Bitten by Tick?

[NJChileHead]

Hey folks,

After a day of rompin around the pines, I came home and asked my wife to check me.

I had a small bruise, almost like someone hit me with a wet towel, and in the middle, a tick that was partly to fully engorged. I've seen my share of ticks, but this one is very tiny. I reversed my binoculars to magnify it, and it's definitely a tick.

I had two questions for anyone with more experience. First, is it possible that I picked up the tick today and it fed to engorgement that fast? My son and I were out in the woods on Thursday night, but I doubt that I would have missed it after a check by my wife and three showers since then. Also, I might as well ask now-is the common wisdom true that Lyme Disease isn't spread until after the tick has bitten you for at least 36 hours?

 

[dogg57]

A person who has Been there.Make the call to make a visit to your Doctor.Don't wait.Get the treatment .

 

[Teegate]

I agree. If you have doubts, call your doctor.

Guy

 

[46er]

Go to see your doctor if you still have the tick or have developed the rash, a clinical diagnosis is the most accurate. I have 2 weeks to go on the antibiotic regimen and no new symptoms have appeared. A faint rash is still present as is the bite site. The one that got me was not yet engorged. Most doc's will not prescribe anything unless the tick tests positive or you develop symptoms. There are 3 different forms of Lyme; bacterial, spheroplast and cystic. Each requires their own form of treatment. I would not leave it be.

 

[NJChileHead]

Thanks guys,

Is it possible that I picked it up today and it fed to engorgement that fast, or is it likely that I picked it up a few days ago and missed it? Seems awfully fast for it to feed that much. My wife barely touched it with the tweezers and it fell right off.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[piker56]

Been there. Be safe and go see your doctor. If you feel any symptoms in the next 4 to 8 weeks, go again. I became symptomatic at around 8 weeks.

 

[46er]

Thanks guys,

Is it possible that I picked it up today and it fed to engorgement that fast, or is it likely that I picked it up a few days ago and missed it? Seems awfully fast for it to feed that much. My wife barely touched it with the tweezers and it fell right off.

Thanks again for the help.

As was explained to me, it is not necessary for the tick to feed, just the act of inserting its saliva to prevent your blood from coagulating is enough to transfer the disease. And it is the black-legged tick, more commonly called a deer tick, that carries the disease in this area. Hopefully you kept the tick and it can be ID'd by your doctor.

 

[woodjin]

I was bitten also just recently. Two days ago. I always have a reaction but I watch to see if it turns into a bullseye. The dog ticks can also be very small this time of year. I've been bitten by ticks hundreds of times and have never contracted lymes. Where as i have heard of people who contract it after only a few bites. Lucky perhaps? I don't know. It is my understanding that while ticks are abundant down here (the pine barrens), there a fewer specimans that are carrying lymes compared to up north.

Jeff

 

[joc]

Please get checked . You will be fine , but don't chance it .There are 11 diseases other than Lyme :
http://www.columbia-lyme.org/
Also , we have 4 species of ticks in So. Jersey . 46er' is right , its usually the" black-legged " tick , but the "Lone Star "
ticks are showing up more and more .
http://twp.freehold.nj.us/ticks/public/types_of_ticks_nj/lone_star.html
Best Regards,
Joe

 

[PancoastDrifter]

The one that got me. As I have learned from this forum, ID the tick and get on antibiotics asap. I am feeling much better and have almost no symptoms which were joint pains, shooting pains and severe stiffness.

 

[Dragonfly Whisperer]

I have had Lyme 3 times, the first (and worst)in 1990. It took well over a year and two rounds of IV antibiotics for me to get straightened out, but when the second time came, I recognized the symptons right away and went to the doc and took care of it with Doxycycline. It can take up to 72 hours for a tick to find a spot to feed so its quite possible that you picked up the tick a few days back. In any event don't waste time as other have said, if you saved the tick, take it with you. There are also several other Tick-borne illnesses besides Lyme. Erlichosis is more common these days now. Both my neices and my nephew all contracted it playing in their yard in Dorothy.

 

[NJChileHead]

I saw my doctor yesterday. I still have the bruise from where the tick bit me, which is interesting. The doctor took blood for a baseline for Lyme antibodies and will include another one as part of my yearly bloodwork, about 5 or 6 weeks from now. Told me to watch for any symptoms within the next 7 to 10 days, and come see him if any appear.

