little bit of tick info
- Thread starter andybysea
- Start date
It's scarey stuff. Many GP's are unaware of the disease, even in a high risk area, and are unwilling to carry out the test on the NHS.
Lyme disease is near endemic amongst hikers in the US. The effects untreated are extremely debilitating and apparently very difficult to diagnose. Many hikers in the US soak all of there hiking clothing in a solution of permethrin whiich rapidly kills all insects which land on it. One treatment lasts for several washes of the clothes before a repeat treatment is needed . Hammock campers even soak their hammocks. thru hikers usually carry a tick removal kit and go through a close examination proced.ure every day to removed any that escape the permethrin (not many). The mossies here can carry eastern equine encephalitis, which is usually fatal (but rare so far) . Another indication that the permethrin treatment is a good idea.
Be sure to do a tick check each morning and evening when you are out and about. It takes 24 hours of being imbedded before the tick will transmit diseases.
The doc I saw at my surgery last year had to google Lymes after I told them I thought I had it, not what you want to see really.
Or making one regurgitate it's stomach contents by trying to get one off the wrong way.
Or making one regurgitate it's stomach contents by trying to get one off the wrong way.
Get a "tick pick" - looks like a tiny claw hammer - for removing them (it's what we use on the dog). They're horrible things & to kill them I either squeeze with pliers in a tissue (surprisingly hard!) or heat in a metal tin until they explode. I'm all for animal cruelty where these are concerned...
The doc I saw at my surgery last year had to google Lymes after I told them I thought I had it, not what you want to see really.
I can reassure you that GPs who Google and consult books during consultations are probably more reliable then those who don't. No GP can retain the detail required for 40 consults a day which will require information that spans the sum of human medical knowledge. As a GP with a bit of an interest in Lymes I will be consulting the latest guidelines for all diseases on regular basis ( they change very quickly) I agree many GPs are not Lymes aware & its good to hear that yours looked it up rather than winged it & that an informed patient helped their GP learn. I like those kind of patients.Tick Lasso is best in my experience.
you can also get vaccinated against this. I got it from the docs before heading to america to work in camp. doesnt stop u getting the things under your skin but means when u finally gett he buggers removed then you dont have to worry. The first day I went out I got 2 from then on i followed the few simple rules: long trousers and long sleaves(we have the technology nowadays to keep u cool), tuck your trousers into your socts and t shirt into your trousers, and keep an eye for dear trails as thats were they sit in ambush
According to here http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/lyme/default.htm the vaccine is no longer available. This was a 2011 notice, so may have changed since then, but I couldn't find anything newer after a quick look-see!
The vaccine was pulled for sveral reasons:
1. it wasn't selling enough to be finacially viable
2. some unforseen complications (side effects) were reported
3. the vaccine was actually a series that required 3 shots over a one year period (a more lengthy period than most people were willing to take)
I took the full series back when it was avaiable with no ill effects so far (it's been 13 years now)
i caught it two years ago whilst attending a airsoft event in the new forest, got home to find three avian ticks in my armpit.
having never heard of lymes i extracted them and within a week ended up with the rash ,but it was only the flue like symptoms that made me visit the doctor for the first time in 25 years.
was on antibiotics for a month and had regular monthly blood tests for six months until the doctor was satisfied.
when i mentioned lymes she dismissed it until i told her id been in the new forest ,then she took alot more notice as the past two years its been rife in that area.
there was a bloke in the states who had igored it, on tv last year ,ended up with severe neurological problems which put him in a wheelchair with no chance of recovery.
having never heard of lymes i extracted them and within a week ended up with the rash ,but it was only the flue like symptoms that made me visit the doctor for the first time in 25 years.
was on antibiotics for a month and had regular monthly blood tests for six months until the doctor was satisfied.
when i mentioned lymes she dismissed it until i told her id been in the new forest ,then she took alot more notice as the past two years its been rife in that area.
there was a bloke in the states who had igored it, on tv last year ,ended up with severe neurological problems which put him in a wheelchair with no chance of recovery.
last time i checked (2009-ish) Lyme disease was recognised as the commonest vector-borne disease in the northern hemisphere, with 12 species of Borrelia being identified (only 3 of which had been confirmed as being isolated from human hosts).
intrestingly, research at that time also pointed to links between specific species and different secondary clinical manifestations (inflammatory reactions of the joints, heart and central nervous system), so its well worth checking for the buggers regularly...
intrestingly, research at that time also pointed to links between specific species and different secondary clinical manifestations (inflammatory reactions of the joints, heart and central nervous system), so its well worth checking for the buggers regularly...
did he set up that demo with the material in the grass? Surely they are not that concentration in an area?
yes thety can be. Saw a mate stoop and brush under low hanging branches of trees/shrubs to get to a fishing spot and had over a dozen drop on his back. BTW, the main vector of infection are mice rather than deer.
I had one bite me in Finland two years ago. I don't think I would have even known it was there if it hadn't been on hip and rubbing on my trouser waistband thereby irritating it a bit.
Of course, the bugger split in two when I tried to extracted it with the tools available at the time, then I had to dig out the bits he left behind with a pin.
Had no adverse reaction.
I believe the reindeer over there are the main carrier.
Of course, the bugger split in two when I tried to extracted it with the tools available at the time, then I had to dig out the bits he left behind with a pin.
Had no adverse reaction.
I believe the reindeer over there are the main carrier.
Richmond park (scene of the Fenton incident) is a hotspot for Lyme's.
The ticks rely on different size hosts for different life stages - mice/small birds for the larva, pheasants/deer and us for the nymphs and adults.
After working in Glenmorangie Forest I had one attached to the end of the old chap! It took some persuading to get it off - burning it was not an option!!
The ticks rely on different size hosts for different life stages - mice/small birds for the larva, pheasants/deer and us for the nymphs and adults.
After working in Glenmorangie Forest I had one attached to the end of the old chap! It took some persuading to get it off - burning it was not an option!!
mine was a nymph tic, was sternly told by the doctor ,and a vet i know only remove with a tic pick, burning or squeezing a tic will cause it to inject into your body as it constricts increasing your risk of infection
Where is the wincing smiley when you need it?
In it's absence, I present an alternative method you could have tried...
It was indeed a horrible moment! Its not suprising I got bit, we were sweeping dozens off our legs at regular intervals and the caper cocks looks liked turkeys with no head feathers left at all.
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