Warning to berzerker attendees

[johnridley]

I pulled a tick off me after Sunday's cleanup, and found some tick parts in the other leg after getting home (apparently I just scratched it off, leaving bits behind). I waited to see if I got the standard rash, which I didn't, but the bite area has been healing very slowly, and in the last 2 days I've gotten some other skin symptoms which could be related and which I've never seen before. On doctor's advice, I'm starting 10 days of antibiotics as a precaution. Over 25% of infected people don't develop the standard rash.

I don't have any other symptoms, but I rarely do even if I know I have a germ in me, so I'm not giving that any weight.

I know at least one other person on site found a tick on them. Ticks can be pinhead sized so you might have one and not find it. They'll drop off on their own after a while but can still infect you.

If you've developed an unusual symptom since berzerker, think about it. Lyme disease is trivial to treat in the first few weeks, just standard antibiotics, but if you don't catch it it can attack your joints and even your heart and can kill you, and if you leave treatment too long it gets a lot harder to wipe out.

Comments

[madtechie2718.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I had various insect bites, but I don't know that they are different to any of the usual ones. Any clues as to how I differentiate one from the other?

Certainly, the few bites I had stopped intching by the next day and cleared up as usual a day or two after that.

I was using Deet, but that doesn't necessarily repel all bugs, does it?

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Well, the tick burrows in rather than using a needle, and it stays there for a while. It's going to leave an actual wound instead of an itchy spot. It'll take a while to heal, not just a day for the bump to recede.

Deet is supposed to work pretty well against ticks. They seemed to be creeping up legs rather than dropping from trees; that's no guarantee that they all would be on the legs, but the ones I had and the other one I know about were both on the lower leg.

[khanbo.livejournal.com]

Just so no one panics, the only ticks I've seen so far this year in this area (and I've seen a lot this year) are dog ticks. These ticks are associated with carrying Lyme disease, fortunately. Dog ticks are brown with a white spot on their back. Deer ticks don't have the white spot.

They can carry rocky mountain spotted fever but this is usually not treated until symptoms start to appear as early treatment (before symptoms) can actually worsen the prognosis.

If you remove the tick correctly before it become engorged you have a *very* small chance of getting any tick carried disease.

If you do suspect Lyme disease, find a specialist and make sure you are treated not just for 10 days but 4-6 weeks. From my research 10 days of antibiotics won't do anything and you could end up really sick months or years later.

I'm a bit tick paranoid and as a result tick obsessed...

[nicegeek.livejournal.com]

Just so no one panics [...] These ticks are associated with carrying Lyme disease

I'm guessing there's a not missing somewhere here?

[khanbo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm good at forgetting the 'not' in sentences...

Dog ticks are *not* associated with lyme disease.

[mihai-lado.livejournal.com]

I attended Berzerker, and two days ago I got a red swollen patch on my arm. It did not quite match the "bullseye" look of Erythema chronicum migrans, but since I do not normally have more than minor reaction to insect bites, I saw a doctor today. They have given me 10 days of anti-biotics, which will be extended if the Lyme blood test is positive.
(Rolf)

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Well, keep us informed.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I only saw one of the ticks, and I don't think it had really gotten me then. It didn't have any white spot on it though, it was uniformly dark. I didn't save it though, I crushed it and flushed it down the shower drain. If it happens again obviously I'll keep it.
Honestly it's the first time I've ever seen a tick.