Tick bites and Lyme disease

[saskwoodburner]

I'm hoping this crazy cold blast we just got over in the Northeast cut down further on the tick population. It didn't get about 5 around here for 2 days and it went down to -15 to -20 below zero two nights in a row. We didn't really have any snow on the ground to help insulate them either.

This past summer was the first summer in a very long time that my area wasn't infested with ticks though I found more once the deer started moving in September. We had two very harsh winters in a row, 2013-2014-2015.

Not trying to be a gloomy Gus, but if cold weather kept them in check, I don't think they would be constantly expanding their territory around here.

 

[BradleyW]

We have 14 acres of overgrown pasture--it's a tick heaven. Get them all the time in May and June. I've read that the weather might have some effect on tick populations, but the effect has a one year delay. The reason is that the cold weather doesn't kill the ticks--it kills the mice. So after it's cold, the ticks that overwinter are still there for the spring. However, they have fewer small rodents to live off of that year, so their population for the following spring is reduced.

 

[saskwoodburner]

We have 14 acres of overgrown pasture--it's a tick heaven. Get them all the time in May and June. I've read that the weather might have some effect on tick populations, but the effect has a one year delay. The reason is that the cold weather doesn't kill the ticks--it kills the mice. So after it's cold, the ticks that overwinter are still there for the spring. However, they have fewer small rodents to live off of that year, so their population for the following spring is reduced.

In a general area, I would think that most critters (either mice or ticks) would be climatized for the weather. Obviously more things die in a harsh winter, but the only thing I noticed is the ticks come out later if the weather stays cold longer.

 

[billb3]

Not trying to be a gloomy Gus, but if cold weather kept them in check, I don't think they would be constantly expanding their territory around here.

Their area expands because they use the foraging patterns of animals ( like deer ! ) to hitch rides on. If deer territories weren't so large their expansion would be a lot smaller.
If deer populations weren't so large they would have much smaller foraging territories.
If everyone lived in the city instead of on acre lots in ticky tacky houses there would be a lot less contact.

... hoping some disease like avian flu strain doesn't break out that uses mosquitoes and wild turkeys or domesticated canada geese that don't migrate. Especially if the tree huggers decry combatting the over extended turkey and geese populations.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Reading this thread reaffirms why I only like to cut firewood in the fall,,,,, NO TICKS!

 

[sequoia]

After looking at all these pictures I now ITCH ALL OVER!

 

[saskwoodburner]

After looking at all these pictures I now ITCH ALL OVER!

We're hearing reports locally of ticks, so now the heebie-jeebies begin. I have the spray, but it's still a bit cool to kick the cat out overnight, and the missus got a fish last week. Permethrin is supposed to be really bad for fish.

 

[jaoneill]

Nasty stuff, Lyme's is. It will mimic a dozen different diseases, symptoms can be all over the map. I got what appeared to be the flue in early November last year. Doctor tried every drug possible but I just kept getting sicker. Lost 25 pounds in five weeks and could barely get up and walk across the room. They were about to throw me in the hospital when the results of the Lyme's test (done at my insistence) came back; high positive. It took two 3 week courses of doxy (100 ml 2x a day) to knock it and a couple of months more to regain muscle strength, balance, etc.. I ended up losing almost 5 months and was unaware of ever having been bit.

My doc keeps a bottle of Doxy in his office and now tells everyone "if you get a tick bite come in right away and we give you two pills that will prevent a Lyme's infection in 99% of cases".

I have a friend whose wife was being treated for MS, was hospitalized and was on death's doorstep before he insisted she be tested. She was positive and responded to treatment but will suffer the rest of her life from the damage that was done to her system.

Nasty stuff.......

 

[DanburyTreeCT]

Has anyone ever tried the spray? It's supposed to wipe out ticks that fall from the trees in your backyard.

 

[Ashful]

Not sure about any above-mentioned spray, but I do hit my lawn each year with a pesticide, usually Allectus. While all of my neighbors' households have been hit by lyme disease, we have not had any tics, and I spend far more time (possibly by 10x) outdoors than any of them. Spray date is usually early- to mid-June, with the primary target pest being sod worm, but it will wipe out anything living on the lawn at that time. There is always a chance of re-introduction of tics by animals, after the efficacy period, but I've not seen it here.

Most of these products are available in granular form, as well, for those who don't own sprayers. Some will be quick to point out that these products can be damaging to bee populations, thru ground clover, but if you're taking proper care of your lawn you won't have any clover.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Have any of you guys with tick in your yards or around your country houses thought about having chickens? My cousin has about 20. They pick his lawn clean of all bugs and eat ticks.

