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Watch out for those wood ticks


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I found out why I am so tired and weak, I got a call from the dr., and she said I did test positive for Lymes disease. I just don't have any energy, no appetite and my back hurts. I can't set here at the computer more than a few minutes and haven't been on here much at all. I get our e-mail in and get off again.

 

I do want you to know the News Letter will be very late, I will get it out as soon as I can though.

 

Watch out for those nasty ticks. :(

 

HAVEAGOODDAY.gif hugsgirlandflowers.gif

 

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Mtn.Man and I did some work today at the Little House cleaning up brush etc., and loading it in the truck. When I got out of the shower (that's the first place I head when I've been out in weeds or brush etc.) sure enough I found one of those nasty stinkers trying to pinch it's way into my skin. Did get him pulled out before much damage, cleaned with wintergreen alcohol & then Benydril ointment. Got one about a month ago too, so yes...they're just waiting for human beings! Abby-girl has her flea/tick meds that kill them if they bite, so we have to make sure she doesn't carry them to us!

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My neighbor, 65, is being treated for the second time this year.

The meds are getting stronger to fight the disease. He said

that once you get it ,each time is worse and harder to combat.

He said they are now injecting the med directly in his heart. I hope I heard him wrong.....

 

His work is the woods, he buys timber for firewood, logs for homes, lumber,

chips for smoking etc. He is one of those employers that do not ask his men do

anything he won't do. He works as hard as they.

 

He said by noon he has at least 20 ticks.deet does not work.......

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So sorry to hear that, Snowmom. :( Lymes is a hotly contested disease. Many say that it is forever .... Others go with the opinion that it can be cured by a round of antibiotics. My neighbors [both formerly from tick states] have been battling it for years. Have made progress but it's very complex.....[tho many docs say they disagree].

 

Good luck with treatment and the politics of this diagnosis. Read up on it, you're gonna need the data for yourself.

 

MtRider :pray:

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I will be slathering myself with DEET this weekend because my family reunion is held in a park that has far too many deer and waaay too many ticks. I only plan to put in an appearance and leave. I'm too paranoid for all of that.

 

Feel better soon, Snowmom!

Edited by themartianchick
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Mt. Rider is correct, there is a LOT Of controversy over this ailment. I know all too well. I had a confirmed case in 1996 and didn't know what it was. It was treated with ten days of Doxycycline several miserable months later when I was finally diagnosed officially as only the second case in our county which was NOT supposed to have the disease. And then it was only because I had not only had the known tick bite but also the circular rash which is typical but not everyone gets (I had even taken a picture of it thankfully) AND the required test results. By then I already had the heart involvement in the form of heart arrythmias as well as several months of flulike symptoms and only a very astute doctor recognized it for what it was given the rest of the symptoms. Now, at least, they will treat you for ten days if you have the bite and the circular rash but be aware, many people do not show positive on the first or even later tests as the bacteria is not alway found in the blood. You are lucky that your test DID come back positive, Snowmom.

 

It has all been downhill since that time for me. Pain, back problems that put me in a wheel chair much of the time, worsening alergies, heart abnormalities, overpowering fatigue, periodic dizziness, etc etc. Two years after the initial diagnoses, with no positive test results, I finally had a doctor who treated me aggressively with antibiotics for two months. I felt better for a while then worsened once again. It has been a constant battle to hold on to my health and two years ago I began to lose that battle. I have been tested numerous times with the results coming back that I have a high antibody titers to Lymes but no confirming western blot one, required by the CDC to PROVE you have the disease before a regular doctor will treat you for up to a month as the standard treatment. And in fact, there is no real proof that long term antibiotics will CURE the disease and there have been dozens of different protocols brought out over the years. I'm not sure that anything really has been proven to cure it but it has been shown that people who have it treated AGRESSIVELY at the START of the disease fare much better than those who aren't. As Mt. Rider says, long term treatment, not just with antibiotics but with a totaly protocol of some type, does give some good results but I'm not sure anyone who has had the disease, even early treated, is entirely free of it for life.

