hey guys check for ticks

[mick silver]

last tueday i got off the trator and walk a few feet into the woods and took a piss when i look down i seen a few ticks . i thought i got them all off well i didnt . the next night i had three all the way into me . my wife had to cut them out . once we got them out we look at them under a glass and they had spots . the next morning i started filling bad so i went to see my doc . will now i and taken some stuff for lyme disease . if your in the woods check yourself are have your wife take a look ..... be safe all

[madfranks]

All the best mick, I hope you're going to be all right. Ticks suck, the few times I've had them in my skin I had a hard time getting them out. Make sure you clean the area really well after you pull them out.

[palani]

Consider this to be a warning that your overall health might be less than optimum. George Gordon had a program where he talked about sitting on a park bench with his wife for around 30 minutes. In that 30 minutes he said he must have picked off 30 ticks while his wife did not find a single tick on her. They all headed for him. Her comment? "You are one sick puppy."

[Dogman]

What can be mind blowing is brushing or disturbing the right clump of grass/brush and see several hundred ticks come swarming like pissed off ants.

Mick be well!

[LastResort]

Yup be careful! Those ticks can carry alot more than just lyme! Most people end up getting babesia, bartonella, and a few other nasty infections along with the lyme. Makes it very difficult to treat. Good news is the earlier your catch it the better you're chances.

[po boy]

George Gordon had a program where he talked about sitting on a park bench with his wife for around 30 minutes. In that 30 minutes he said he must have picked off 30 ticks while his wife did not find a single tick on her. They all headed for him. Her comment? "You are one sick puppy."

I listened to that program the reasoning was parasites are designed to attack sick animals.

Same reasoning why insects attack plants, healthy plants produce their own pesticide.

[muffin]

The ticks have been ALOT worse this year. I've picked about 2 off me so far. I find them crawling on me all the time. They not only come from the tall grass, brush or ground, but they also fall from trees.

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

Are Ticks prone to be worse in wet or dry years? OR does that factor in?

Asking because of the rainfall anomalies that we seem to be experiencing.

[madfranks]

Consider this to be a warning that your overall health might be less than optimum. George Gordon had a program where he talked about sitting on a park bench with his wife for around 30 minutes. In that 30 minutes he said he must have picked off 30 ticks while his wife did not find a single tick on her. They all headed for him. Her comment? "You are one sick puppy."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcrBKGKCoAA

[Dogman]

Are Ticks prone to be worse in wet or dry years? OR does that factor in?

Asking because of the rainfall anomalies that we seem to be experiencing.

To me it seems the dry years they are worse.

[mamboni]

Yes, yours is excellent advice to be in the habit of checking for ticks. Also, we are always picking ticks off of the dogs. They have been dog ticks, not Ixodes (Lymes) ticks. I know the difference but show them to my microbiologist routinely.

You should keep 500 mg caps of doxycycline in the refrigerator. If you ever pull a tick off you and you believe it has taken a blood meal (i.e. tick is engorged and firmly attached, surrounding skin red and itchy), just take one 500 mg doxycycline PO. This is about 90% effective and a single dose has virtually no side effects. Original study was in NEJM.

[mamboni]

All the best mick, I hope you're going to be all right. Ticks suck, the few times I've had them in my skin I had a hard time getting them out. Make sure you clean the area really well after you pull them out.


That is very interesting, very interesting.

[willie pete]

Never had a tick on me, I've seen 'em on people though...mostly the brown ticks....what I have had is "red-bugs", got 'em out in the woods hunting and shooting..VERY annoying...ITCH like Hell, and they burrow under the skin

[LastResort]

They have been dog ticks, not Ixodes (Lymes) ticks.
You should keep 500 mg caps of doxycycline in the refrigerator. If you ever pull a tick off you and you believe it has taken a blood meal (i.e. tick is engorged and firmly attached, surrounding skin red and itchy), just take one 500 mg doxycycline PO. This is about 90% effective and a single dose has virtually no side effects. Original study was in NEJM.

