Sorry you need to take antibiotics, this does sound serious. Wishing you a fast recover.

Lyme disease has been widespread here for a number of years. Every year we get warnings on the media to not be around stagnant water (mosquitos harbour there), empty containers that hold water, etc.

Good luck with your antibiotics, and I hope you come through free and clear Susan!

It's amazing what they can find out through analysis! I hope you end up healthy and well.

Hope the antibiotics work for you.

Sheesh! Sounds like a person should just stay inside; I'm sorry you are going through that!
Suzan J

I'm sorry Susan. Hopefully by acting so quickly, you will knock this out.
The first symptoms I recall having were fatigue and a crazy stiff neck.

Mike McGrath has a gardening show on NPR radio and for the most part I like his ideas. He is a die hard organic gardener foregoing almost every synthetic chemical on the market. He used to be on the staff of Rodale and was the former editor of Organic Gardening.

The link below lists his top 10 suggestions to avoid or reduce ticks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ticks

Forgot to add - this is one area where he does endorse chemicals. Check out the section on Tick Tubes. You can make these yourself out of PVC or purchase the cardboard tubes that have cotton balls with permethrin. The mice take the cotton balls back to their nests and it kills the ticks. It doesn't even hurt the mice. But it's apparently fairly effective.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tick Tubes

Good thing you know what to look out for and do in keeping yourself healthy Alisande.
It still must be disconcerting.
Take care :)

Lyme disease is very serious, thank goodness you started the meds quickly. The doxy itself is a serious med too. I had a tick bite with red around it so doctor started me on it immediately, luckily mine came back negative.
Rebecca Wells author of the yaya books darn near died from Lyme disease she has long term problems.

Take care and I sure hope you have good results.

Ooooooh, Nooooo! Not again! How many times now, Susan?

We put the Frontline on our Westie yesterday. DH has seen deen several times this month -- and it is hotter than H here already, in mid-March. Scary weather.

Hmm...any Frontline for YOU? Something you could *wear*?

Hmm...any Frontline for YOU? Something you could *wear*?

Sort of. I have an excellent spray that I used on my gardening pants and socks last year. You spray your clothes when they are not on you, and let them dry for 2 hours. Then they can be worn. The spray lasts through 6 washings. This year I'm going to spray a lot more than my gardening clothes. After all, I walk through the yard on my way to the car all the time--or go out for the mail, etc.

Thanks for the link, Maire. I'm going to take the info to heart. I wonder if the declining mouse population will affect the efficacy of the tick tubes. Probably worth trying anyway. I really have to do something! I worry about my grandson and his parents next door, too. Although I seem to be the tick magnet in the family. That's what my doctor calls me.

Sue, I think this is the third confirmed infection. Or maybe the fourth. But there have been many more ticks and other tick bites in years past.

Oh dear, Susan! I am so sorry you are going thru this but am so glad you found it so quickly. My husband was bit last year, and he too had to have the antibiotics. Luckily he was over it quickly. He was the first case in our county.

Hope you heal quickly. Good thing you are in tune with your body, and knew what to look for.

Susan- What is the spray you use on your clothes?

So glad you found that tick when you did. We live in a tick-infested area, too. Two of my grandchildren, as well as their dog, have all had Lyme disease recently.

This is the clothing spray I use (Sawyer Premium Permethrin Clothing Spray).

I think I'll order more.

Thank you for the link. I'm going to order some today.

Good. I read up on the Tick Tubes, and will probably make some myself. I think we have some PVC pipe hanging around here somewhere. You can line the pipe with heavy fabric (old rug, or felt) sprayed with permethrin. Mice, enjoying a cozy shelter, will enter the pipe. All ticks on the mice will then be killed. The mice will be fine.

Deer do not infect ticks with the various bacteria; the mice do that. Deer and humans are simply sources of the ticks' "blood meals."

Add some of the cotton balls too so that they take it back to their nest.

The whole Lyme disease - tick thing is really upsetting. One of my neighbors who lives near our place in upstate PA told that he took his puppy out for a walk in the woods last summer and when they came back she had 15 ticks crawling on her. He said it was the worst he'd ever encountered and he was thankful that his dog was white so that he could find them easier.

Well I screwed that up - our puppy is all black. Our vet has us doing both the flea and tick medicine and a flea collar whenever we head that way.

Good idea, Quilly--thanks!

I agree, Maire. It really is upsetting. At least veterinary medicine seems to have a handle on it. There's a vaccine for dogs, and possibly a reliable test. The first time I got infected I was prescribed 10 days of Doxycycline. I then asked for enough to get me to a month, and I thought that was good. But then my vet told me dogs are given 2 months worth! So I went back to my doctor and got more.

The really scary thing is that within our own health care system there's no consensus on appropriate treatment, and they're still relying on a quite unreliable test. I'm told there's a far better test out there, but it costs $500-700, and insurance won't cover it.

Insurance won't pay for the so-called Lyme Literate MD's either. I have my reservations about them, as apparently anyone can call themselves Lyme Literate and charge megabucks for their services.

Cure Unknown, an excellent book by a medical journalist, very well researched, tells how some researchers have found the bacteria of Lyme and its co-infections in patients with many other seemingly unrelated illnesses, including Parkinson's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). The same book, I believe, describes how a patient was actually cured of the latter disease after being treated with antibiotics for the Lyme. There's so much still not known about these infections, and the cases are multiplying like crazy.

I ordered two more books today. At least reading books on the subject makes me think I'm doing something.