 

Please Snowmom, do your research. We do not have a Lyme knowledgable doctor in our area but perhaps you do. You can get that information from several of the Lyme Disease organizations, such as the International Lyme's Disease association along with a wealth of information about the disease.

 

Snowmom, I will be praying for your return to health. I know all too well the misery this disease can bring.

 

:bighug2:

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Mother,

Did they ever give you steroids? If so they destroy the immune system. With the antibiotics you show great improvement but if you are given steroids you lose all the ground you have gained and the symptoms reappear in a vicious cycle.

 

May I suggest that Ludem be researched? It might help you and Snowmom also for the rest of us.

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Twilight, no, I wouldn't take the steroids they offered. And no, I'm not better by any means. I had the aggressive treatment with antibiotics two years after contracting the disease and have only had ten or twenty days treatments since, each of which helped only marginally. I continue to get worse.

 

I didn't have insurance for years and now on medicare I find it won't cover any of the agressive treatments suggested by some in the Lyme field. I've tried a few of the herbal protocols (I was trained years ago as an herbologist) but found the die-off symptoms too difficult to handle. I have been referred to a Functional Medicine MD. and am waiting now to see if he will accept me as a patient. While not trained specifically in Lyme disease, he IS trained in integrative medicine. They not only try to uncover the disease but they try to uncover the reason the body is not fighting that disease and help the person with all different modalities to regain as much health as possible. It has taken me years to find such a doctor in our area, and this one is an hour away but am hoping I get into see him.

 

Thanks for your suggestion. I am always open to a new approach. I will be looking up Ludem.

 

:bighug2:

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Twilight, I found only one reference to Ludem, a capsule. But I wonder if you meant Ledum, a homeopathic remedy that is considered a standard for Lyme's and other insect bites. I have been using it a long time already.

:bighugs2:

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That's the bad thing, doctors refusing to treat because they do not know enough about the disease ? not sending to a specialist? not doing lab work? This disease has been around long enough research should have covered it. Yes there are other similar tick diseases but they should all be treated.

I read that all tick bites should be washed with alcohol and/or peroxide to remove the poison. If we are going to live in tick country we had better learn how to take care of ourselves....not sure we are going to get any help from the medical field.

So I am going to say wash thoroughly every time you come in from where there are ticks. If yellow soap will protect from poison ivy maybe it would protect from tick bite poison.

 

Being me I am going to wonder why /where the lyme disease came from to start with. We have always had ticks- I got acquainted with them when I was a small child.....Then they name a town after the problem because it was so prevalent in the area. Did a lab loose some disease carrying ticks or a diseased animal that infected the ticks?

What else could so devastate the animal/people population than the lowly tick.

 

Mother, yes, I misspelled Ledum.

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I think..... the other way around. They named the disease after the town out east where all this seems to have begun..... Conneticut?

 

 

I do believe there is a research facility in/near that town........ :tinfoilhatsmile:

 

 

What has never made sense is the response from docs. If you dare to continue to have the symptoms of Lyme after taking the accepted regiment of 2 wks or 2 months of antibiotics.....the docs attack you! :o Not just nebulous symptoms. Things that are proved on medical tests. Can't fake that.

 

 

Normally.....if you're still sick when a doctor has prescribed something and it didn't work, the USUAL AND SENSIBLE AND PROFESSIONAL response from any doc is to look into it further and continue to attempt to treat the patient. The response with folks who don't get better with Lyme complaints is to call them liars and shove them out the door. :scratchhead:

 

 

Me thinks he doth protest too much????? Revolting. Idiotically obvious. Irrational/Illogical response.

