Whoa, Sandy, very scary, huh? I hope you never develop any of the nasty symptoms of Lyme Disease!

I know I should be more vigilant than I am, but I have a tendency to ignore potentially dangerous things like mosquitoes and ticks by thinking, "it can never happen to me"........duh.

Thanks for the warning and I'll try to be more diligent. First on the list - Deep Woods Off. Mosquitoes don't bother me much, but they sure do Kenna. That sweet, young, succulent flesh is an invitation to a smorgasborg for them when she's around.

Susan

Take care of yourself Sandy. I had one on me for about 6 hours last week. Think I got lucky though. IMO ticks really suck.

randy

Oh my!
I'm sure your antibiotic will do the trick, Sandy, but that sounds scary! There are plenty of ticks in the woods here, but, knock on wood, so far I haven't gotten any on me. I use Advantix on my dogs, so they stay tick (and flea) free.
We need Advantix for people!
Sherry

Good you were able to find it and got the ring, so you knew to start it right away.

I use palmarosa oil in a bug spray to hep keep them off us. We usually just get dog ticks around here, but they could carry other diseases. Ticks are one of the very few bugs I hate!

Ticks definitely suck! This year there seems to be a lot of them, at least around here. Supposedly, we don't have the Lyme disease-carrying ticks here in Oklahoma. You wouldn't believe how many people I know that have had Lyme's disease or know someone who has had it--all here in Oklahoma. What's happening here in NE OK, is we are getting quite a deer population, especially in the burbs. They are everywhere!

BG, What is palmarosa oil, and where do you get it?

Randy, apparently there is a disease called STARSI, which is carried by the Lone Star Ticks. These ticks like to bite humans. And the disease has the same symptoms, effects, etc as Lyme's Disease. I read about it on the OK health site. The ticks I got into at the OCBG immediately attached themselves. Claudia and I were pulling ticks out as soon as we got to the car. Normally, ticks seem to like to roam and look for the best spot. And, I've been told, that they have to be attached for 24 or more hours to transmit diseases. That tick wasn't on me for more than 12 hours. I didn't have it on me when I got dressed in the morning, but I did when I got ready for bed. I think it transferred from my body to the car seat, and was waiting for another chance to hop back on for a meal. Going to have to figure out someway to check the inside of the car for ticks.

Sandy

Oh my! I do hope you will be okay...my fingers are crossed.

A number of years ago (and I am talking quite SOME time ago!), my Shih Tzu Britanny (yep, we're talking BT as in Before Tifanny!) had a tick. I got a phone call from my groomer who was quite hysterical.

"Sherry, just WHERE did you take this precious baby?!" "Huh?" "Britanny had a TICK! I pulled a good chunk of her HAIR off along with it!" "What?! A tick?! I haven't taken her ANYWHERE! Let me call Bill..."

ring-a-ding-a-ling "Sweetie? I just got this phone call. Did you take Britanny anywhere for a walk? Someplace unusual?" "We went looking for rabbits." "Rabbits? Where in the heck were you guys looking for rabbits?" "Oh, you know, the Back Bay. Why?" "WELL, I don't know why you were looking for rabbits..." "You know how she likes taking a walk in the Back Bay..." "Yeah, but, RABBITS?"

"This bunny hopped by so we thought we'd go check it out." "hmmm...well, I just got a call and am now on my way to go take Brit to the VET'S!!! She got a TICK and I don't even want to tell you just how hysterical the groomer is right now."

Needless to say, Britanny was fine. The tick went with me to the veterinarian's, and was promptly identified as a Brown Dog Tick. I still have the tick in a plastic baggy in my freezer. And, as an FYI...Britanny crossed the bridge, oh, over 13 years ago or so...

Bill will never live down the tick. Poor guy. ;P

So, I do hope, Sandy, that your tick story is as 'easy' as Britanny's (and not Bill's!).

CalSherry aka tdogmom

Palmarosa oil is an essential oil of the palmarosa plants--it is supposed to have tick-repellent properties. It is often used as a substitute for rose geranium oil because RGO is expensive. You can get essential oils at the Health Food Store.

I make a bug spray with different kinds of essential oils to ward off mosquitoes, fleas, black flies, and ticks. Used it on my big guy (dog) all the time--going to training centers, dog shows, hikes, etc. It helped, but the ticks would still find a spot where I didn't spray, such as his eyebrow. Tick checks still had to be done all the time.

Hope you're doing okay and not having to deal with side-effects of the doxy!

Loved your story, Tdogmom. Here dogs get ticks quite readily, and we just pull them off. But, I wouldn't take a dog into the woods and subject them to deer ticks.

BG, yes, the side-effects are not fun. But, aches and pains are getting better, as well as the bad headache I had. I am very hopeful that this takes care of everything.

Thanks for all the expressed concerns.

Sandy

Sandy, A HUGE THANK YOU for this post. I got a tick bite last week and thanks to you, I recognized that I had a problem with the bite and went to the doctor today. Now I will also be on doxycyclene for 14 days. Appreciate the heads up.

Ms. Faith

Ms. Faith,

I hope you are doing OK on the antibiotic. The doctor only gave it to me for 10 days, and I'm finally through. I had a blood test done last Thursday as Minor Emergency didn't do one. My doctor wants to know for sure just what it is.

Ticks are really bad this year. I have a feeling there are going to be more cases, especially with our increasing deer population in Oklahoma. Here in the Tulsa area, you can see deer in the suburbs. I read that the only way to eradicate Lyme's disease is to decrease the deer population.

Thinking about you and what you are experiencing. I am finally sleeping again--still have my headache and some pains in arms and legs. Hoping this will all go away. Also, be sure to stay out of the sun. I've had a reaction. I had to mow and my hands felt like scalding water was being poured on them. So, I've carried around an umbrella, and covered up from head to toe as much as possible. It's like sun poisoning, causing big red, blotchy, tender areas.

Take care and keep me updated on how you are doing.

Sandy