 

[Ashful]

Have any of you guys with tick in your yards or around your country houses thought about having chickens? My cousin has about 20. They pick his lawn clean of all bugs and eat ticks.

How many chickens to keep 4 acres of lawn clean? I probably can't eat that many eggs.

 

[sportbikerider78]

My cousin has about 20 acres and about 20 chickens. Also has a small fluffy fu-fu dog they nicknamed "tick mop". Dog has been clean ever since they got the chickens.

I'm not sure what your concentrations of tick to acre are....nor his...but I'd give 5-6 a try and see what happens.

Their wings aren't clipped and they really get around the property. They are actually kinda cool and keep to themselves.

 

[OldLumberKid]

Wow. Be safe Applesister! Will you get tested after this find? How did you remove the little buggers? Ive never had to remove one although they are in the Rockies as well and see them around. Tundra (avatar) gets treated every year so she doesnt get sick. Each treatment lasts about a month.

Thanks ... I will definitely keep my dog's vaccination up to date on Lyme, too. Not to mention the treatment.

I saw more ticks than usual in spring/early summer down here on L.I.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Our side lot/ woods is a three acre grow-over of past cow pasture.
High trees are at a minimum and the undergrowth was literally impassable.
It took two summers and one destroyed frankentractor but it worked.

We pulled more than a tick daily from our three dogs, and always had a few
in the house, and at least one freaking people out in the bedding. They were
the big ones that got the size of an M&M in one day of attachment.

The forest floor is groomed, plenty of free wood, and literally no ticks last two years.
The exception being the one dog we let run loose. She gets a hitchhiker from
time to time. We've all gotten very good at tick removal without tools. lol
(It's a twist/ gently wiggle thing. They pop right out, head attached.)

CheapMarkWithBlueFont

 

[Firewood Bandit]

View attachment 169489

Very interesting subject. To be honest, when I first read this thread, I thought you all were crazy to even think about seeing a doctor for a tick bite. I mean seriously, treatment for a tick bite removed before it's full of blood and without any symptoms!! What a bunch of pansies!

Well, jokes on me. Looks like NE is an entirely different world when it comes to risk. Just one more sign that God loves the South.

For the record, when we were building our family's lob cabin, I had dozens of ticks removed from me over the years. No one even thought about having a Lyme test done if they got removed within a day or two and you had no symptoms. My parents knew somebody that knew somebody who had a friend who lived next to a man that had Lyme disease once. That was the extent of our experience with the subject.

Great map, FWIW I live in one of the high risk areas of Wisconsin. I was treated for my 4th case of lyme 2 months ago. Ticks are very bad here and just something you need to be aware of.

 

[greebas]

Wow... this thread brought back some memories. My 10 year-old son was stricken with Lyme several years ago. I won't use (hopefully) too much bandwidth but the story has been helpful to people in the past so I'll tell it here in case it is useful to others. He presented with what was originally diagnosed as a stomach virus. It kept getting worse - a process made gradual by the various medicines he was prescribed to treat his symptoms but worse all the same. He was tested for Lyme and the test was negative. Over a two-year period he had two colonoscopies, two endocscopies, was to GI specialists at CHOP and St Christophers, was referred to an infectious disease team (think "House") and just kept getting worse with no diagnosis but with docs starting to throw out "irritable bowel syndrome" which is often times a catch-all when no other diagnosis is available.

Due to extended family history (my Aunt) with Lyme, we kept on bringing it up during the process. The docs would throw in the test (Western Blot) with the other blood work orders to shut us up and it kept on coming back negative. After missing most of two years of school in favor of tutors to keep him with his grade and all activities, my aunt faxed me an article written by a "Lyme literate" doc (LLMD) on the subject of gastro-intestinal Lyme. It was like reading a story about our son.

My wife took it to his doc and the doc said that Lyme has been ruled out. On a whim, my wife called the LLMD and left a message on his VM. His practice was closed for Passover but she got a return call within an hour. After listening to the history, probing for detail and listening intently, the doc said he would open his office and urged her to bring him in right away. She put him in the car and drove the three hours to see him.

They spent two hours together and my wife left with a prescription for Doxycycline and some specific blood tests (after a tearful hug much the one from the movie "As Good as it Gets" when that doc promised the mom her son would get better). The instructions were to start the Doxy right away, wait 10 days and then get the blood work done. We did as instructed. The blood tests showed Lyme and various co-infections. As it happens Lyme spirochetes "hide." The course of Doxy started attacking them and they jumped off the page when the bloodwork was done.

This doc then put our son on a specific course of several antibiotics that repeated over time. He is now Lyme-free, symptom free and trying to catch-up on the social aspects of missing two years of life.