I don't want to start an argument, but.....LOL First off it's not "Lymes" its "Lyme disease". Secondly one single 500mg dose of doxy isn't going to do crap for Lyme. 200mg bid doxy for a minimum 4-6 weeks should get rid of it IF caught early enough. Unfortunately I've been "forced" to educate myself on Lyme after coming down with a mystery illness after a weekend camping trip a few years ago. I could go on and on.... The IDSA treatment guidlines and info about Lyme are a joke. Just another thing we are being lied to about.

[Dogman]

I don't want to start an argument, but.....LOL First off it's not "Lymes" its "Lyme disease". Secondly one single 500mg dose of doxy isn't going to do crap for Lyme. 200mg bid doxy for a minimum 4-6 weeks should get rid of it IF caught early enough. Unfortunately I've been "forced" to educate myself on Lyme after coming down with a mystery illness after a weekend camping trip a few years ago. I could go on and on.... The IDSA treatment guidlines and info about Lyme are a joke. Just another thing we are being lied to about.

Chiggers/redbugs

[Libertytree]

I got tick bit 25 years ago and that damn place on my head still festers, I know I prolly should have it cut out but haven't. If ya take a match or lighter to em' while they're sunk into ya they will let go without the head still remaining in, thus causing the infection.

[mamboni]

I don't want to start an argument, but.....LOL First off it's not "Lymes" its "Lyme disease". Secondly one single 500mg dose of doxy isn't going to do crap for Lyme. 200mg bid doxy for a minimum 4-6 weeks should get rid of it IF caught early enough. Unfortunately I've been "forced" to educate myself on Lyme after coming down with a mystery illness after a weekend camping trip a few years ago. I could go on and on.... The IDSA treatment guidlines and info about Lyme are a joke. Just another thing we are being lied to about.

Nadelman RB, Nowakowski J, Fish D, et al (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11450675); Prophylaxis with single-dose doxycycline for the prevention of Lyme disease after an Ixodes scapularis tick bite. N Engl J Med. 2001 Jul 12;345(2):79-84. [abstract]

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

Never had a tick on me, I've seen 'em on people though...mostly the brown ticks....what I have had is "red-bugs", got 'em out in the woods hunting and shooting..VERY annoying...ITCH like Hell, and they burrow under the skin

This calls for my Chigger story.

Some ... ehh ... MANY years ago, I was doing a job in the Guadalupe River bottom, south of Victoria, Texas. I spent 2 days working in that bottom as I had to be on both sides of the river. I was running a survey on 3 large diameter high pressure gas transmission lines that were scheduled to get pipe replaced crossing the river.

The first day we worked sun up to sun down- Got back in the truck and had to drive an hour and a half to the house and by the time I got there I was plum miserable from all the bites. Took a shower then ran bathwater and took an Epsom Salt bath. Still itched so I got a full body rubdown with Benadryl anti-itch.

Pushed through work the next day.... I wanted to end it all when I got home that night. I was going insane with all the itching- armpits, waistband, behind the knees, groOOOiiin - and otherwise all over.

We proceeded with the same treatment. I thought it would be wise to supplement the treatment with copious amounts of beer consumption.

The next morning I had to be in the office with my data bright and early. Ehhh... I was just one big seething itch.

I got another bright idea while combing the medicine cabinet. What's this? A bottle of Benadryl Allergy medicine?!?

Bottoms up! (chugged about half the bottle)

10 minutes later I'm feeling like I just beat the hell out of this deal. IT was SOOO AWESOME!!

About 25 Minutes later and 10 minutes into my commute... things were becoming NOT so awesome...

Needless to say, I got real sleepy - Real fast. Yet I pressed on- Must... get... data... to......Off..i

dizzy dizzy dizzy.... Hey WTF? There's no Home Depot on my exit!






I don't know How I lived through that. 35 mins after my "dose" I experienced extreme inebriation. I called the office and had one of my co-workers come get me. I slept the next 4 hrs on the floor under my desk.

I didn't know that Benadryl would do that to a person!;D

[LastResort]

I got tick bit 25 years ago and that damn place on my head still festers, I know I prolly should have it cut out but haven't. If ya take a match or lighter to em' while they're sunk into ya they will let go without the head still remaining in, thus causing the infection.

