I'm sorry! ew!

That must be so upsetting. I can't imagine what it is like to go through that. I hope everything is OK.

As I have recently had explained to me: blood pests usually go after people who's blood is really low on vitamin A or one of the many B's. My mother's blood always tested well within normal ranges, yet she got bit if there was any pest around. When she started taking a multi-B drops under her tongue all the bites stopped. If she slacks up on taking them, we all know it, she starts getting bit again.

Recently I went in search of a new bottle of Super B Complex for Mama, when I asked where they had been moved to the girl at ???mart told me that B-12 and Multi-B complexes were the same thing. I left. Someone that dumb didn't need my money.

Mosquitoes seem to go for blood that is low on A. That's what Mama's Naturalist Dr. told her a few years back. And it has worked for Mama so far.

Good luck, l.marie

Interesting, 1.marie. I doubt that I'm low on B because I've taken a B-50 complex for years and recently added extra biotin because of the hair loss. Vitamin A is a possibility, though. I eat a lot of carrots and dried apricots, but I don't supplement with it. Perhaps I should.

I'm surprised that you found it too....mostly because I thought they were so tiny they're hard to see. Hopefully you still have some remnants of the antibiotic in your system and you won't have any further problem, or that this particular tick wasn't carrying anything to infect you with. Good news is that you found it!

I'm well-versed in tick development at this point. Deer ticks are very tiny in the nymph stage, which is when they're most likely to infect someone. The risk is high at that stage because they're so small. I was bitten twice at that stage and found the ticks only by accident, in the shower--by touch.

The one I found tonight is an adult, about 1/8" long. Still considerably smaller than a dog tick, but a lot easier to see than the nymphs. In my case, I felt it crawling on my neck. I thought I might be imagining it because I've become paranoid about ticks, but no.......

I have a friend that had Lyme's disease from a deer tick but he wasn't as lucky as you were to find the tick and the disease took hold, damaged his heart and had to have a pace maker put in. The good news is, that was about 16 years ago and he seems to be doing very well. I hate ticks and hate taking them off the dog. I have this little scoop that looks like a measuring spoon with a slit in it. It's great for removing the ticks from dogs...don't know what I'd do without it.

My preacher's wife was told this week she had Lyme's disease. We live in central Mississippi. They have several dogs that roam in the woods and come into their home. But not any more, they became outdoor dogs overnight. She was bitten in the pit of her arm.

alisande - are you okay? I can't believe you posted this. I just sent out a warning to all my friends here in Long Island with dogs. I'VE NEVER SEEN TICKS SO BAD AS THIS YEAR. And we've lived in the most tick prone areas and always had dogs.
I picked 8 off of Duffy and 5 off of Daisy -- and they are on all preventatives. Then this morning, I found one on myself. buried into my upper chest area.
crazy, crazy stuff.
But, doesn't mean that we all have Lyme. It's the Deer ticks that you have to watch for.
As soon as I see one of my babies limping, they are at the Vets office for antibiodics.
As for Me, I'll watch the area.

Susan- that's awful. I can only hope that since you've been on antibiotics for a month that you have a healthy amount left in your system. Have you been doing yard work? Since it wasn't attached you're probably right that it didn't bite you. At least that's what we'll hope for.

Recently, I heard on the radio and also read on the internet about the prevalence of ticks in bush honeysuckle. This shrub makes up a great portion of the forest understory, and deer hang out there for protection.

We intend to remove this shrub from around our property in the winter, when the ticks are gone. Both my husband and I have found deer ticks on ourselves this year.

Bush honeysuckle is the shrub with the pretty red berries you see everywhere this time of year.

I don't think we have any bush honeysuckle in our woods, but I'll find out.

Trish, I can't imagine trying to find a deer tick on a St. Bernard! Let's hope the preventative does its job.

"My" tick died overnight. I would have thought there was enough air in the plastic bag to sustain it. But I don't think it much matters. I probably don't even need to call the doctor....I doubt he's going to want to inspect my head and neck for a bite. But I've become so wary of these things!

