Worth the worry?

Hey guys

I was bit by a tick about 1.5 weeks ago on my scalp almost at the neckline. It was a large tick but definitely had not been there that long (1-2 days max). My girlfriend had to take it out for me since I could not reach the spot. By the time I started researching about the tick she flushed it down the toilet. She swore it looked like a dog tick (having the white markings and much much bigger than a nymph deer tick) instead of a deer tick (the ones that carry lyme).

After this I got kind of paranoid about the whole lyme disease thing. Less than 24 hours since I removed the tick my hip started to have a little pain/ache. It seemed like joint pain not any muscle. The pain came in periods of 5 seconds and subsided for seconds to hours. Over the course of the week the pain came sometimes although it was a very small amount of pain, it did make me worry a bit. In the past couple of days i have been getting some pain/ache throughout my legs, hands, cheek/jaw, knees. Its all very very subtle though and only comes a few times for around 5 seconds at a time and then disappears for hours or sometime full days. Last night I did get a minor headache when watching Transformers 2 in the theater, but it only lasted for 20-30 minutes and went away as soon as I got home and had some water.

These "symptoms" could be from anything really and they seem so subtle but I'm still quite worried. For the vast majority of the day I feel none of these symptoms and it seems when I'm worrying about having lyme I pay attention to every little nerve/ache in my body. I have no other Lyme symptoms such as the bulls-eye rash, chills, feeling sick, etc. and live in a region which is not known for deer ticks (southern manitoba, canada).

What I'm asking is is this worth worrying about or is it all in my head? Should I go to a doc and tell them about this or will they just dismiss me and tell me its nothing?

Post Edited (koudo) : 6/25/2009 4:18:38 AM (GMT-6)

Is it a bad idea to get antibiotics for a 'just in case' purpose? I heard antibiotics can be pretty bad for you, especially when there is nothing wrong with you. I doubt any testing at this stage would read positive even if I did somehow have lyme.

If your afraid of antibiotics which is blown out of proportion at times, All you have to do is take some probiotics anyway and support the immune system. It can come from any type of tick dont believe it cant . +Lyme is right if you do have it u can treat it now and be ok prob, if you let it disseminate or even lie dormant to come up one day as chronic, it may be very hard to kill later and you dont want to pass it to your kids either or your girlfriend sexually. You can have no symptoms and be infected. So if you get to ER or doc just tell them you feel sick and you were bit by a tick period. Dont say what kind, thats it. thats my advice.
And you must do this soon to get it in time.

Koudo, if you have come up w/ a rash, please get some photos of it, STAT. And get to the ER or your Dr asap. No one can analyze your rash w/o looking at it, but the fact that you came up w/ a circular rash is of significance. From what I have read, not all 'bull's eyes' have a clearing.

My understanding is that most Drs/ PCPs will prescribe abx for a person w/ a known and recent tick bite and any kind of rash. Of course that is up to your Dr (and you), but I believe you need to get in there asap. Lyme is not the only possible issue here -- Rocky Mt spotted fever is very dangerous also.

Hello, Was just wondering how you are doing ? I have early lyme too . It can still be very scary..

Koudo, please make sure to request a copy of your labs. I don't think they will give it to you unless you ask. What the lab considers negative, could still possibly show something of significance that should be considered. Personally, I think the rashes sound concerning. Known tick bite + rashes = trouble. It's great you have started abx (like in case it could be Rocky Mt). Did you get photos of both rashes?

Why don't you wait and see what your lab tests show before worrying about more tests? (unless you weren't tested for other TBI) If you got a western blot, you should be able to look at it and tell if the lab read it within 24 hrs, which is important. You should also be able to tell what all the Dr tested you for and then make a plan to go from there.

In answer to your question about 'anything other than Lyme', I don't think we can know for sure.  But there are many more tick born infections and your bite seems obviously concerning.

As Razzle (or is it Ticker?) says, that's my 2 cents. I am no expert and this is my opinion based on my own (limited) experience, what I have learned here and other research.