The moral of the story? Lyme is often scorned by the mainstream medical community and certainly given short shrift by the CDC (an organization for which I have complete and utter contempt). It has given rise to the LLMD community and the internet is chock full of stories like the one I've told here. It can attack any part of your body, and present as anything from psychosis to MS to sore feet and it "hides." If you or a loved-one have ***ANY*** inexplicable symptoms for which you've been to a doc and cannot get relief or a diagnosis, do yourself a favor and do research on "Lyme literate" along with the unexplained symptoms and then get yourself to the closest LLMD you can find. Sorry to run on but this story has been helpful in the past and I share it in hopes it may help someone now.

Thought I was reading my own story. My son was 10 as well and we were living in Southern Pa when he got infected. He ended up having placement of a PIC line with 2 months of antibiotics. One of the many unfortunates issues with Lyme disease in the pediatric population is the unknown neurological ramifications. Although mild, my son to this day lives with some of those ramifications. Glad your son is doing well.

 

[Dinnerbellmel]

My 13 yo daughter caught Lyme's Disease in July. She was very sick and they didn't know what was up with her. Then she developed Bell's Palsy which was the telltale symptom they needed to confirm LD. To this day, she is still suffering from symptoms. She was completely fine before and now she has constant medical issues. It is a nasty bacteria. She never had any sign of a bite or tick on her but tested positive. Only a small percentage of folks with Lyme's develop the bullseye rash.

 

[Deeje]

I haven't heard of Lyme disease occurring where I live in KY, but I did meet a man writing his thesis on the matter who said it is spreading and will further infect southern states in a matter of years.

The ticks we get around here are fairly large, probably ranging from 1/8" to 1/4". I was hiking through Connecticut a few years back, near the epicenter of Lyme disease, and I was amazed at how small the ticks were! I probably pulled half a dozen off my legs that were about the size of the head of a needle. Smaller than a freckle.

Scary, scary stuff.

 

[weatherguy]

I haven't heard of Lyme disease occurring where I live in KY, but I did meet a man writing his thesis on the matter who said it is spreading and will further infect southern states in a matter of years.

The ticks we get around here are fairly large, probably ranging from 1/8" to 1/4". I was hiking through Connecticut a few years back, near the epicenter of Lyme disease, and I was amazed at how small the ticks were! I probably pulled half a dozen off my legs that were about the size of the head of a needle. Smaller than a freckle.

Scary, scary stuff.

Those are the deer ticks that carry Lyme. No matter how careful I am I get a couple every year Embedded somewhere on my body. I've had them on just about every part of my anatomy.

 

[Ashful]

Those are the deer ticks that carry Lyme. No matter how careful I am I get a couple every year Embedded somewhere on my body. I've had them on just about every part of my anatomy.

It is correct that those dangerously hard to find miniature deer ticks are the most frequent carriers of lyme, but I believe any tick can carry it.

 

[Deeje]

Someone mentioned pets on here. Can they catch it too, or is there just a risk that they'd spread it to humans somehow?

 

[weatherguy]

Someone mentioned pets on here. Can they catch it too, or is there just a risk that they'd spread it to humans somehow?

Pets can get Lyme, 2 of my dogs had it but you can't get it from your pet. Of course pets can carry the ticks into the house then the tick can find its way to you.

 

[valleycat]

FYI
"Lyme disease was first recognized in Georgia in 1987. While cases occur all over the state, the largest numbers occur in the northern half of the state. The black-legged tick is the primary vector, especially in the nymphal stage. Its small size (1/16 inch) probably contributes to the failure to detect the nymph while feeding."
~ (broken link removed)

Also, since the disease has had more attention in the northeast, there are few considering it in the 'so called' less affected states...
I have experienced first hand the complete disregard to consider Lyme disease as a possibility in North Georgia from the medical community. After much insistence the Lyme test was given... but as many of you know, it often goes undetected. And therefore, areas that do not think to test at all etc., go on to appear in maps like this as if there is a less of a threat. Data isn't always as clear as it appears....

View attachment 169489

Very interesting subject. To be honest, when I first read this thread, I thought you all were crazy to even think about seeing a doctor for a tick bite. I mean seriously, treatment for a tick bite removed before it's full of blood and without any symptoms!! What a bunch of pansies!

Well, jokes on me. Looks like NE is an entirely different world when it comes to risk. Just one more sign that God loves the South.

For the record, when we were building our family's lob cabin, I had dozens of ticks removed from me over the years. No one even thought about having a Lyme test done if they got removed within a day or two and you had no symptoms. My parents knew somebody that knew somebody who had a friend who lived next to a man that had Lyme disease once. That was the extent of our experience with the subject.

 

[jetsam]

2017 may be extra-Lymerrific. (Not keeping me out of the woods!)