Never attempt to remove a tick by heating up its body. If you do this it will cause the tick to "puke" up all of its nasty stomach contents directly into your bloodsteam thus increasing the risk of picking something up. The proper way to remove them is either with a pair of tweezers getting all of the head and pulling the thing out as close to the skin as possible, or by covering the ass, where they breath from when engorged, with vasaline toothpaste etc. so the are forced to withdraw.

[Libertytree]

We had two remedies for chiggars...Campho-phenic (sp?) when you were totally ate up or clear fingernail polish dabbed on the singular bites. It's a miserable son of a bitch to deal with...if ya got the itchin to stop and the someone said the word chiggars it would start right back up. FYI..blueberry/blackberry patches are prime real estate places for chiggars in the south.

[Libertytree]

Hmmmm....never knew that. Thanks LastResort.

[Dogman]

Chiggers are the gift that keeps on giving, Once bit the itch at least for me and the sore that develops will be with you for at least a couple of weeks/month. The less you scratch the better it is. Healing? no itch? scratch and the itch will come back.

Texas has the mocking bird as the state bird. And I believe the chigger is "Hells" state (?) insect.

[LastResort]

Nadelman RB, Nowakowski J, Fish D, et al (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11450675); Prophylaxis with single-dose doxycycline for the prevention of Lyme disease after an Ixodes scapularis tick bite. N Engl J Med. 2001 Jul 12;345(2):79-84. [abstract]

I wouldn't doubt that study's finding for a second. However I have read many many other study's and talked to people with real world "anecdotal" evidence that says other wise.

Now being the busy guy I am I don't have time to bookmark or save every little thing I read so ya now I look like an asshat with nothing to back up my claims! I do however have the link for a few years outdated but good treatment info from one of the most prominent now retired lyme docs in the states.

http://ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf

[mamboni]

I wouldn't doubt that study's finding for a second. However I have read many many other study's and talked to people with real world "anecdotal" evidence that says other wise.

Now being the busy guy I am I don't have time to bookmark or save every little thing I read so ya now I look like an asshat with nothing to back up my claims! I do however have the link for a few years outdated but good treatment info from one of the most prominent now retired lyme docs in the states.

http://ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf

Proper treatment of Lyme is controversial. The morbidity is primarily secondary to the immune reaction triggered by the organism's antigens, not the active infection. So it is common for patients to have auto-immune type symptoms that persist despite weeks and months of antibiotics. If the spirochete is hit hard and early with doxycycline, within the first few hours of the initial [bite] infection, it can invariably be killed before it can trigger the immune response of the host. That is the rationale for the single high dose of doxycycline at the time of the bite. Personally, I had a tick bite which was Ixodes, was engorged and had taken a blood meal. I ingested three 500 mg doxycycline caps q8h (over a 24 hour period) as overkill beyond the NEJM recommendation. Five years later, I am fine with no trace of Lyme disease. I live in an endemic area - I have several neighbors with Lyme disease.

Of course, my case is only anecdotal. But to put a finer point on it, if you wait until you have joint pains, muscle aches, neuropathy and the like before seeking medical care, it is likely too late to effect a cure - the auto-immune reaction has already been triggered.

[LastResort]

Proper treatment of Lyme is controversial. The morbidity is primarily secondary to the immune reaction triggered by the organism's antigens, not the active infection. So it is common for patients to have auto-immune type symptoms that persist despite weeks and months of antibiotics. If the spirochete is hit hard and early with doxycycline, within the first few hours of the initial [bite] infection, it can invariably be killed before it can trigger the immune response of the host. That is the rationale for the single high dose of doxycycline at the time of the bite. Personally, I had a tick bite which was Ixodes, was engorged and had taken a blood meal. I ingested three 500 mg doxycycline caps q8h (over a 24 hour period) as overkill beyond the NEJM recommendation. Five years later, I am fine with no trace of Lyme disease. I live in an endemic area - I have several neighbors with Lyme disease.

Of course, my case is only anecdotal. But to put a finer point on it, if you wait until you have joint pains, muscle aches, neuropathy and the like before seeking medical care, it is likely too late to effect a cure - the auto-immune reaction has already been triggered.

