Ticks,Lyme, and Crohn's

Nate in NY:  Hi, welcome to summer!  My first response is ewwww!  and second is of course to google the topic.  Did these ticks bite and you had to get the head out?  Checkout the topic on the following reputable web site:   http://www.medicinenet.com/lyme_disease/article.htm.   Seems to be a long slow disease process but since you know the date of exposure maybe the best thing to do is call your primary care doc and discuss treatment options with him/her.  Lyme disease is a big deal in the midwest also-even  horses and cattle can be affected.  Take care, let us know what the doc thinks.

Were they deer ticks? I think those are the only ones that can give you lyme disease.

The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) and the dog tick Dermacentor variabilis) may also transmit Lyme, although they are less likely to than the deer tick. Please see the following link:

http://www.hopkins-arthritis.org/arthritis-info/lyme-disease/#get_lyme

In the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern Canada, dog and deer ticks can also cause Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, and only requires a few hours of a bite to transmit. It can also be transmitted by crushing an infected tick with your fingers that have minor cuts and scrapes. We all need to be wary.

Hi Nate in NY....A viking's funeral! hahahaha!

You never mentioned whether you thought the ticks you pulled off of you had actually bitten you....?

Ahhh....ticks... what brought us here....

I will preface this story by saying that we live in a part of the country (central) where the doctors (several of them--even an infectious disease specialist) assured me we have virtually NO Lyme disease.

My son and hubby love to hunt. It was spring, five years ago when my son had two ticks on his back after hunting. They had bitten him, and my husband threw them away. I never saw the ticks because I was out of town, but I did see the classic red bulls-eyes they left. So classic that I took pictures (thank goodness!).

Because of the impressive bulls-eye marks (about 5-6 in. in diameter), I insisted he undergo the standard treatment--Doxycycline for 8-10 weeks. During all the blood tests we had done, we discovered he was anemic... (he had not yet been diagnosed w/Crohn's) This became a chicken/egg scenario... was he anemic before the tick bites, or did the transmitted infection from the ticks cause the anemia? (anemia is listed as a symptom of Lyme)

Eventually we ended up at an infectious disease specialist. My son was done with the antibiotic, but I wanted to know why he was anemic (other doctors couldn't explain it) and also make sure we weren't missing some test that should be performed.

Thank goodness I had those pictures, because all 3 of the doctors we saw thought it was silly to follow through with any treatment, again, because of where we live; we just don't have Lyme here. The infectious disease doc was very impressed with the pictures and stated that SOMETHING was definitely transmitted from the ticks to my son. He was more inclined, due to where we live, to believe it was STARI (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness). http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/stari/ I was dubious. We don't live in the south, either!

He said we did the right thing by treating and followed with a couple of other tests which ultimately came up negative (this was several months after completion of the antibiotic). STARI is thought to be less serious than Lyme, with symptoms lasting 3-6 months...but they really don't know much about it. Last I heard, they aren't even sure what is transmitted from the tick.... not good...

Sorry this is so long... I just want to say that I think it was the Doxycycline that ultimately messed up my son's system SO BADLY that he flared--a true Crohn's flare. It was clear at that point that we were dealing with something other than an infection from ticks. Ultimately he was scoped and we received the definitive diagnosis.

I'm not saying that the antibiotic CAUSED my son's Crohn's (although we will never know for sure), but I believe it most definitely worsened it and brought on the flare. So I think you are smart to be VERY cautious about upsetting your delicate balance--as you put it! As you said, you are somewhat between a rock and a hard place. Keep in touch with your doctor, but knowing what I know now, I'd be inclined to wait and see. Just my two cents, of course!

Best wishes!