 

[Boyd]

OF COURSE the prudent advice would be to get checked and everyone needs to think carefully about any situation that could affect their health. But, personally, I am going to side with Jeff on this. Have been bitten by ticks more times than I can count. I will be 63 soon and haven't even been to the doctor in 30 years... I'm still alive. You might also want to research what kinds of side effects large antibiotic doses can have on you - I have no idea.

If I was someone who felt that a doctor visit was needed after every tick bite, I would just stay out of the woods. Again, this is just me and is not intended to be advice for YOU. Just wanted to add a contrarian opinion to this thread.

 

[dogg57]

Good point Boyd.But I myself Would not worry about side effects of antibiotics when I Already am home to the largest number of Superfund toxic-waste sites in the nation, New Jersey expects to add 15 to 25 more properties to the National Priorities List in the next five years. Just a point and I respect your view.

 

[GermanG]

As far as I know there is no one standard treatment for tick bites alone within the medical profession, as opposed to that for diagnosed or suspected Lyme Disease. Some doctors treat every bite as if the disease has been contracted and others treat only if symptoms are present, siding with the view that overuse of antibiotics is a problem in itself. It comes down to a personal decision between you and your physician. I spend the better part of both my leisure time and work time in the woods. While I take normal precautions against tick bites during the times I am most likely to come in contact with them, I get bitten often enough that if I was treated for each bite I would be, without exaggeration, on antibiotics permanently. It would be easier for someone experiencing a bite or two a year might take the more cautious approach. In my case I’ve done otherwise. I have seen a doctor a few times when a hint of symptoms were present and was put on antibiotics, but I have tested negative for Lyme in all of the dozens of tests I’ve had in the last twenty or so years. Maybe I have a degree of immunity, or maybe I’ve just been lucky. As Boyd said, just another opinion to chew on.

 

[46er]

There is no reliable test for Lyme yet developed, most physicians now diagnose clinically, i.e. symptoms present and/or having the tick tested, if possible. The blood test is hit and miss; one can test positive on Monday and negative on Wednesday. A person can have a tick tested without a doctor, but it can get expensive.

http://njlabs.com/TickTest/index.cfm

Ocean County offers tick testing through the Rutgers extension service, but I think it is only for ID and not for Lyme. Other counties may offer the same.

 

[joc]

46 er is right again .Some counties will check the tick for the pathogen.About 50 % of those infected do not show the migrans rash. The blood tests do not confirm presence of Lyme disease , they just confirm if you have the anti-bodies . They also do not check for babesiois , ehrlichiosis , etc
Joe

 

[RednekF350]

OF COURSE the prudent advice would be to get checked and everyone needs to think carefully about any situation that could affect their health. But, personally, I am going to side with Jeff on this. Have been bitten by ticks more times than I can count. I will be 63 soon and haven't even been to the doctor in 30 years... I'm still alive. You might also want to research what kinds of side effects large antibiotic doses can have on you - I have no idea.

If I was someone who felt that a doctor visit was needed after every tick bite, I would just stay out of the woods. Again, this is just me and is not intended to be advice for YOU. Just wanted to add a contrarian opinion to this thread.

I am from the Boyd school of thought.
Between my job, which keeps me in the woods and fields a few days per week, hunting most of the year, and my time in the woods after work every day, I am literally good for 5-10 ticks per week. I pick up ticks nearly all year and most of the ticks I find on me are at least surficially anchored. Some have the heads break off in me and work their way out naturally. Last night, I had one under my watch band and his head broke off in me. I pulled two more off my lower back before taking a shower. I also have two permanent scars from particularly nasty dig-outs.

I firmly believe that one builds resistance through repeated exposure as I have never had any tick borne illnesses in 50+ years of being in the woods.

Another contributing factor to my apparent immunity could be the BAC of 0.15 that I strive to maintain outside of working hours.

 

[dogg57]

Doctors Can't even agree on this problem.Everybody is different and react different to Meds.Glad you get no sickness after that many bites.I Had lyme 2 times with in 6 months and still have issues.So hopefully they come up with something to help everyone

 

[NJChileHead]

I woke up in the middle of the night with chills, a fever and aches. My sinuses were also clogged. It's more likely that it's a sinus infection, I think (hope). Wouldn't it be too early to have any symptoms like that?