Yes controversial and confusing as hell, especially when you throw co-infections into the mix. Glad we are on the same page.

[hoarder]

I eat lots of garlic and it seems to keep them off. Sometimes I find them just crawling around on me but they seldom dig in. The garlic keeps women away too. I have found ticks on me many times in the past and never took any medicine.
The locals here say ticks are mainly found on Southern exposures.

[mamboni]

I eat lots of garlic and it seems to keep them off. Sometimes I find them just crawling around on me but they seldom dig in. The garlic keeps women away too. I have found ticks on me many times in the past and never took any medicine.
The locals here say ticks are mainly found on Southern exposures.

Hmm, this may be because ticks and women are very similar vis-a-vis a man: they dig into him and suck him dry, often leaving him weakened and sickly. Curious that garlic also repels vampires. Vampires, ticks, women.......hmm.

[BabushkaLady]

Mamboni!! If I could applaud you I would! That's hysterical and somewhat True!!


Hmm, this may be because ticks and women are very similar vis-a-vis a man: they dig into him and suck him dry, often leaving him weakened and sickly. Curious that garlic also repels vampires. Vampires, ticks, women.......hmm.

[gunDriller]

i got ticks bad once, had 5 of them.

i live with poison oak so when i go into that area i wear something similar to a bio-hazard suit & then de-contaminate when i get home. i use Apple Dawn to soap up good, that was recommended by someone with more experience dealing with poison oak.

anyway, i'm hoping that in the process of dealing with the poison oak i will also catch the ticks. so far so good, knock on wood.

[mamboni]

Mamboni!! If I could applaud you I would! That's hysterical and somewhat True!!

Don't get me wrong: I love the babes, I surely do.

[willie pete]

Fleas, ticks and chiggers (red bugs) are a nuisance...but I'm REALLY glad the Bot-Fly isn't endemic here (Poor Kitty)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W7EXwucSZU

[Dogman]

Dam! Was expecting tweezers to be used. Popped out like a big zit! ;D;D;D

[TomD]

Last year I was in a path through a tall grassed area while wearing shorts and looked down to find that I was covered in ticks. A couple managed to dig in for a hour or two and I ended up sick as a dog for about a week. I tested negative for Lyme so it was something else.

[Dogman]

Yep, have seen places where there can be hundreds if not more in a very small area/place. And only solution is to run like hell.

[platinumdude]

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05593.html

How to Remove a Tick

Once a tick has become firmly attached to the skin, removal can be difficult and should be done with care. The mouthparts are barbed, so they may remain after removal and allow infection. Fortunately, the Rocky Mountain wood tick, the most common species found in Colorado, is relatively easy to remove because it has fairly short mouthparts. The recommended procedure for removal of ticks is:

1. Grasp the tick with blunt tweezers, as close to the skin as possible. If tweezers are not available and you must use your fingers, cover them with tissue or thin plastic to avoid the possible transmission of any disease organisms, such as tularemia, that the tick may harbor.
2. Pull the tick slowly and steadily, straight away from the skin. Try not to crush the tick as you remove it.
3. After the tick is removed, treat the feeding site with a disinfectant. Wash your hands when done.

Many other methods have been popularized to remove ticks, such as covering them with petroleum jelly or touching them with a hot match. These methods are not effective.

A rare but potentially serious condition from tick feeding is tick paralysis. This occurs when certain ticks (in Colorado, particularly the Rocky Mountain wood tick) remain attached for a long period and produce an ascending paralysis. Early symptoms, such as difficulty walking, progress to more generalized symptoms, such as limb numbness and difficulty breathing. This condition is completely reversible when the tick is removed.

[Libertytree]

As a side note...we sure had a big time as kids putting a match or a lighter to'em and watching them explode, lol.

[gunDriller]

As a side note...we sure had a big time as kids putting a match or a lighter to'em and watching them explode, lol.

i always thought a lit cigarette was an effective tick persuader, but maybe not.

i hear one of the main things is to not have part of the tick left in your body, then you can get a real bad infection.