 

 

Course, they do that with MS too sometimes..... <_<

 

 

My friends were on antibiotics for over 2 years. Different kinds. And the spiro-thingy count did go down. They're doing better. But not cured. It's ROUGH on the body to withstand that much antibiotics. But....the alternative was worse. :( Fortunately they had a lot of support with alternative health care so they could stay healthy enough to continue. Their doc was writing out his will and putting his affairs in order when he finally discovered Lyme. As a result, he's still alive and recovered greatly, but even with all he knows, he's still got health issues. Older and retired now.

 

HIGH ratio of spouse having it too, btw. [hate to be gloom and doom.....Sorry! ]

 

 

MtRider :pray:

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Yes to town first. Lyme Conneticut where so many young people were being diagnosed with juvenile arthritis until the mothers started to protest. Unfortunately, even there the mothers still are fighting doctors. And labs near by, look up Plum Island and Lyme disease and see what you come up with. It's not pretty.

 

Mt. Rider, you are SO right when you say that IF you DARE to continue to be sick after a doctor treats you, for anything that is, you then become a liar and are either sent out the door or are told they have no clue and send you some where else where the same thing happens.

 

I sure hope your friend continues to improve and I'm sincerely glad she HAS gotten the help she needs. You can tell her that for me if you will, please.

 

Twilight, I wondered if that was a mispelling. Ledum is a pretty good homeopathic remedy for bug bites and such I find it interesting that most doctors consider homeopathics a non-medicine, safe for anyone to use as there is no more medicinal help in them than sugar pills but the first time I took it was in a preparation for something entirely different yet it gave me the herxheimer reaction that I get with antibiotics. Sick as a dog so learned really fast to take it cautiously. I much prefer herbs, homeos, and natural means for healing. Now if only I could just get all my knowledge and training put to use in healing myself I'd be happy. Like Mt.R's friend's doctor, Lyme disease is one of those spirochetes that has the ability to hide out from most treatments and strike again at will. In fact, it's very much like the Syphilus spirochete and the CDC actually recommends THAT be treated with long term, sometimes life long, antibiotics.

 

Hmmm sounds a little bit like I know what I'm talking about, doesn't it. But truthfully, this is one disease I wish I didn't HAVE to know as much about. Like your MS, Mt.R, knowing about the disease doesn't make it any easier to live with.

 

Hugs to all who are dealing with these and other conditions. And Snowmom, please let us know how you are coming along.

 

:bighug2:

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Had to look up Herxheimer.....I remember hearing about this when you attempt to do a detox for your health?

 

 

 

Chronic Lyme patients have to deal with the Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction from antibiotics. The reaction is named after Adolf Jarisch and Karl Herxheimer who published descriptions of the reaction in 1895 and 1902,.

 

For short, it's often referred to as "the JHR," "herxing," or "a herx." Not all patients will herx, it depends on the level of infection and the type of treatment, among other factors, but it's something to be aware of before beginning treatment. If not expecting it, a herx can be a terrifying and incredibly disorienting experience.

 

It takes place in response to antibiotic treatment with several conditions, including Lyme Disease. Other illnesses that are known to have associated herx reactions include rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis ("Herxheimer..."), syphillis, relapsing fever, and Candida--also known as systemic yeast infection . Still, it is most common with Lyme Disease.

 

Herxing occurs when dead or dying bacteria release large amounts of toxins into blood and tissues at an alarming rate. "This provokes a sudden and exaggerated inflammatory response". Essentially, the body is attempting to eliminate the released toxins much faster than it is able to.

Edited by dogmom4
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GOODMORNINGDOGONSWING.gif

 

 

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers. I know :pray: help. :):bighug2:

 

 

I saw the dr. on the 12th of July, and she let me know that my legs might hurt and not be the same for a very long time as well as my back hurting. So, guess I just need to deal with it. :(:)

 

I have read up a bit, not everything out there, but, I have done a lot of reading on this Lymes stuff.

 

I asked about a shot and my dr. said no they are not doing that here.