How awful! How do you get them, working in the yard? Or they just come in on pets?

Working in the yard. I still don't have a dog, and my cats haven't been outdoors since early spring. I try to stay away from tall grass, but yesterday I was taking down the spent sunflowers, which range from 4' to 12' tall. (The birds have consumed all the seeds.) I suppose ticks could have been in there. Deer walk my property all the time.

I just read LymeNet's recommendations for prevention. I'm going to order some Permethrin to spray on my clothing when I'm working outdoors. I was back in the sunflower patch again this morning, feeling very edgy. And itchy!

I'm like you. I freak out about them all the time. I never had Lyme but have friends who have and it ain't pretty. Really late last year in Oct. , in the middle of the night , I reached around and found one on the middle of my back. I got this in my own yard standing at my fence talking to a neighbor. I have a lot of bushes and shrubs. I got him out and my daughter took a sterilized needle and got any remaining parts out. I saved him an called the doctor and he prescribed one antibiotic pill. Is it just me but are the insects taking over the world? Bedbugs, fleas, ticks..

My late DH, who was a scientist, used to say insects would take over the world someday. I don't think he meant it would happen so soon, though!

Susan -- My Westie has offered to send you some of his Frontline. Do you have anyone handy to put it between your shoulder blades? (LOL)

The east side of our yard is bordered by a creek and a deerpath. I think 'our' deer must have moved to your area though, because I seldom see them as often as I did when we first moved here nine years ago.

I'm hoping that tick was just 'shopping' and didn't bite you!

Chisue, your Westie is wonderfully generous, but I'm afraid if I asked my nearest neighbor to apply it, he'd think I was making a pass at him. (You know how old-fashioned elderly farmers can be!) :-)

One of my cats had his annual vet visit this morning, and I had a nice chat with the vet about Lyme. She's much more knowledgeable about it than my internist. This did not surprise me. As nice as my doctor is, he's somewhat innocent where Lyme is concerned. The vet was surprised that I was on doxycycline for only one month. She treats dogs for two months.

I'm not an MD or a Vet and have never played one on TV (or radio), but...don't people diagnosed with Lyme take antibiotics for *many* months???

When DH was bitten by a spider and his MD said, "Oh, so what," I got good info by calling the entomology department at the Field Museum. A scientist there asked me to describe the bite and reaction, then said DH should start some heavy-duty antibiotics immediately because it was likely a Brown Recluse spider. The Poison Control Center hotline was also helpful.

As for the old farmer, he'd be the guy who has lived all his life in the house where he was born -- with his sibs, except for the one 'odd' sister who up and left to get married?

I'm not an MD or a Vet and have never played one on TV (or radio), but...don't people diagnosed with Lyme take antibiotics for *many* months???

Not necessarily. It depends on a number of things, including the duration of the illness and the number (and identity) of any co-infections. It's very hard to say if an individual is getting proper treatment.

As for me, I could pinpoint the day my symptoms started (before I found the tick), and I thought, based on my reading, that there was a good chance the bacteria could be knocked out by a month of doxy on top of the 10 days of amoxicillin the doctor had already prescribed. So far so good, although I'm still nervous about the whole thing. If any symptoms come back, I'll have to resort to seeing an LLMD (Lyme-Literate MD). I would not look forward to that. There are no LLMDs in my area, so I'd have to travel--and probably pay quite a bit if s/he doesn't take Medicare.

I know you are staying on top of it. Hope there are no 'interresting' developments. (Nobody wants to be an 'interesting' patient!)

You got that right, Chisue! LOL

I ordered two bottles of permethrin clothing spray from Amazon--one for me and one for my son, who is always knee-deep in weeds and brush as he clears his building site in the woods.

It always feels a little better to take positive action.

Actually, it's easy to find them. If I see them scratching, that's a tick. Then just by petting them, and going over every inch, if you feel a little bump, that's a tick. Especially on their heads and faces.