[LastResort]

Last year I was in a path through a tall grassed area while wearing shorts and looked down to find that I was covered in ticks. A couple managed to dig in for a hour or two and I ended up sick as a dog for about a week. I tested negative for Lyme so it was something else.

Testing for lyme is notoriously innaccurate. You CAN NOT rely on testing soley. Lyme should be based on a clinical diagnoses.

[JDRock]

I don't want to start an argument, but.....LOL First off it's not "Lymes" its "Lyme disease". Secondly one single 500mg dose of doxy isn't going to do crap for Lyme. 200mg bid doxy for a minimum 4-6 weeks should get rid of it IF caught early enough. Unfortunately I've been "forced" to educate myself on Lyme after coming down with a mystery illness after a weekend camping trip a few years ago. I could go on and on.... The IDSA treatment guidlines and info about Lyme are a joke. Just another thing we are being lied to about.

hey noob... mamboni is a REAL physician, not some internet commando with an opinion.

[LastResort]

hey noob... mamboni is a REAL physician, not some internet commando with an opinion.

Thanks Tips!

I gathered Mamboni was in the medical field a long time ago. Just because he's a doc he can't make a mistake right? He automatically knows everything about medicine or disease? I view Doctors as people much say like an auto-mechanic some are good some are terrible. For the record I have MUCH respect for Mamboni.

Thanks for being a dick though. ;D

[mick silver]

thanks doc . they put me on 100mg doxycycline for 10 days , twice a day . i am starting to feel better now . dam this put me behind in getting my hay in . oh well , be safe all

[sunshine05]

They've been really bad this year. I found a couple on my dog and everyone in my family has had one. We live near a wooded area and hike a lot. I hate them!

[Spectrism]

Here is a very insightful documentary on Lyme disease. It is further reaching than you might think. MANY diseases are misdiagnosed - and are probably Lyme.

I did not want to watch this, but learned many things and could not stop. Toward the end, watch the witch hunts against the doctors who helped MANY patients by longterm antibiotic treatments. Some of the pharma-owned doctors need to be infected themselves.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/268761/under-our-skin

[k-os]

Tagging for later.

[vacuum]

I think this guy has it figured out, including many other diseases and cancers. Here is what he says on lyme desease:

http://www.new-holistic-medicine.com/what-is-lyme-disease.html

[Spectrism]

I think this guy has it figured out, including many other diseases and cancers. Here is what he says on lyme desease:

http://www.new-holistic-medicine.com/what-is-lyme-disease.html

Sounds like BS to me. Sure, having emotionally stressing times can weaken your immune system. But this is a SMALL effect of disease susceptibility. It is like saying that rattlesnake bite is only serious if you were already feeling sad.

This is from that website:


This disease often hits immigrants or children of immigrants. It involves a break in the family, chronic homesickness, or a separation conflict from the family clan. Have you have been adopted or do not feel like you belong in your family?


When a website has such grammar errors, you have to question the rest of the content.

What he seems to miss is that bacteria are transmitted other ways besides just tick bites. Have a dog? Mine had Lyme disease and was treated for 6 weeks with doxycycline. I will have her tested again. And... I will go to my doctor and get screened myself. This is not something to mess with.

[woodman]

Mid 90's I was working in the woods near Muskegon. I got a Lyme rash, classic bullseye. I got real sick and went to a doc. He was fascinated by the rash and said he had no experience with the disease. He gave me 4 pills to take for 2 days, tetracycline I think. Took a blood test. The pills seemed to do the trick and the test came back negative. I later found out how innacurate the tests are. Many false negatives. It is a nasty disease. In many people it is slow and insidious, so much so that they may not even know they are sick, just feel like hell. Kind of like boiling a frog.

[Neuro]

Sounds like BS to me. Sure, having emotionally stressing times can weaken your immune system. But this is a SMALL effect of disease susceptibility. It is like saying that rattlesnake bite is only serious if you were already feeling sad.
I agree, certainly psychological stress can have a large effect on disease progression and susceptibility in some cases, but usually it has a physical cause, and the effect is psychological. For instance after some viral infections, it can be perfectly normal to be depressed and lethargic for several months, so that the body can recouperate. However if you are depressed, you are not likely to be moving around enough and have a poor posture, which in extension can give you muskulo-skeletal problems...