I have a nephew who had thought he had had a stroke 2 or 3 years ago as his mouth was droopy like and it has at last gotten better just a couple weeks ago. Then another person said it had taken a year to get back to normal, so yes, it takes a long time and some never get better. :(

 

I took Doxycycline for 22 days and the Dr. gave us a few more to take if we got bit by a tick again. Those nasty little things. I still think the fire we had in May drove them into our yard and where it didn't burn.

 

I am also using some oils, DD made a mixture of several oils and I put it on the bottom of my feet as well as we have a diffuser that we run at night. The oils are from "Young Living" so they are really good. :)

 

The Dr. also gave us the name of some stuff to get to spray on our clothing, She said we could get it at the L & M store. It is Permethrin, guess it is something the D & R use so has to be good. :) Sounds like you spray on your clothing one time and it lasts for up to 20 washings and the way she talked, the D & R are having clothing made for them with it in it.

 

Mother, I am so sorry about the way things are with you, I do hope they can find help and that Medicare will do their job for you.

 

I also asked my Dr. about it bothering my Pacemaker and she said it it wouldn't.

 

Old Pine will see the dr. in a couple weeks and he may ask for a blood test too, as he has had a lot of ticks. But, he hasn't had any that leave the bulls eye or rings, like mine did.

 

I am feeling much better and don't spend so much time in bed like at first with the pain pills and like I said in the 'Spa', I have been doing more walking and up and down the stairs outside. Still not to the basement, so Old Pine is doing laundry for us. :) I have not been given permission from DD and DH to go down, but, only if I take a phone and I don't take anything down. I have to be sure to use the had rail. I always to unless I have both arms full, and I won't be doing that for a long time yet.

 

On July 13th, we met with a few of our classmates for breakfast and one knows a dr. that is very good with Lymes and has helped many who thought they were in the start of MS and turned out to be Lymes. So, he said if I don't get better soon to let him know and he would talk to the dr., or get me an appointment. Nice to have friends in high places, :) he is a dentist and still working some.

 

Well, this is getting long, so will call it all for now.

 

I said this in the 'Spa' but, will say it here too, the News Letter is very late but, am in hopes to get it out this week. Sorry about this.

 

HAVEAGOODDAY11gif.gifHUGS3.jpg

 

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Glad to hear your update, Snowmom!!!!

 

A Lyme doc within reach is a rare thing, y'know. :thumbs: Probably advisable for your dh to get tested too. HIGH incidence between spouses. [as in...possibly not just the ticks spreading it ]

 

 

MtRider :pray:

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I'm so glad you are doing a bit better, Snowmom. Please, though, if you don't get well in a short time get in to see that Lyme doctor. The faster this is treated the better the outcome. Sure wish I had one of those doctors near me, I am encouraged though as I got an appointment with the Functional Medicine Doctor finally. It's not until September 10th as he has so many patients but at least I was accepted. Perhaps that means he believes he can help me.

 

I'm continuing the prayers for you, Snowmom,

 

:bighug2:

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  • 1 month later...

(((snowmom))) (((mother)))

 

I hope you are both doing better than in the earlier posts.

 

I missed this thread until MtRider posted in shoutbox to check it out. I was just diagnosed with Lyme myself. While I am glad that I have a diagnosis and treatment (beginning 21 days of doxycycline twice a day -- just got back from the pharmacy from picking it up this afternoon), but at the same time, scared because the symptoms start accelerating so fast, and the irregular heart beat/sinus tachycardia the drs and cardiologists couldn't pinpoint the cause of, is now being attributed to the Lyme. And the twitching, speech, vision issues ... I was hoping it would be "cured" and I go my merry way in life, but it seems that it can linger in some situations, which is scary to me. If as I am right now is the worst it ever gets, I can cope, if it gets worse at some other point, I am afraid of those prospects. I am counting my blessings, trying to be positive, I'm getting treatment, the heart issues were not worse than they are, and so on. At the same time though, the worry is there, esp. after hearing what you ladies have been through with it.

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  • 2 years later...

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