able to remove it with your finger. Also, you wouldn't feel a tick bite.

I've been bitten by lots of ticks in the past and agree 100%

 

[brenda]

@Misfit Toy

Although you do not usually feel the bite, and it usually takes more than a few minutes to transmit Lyme, and ticks are usually hard to remove with fingers, I don't think that anyone can say 100% that you did not contract it. However, I am more concerned about the bite in your ear when you were 7. Have you been tested before and how do antibiotics affect you? Testing is unreliable. Pain is one of the major symptoms of late stage Lyme. Can you get anyone to look at your blood through a darkfield microscope? You can see the bacteria. If you did contract it at 7 I would not go the antibiotic route as there are many natural methods like herbal and my method.

 

[Kathevans]

I agree with some of the above that this most likely wasn't a tick. My son had an infestation of them as a child when we were on Nantucket, and they are smaller than the head of a pin. To remove them, the docs in the ER put Vaseline on them to make them back out of the skin and then tweezed them off. He was given an antibiotic, but then, they removed nearly a hundred! He'd been playing in the bushes...

 

[brenda]

Nobody knows for sure how many insects are carrying Lyme. Mosquitoes do for a start.

 

[msf]

Do you have any evidence for that, Brenda? I am interested because I have never to my knowledge been bitten by a tick, but I definitely have been bitten by a mosquito!

 

[brenda]

Do you have any evidence for that, Brenda? I am interested because I have never to my knowledge been bitten by a tick, but I definitely have been bitten by a mosquito!

I developed a bullseye rash from a mosquito bite.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC266646/

 

[msf]

Thanks. It seems from the article that it might be possible, but I would like to see more studies of this kind before I start spraying myself with DDT.

 

[Misfit Toy]

@brenda -I've been tested so many times for Lyme. Always negative.

 

[brenda]

@brenda -I've been tested so many times for Lyme. Always negative.

I would question that. Others have shown negative then have found they did have it due to treatment. Your symptoms are suspicious if you ask me. Try the microscope test or buy one yourself and do it. I know someone else who found out like that. Many are treating it themselves.

 

[sscobalt93]

With how much LLMD's cost there's no reason not to try to treat yourself with all the information on the Internet

 

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