[gunDriller]

yesterday i was collecting firewood, hauling pieces of trees down to a few areas where i'm piling them up ... so i can cover them with tarps to keep the wood dry when the rain comes.

this involves rather single-mindedly lifting & pulling and concentrating on not falling. so i brush by lots of plants, including poison oak. then i carry the wood when i get to a place where i can lift it, so then it's sitting on my shoulders.

so far so good - no ticks. but i figure i'm giving them plenty of chances to crawl on me.

i always take a bath (or shower-bath-shower, depending on how much poison oak i walked through) afterwards. (Apple Dawn for the poison oak).


i saw one on the driveway and tried to squish it with a 2x4. keeps crawling. hit it harder. keeps crawling. had to use a steel hammer to effectively smush it.

where do they get the food to live if there's a whole bunch of them ? can they eat plants or sowbugs until something more like Fresh Meat (deer or human or dog) comes along ?


given their parasitic nature, they remind me a little of Zionist Jews. but ticks are honest - they just want to suck your blood.

[freespirit]

Hmm, this may be because ticks and women are very similar vis-a-vis a man: they dig into him and suck him dry, often leaving him weakened and sickly. Curious that garlic also repels vampires. Vampires, ticks, women.......hmm.

...just for you, doctor...enjoy!!
(truely an awesome song!)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzUaJI16naI

[Twisted Titan]

Yes, yours is excellent advice to be in the habit of checking for ticks. Also, we are always picking ticks off of the dogs. They have been dog ticks, not Ixodes (Lymes) ticks. I know the difference but show them to my microbiologist routinely.

You should keep 500 mg caps of doxycycline in the refrigerator. If you ever pull a tick off you and you believe it has taken a blood meal (i.e. tick is engorged and firmly attached, surrounding skin red and itchy), just take one 500 mg doxycycline PO. This is about 90% effective and a single dose has virtually no side effects. Original study was in NEJM.


Any reputable place to pick up doxy at Master Mei?

[woodman]

I've ordered from 4corners before and though it a good service.

[mick silver]

doxycycline was what i was on for 10 days , twice a day . still to this day i still feel weak at times

[LastResort]

Mick- 100mgs of doxy twice a day for ten days is hardly enough for lyme especially if you've picked up co-infections. I wish I had the time to put a well worded post together.

200mgs of doxy twice a day for early lyme is the minimum. Doxy at these low doses is only bacteriostatic to borrelia burgdorferi. Meaning it will only kill the bacteria during its reproduction cycle. Seeing as how BB reproduces every 4 weeks roughly you have to be on the ABX for a MINIMUM 4 weeks to cover at least one complete lifecycle of the bacteria.

The fact that you say you still feel week at times doesn't sit well with me.... Take care..

I'm NOT a doctor do your own research....

[Old Herb Lady]

Ohhhh My !!!! Lyme Disease is nothing to mess with !!!
Please look into oil of oregano to kill off any secondary & (or third or fourth infections) , take it every day several times a day . (in juice makes it somewhat tolerable )
Then try consuming coconut oil with your meals everyday and then try looking into echinacea & take that every day for a few weeks to boost your immmunity & cleanse / purify your blood. I mean don't go by what I say, I'm just a dumb internet commando who knows nothing about nothing but maybe if you looked in to these ideas , they might help you.

God Bless !!

[platinumdude]

my monkey checks for ticks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IbhZALBaow

[mick silver]

i was on 500 mg twice aday for 10 days

[LastResort]

i was on 500 mg twice aday for 10 days


thanks doc . they put me on 100mg doxycycline for 10 days , twice a day . i am starting to feel better now . dam this put me behind in getting my hay in . oh well , be safe all

Which one is it? LOL

[mick silver]

it was 500 . it look like i hit a one

[mick silver]

back up .... it that time of the year ... be safe

[SLV^GLD]

Concerning Benadryl, the active ingredient diphenhydramine (an antihistamine) is the exact same ingredient used in many OTC sleep aids such as Unisom and Tylenol PM. Benadryl packaging indicates that it can and will cause drowsiness.