New Guy looking for solid reliable information . . . a little nervous.

So, here we go. I live in Tennessee. My wife, son and two dogs went hiking about 3 weeks ago near Big South Fork and apparently the dogs and I managed to get quite a few "seed ticks." We didn't know it until my wife saw a few small black "dots" on the dogs. We initially thought it was flea "poop" because we pulled them off the dogs and my wife mashed one- it left a little red streak. We honestly couldn't see legs or antenna or anything.

The next day, we found 10 or 15 more on the little dog and a few on the 85lb golden doodle. I was looking at them and until this time, we never saw them move or anything. Again, we didn't know what we were looking at because ticks just have never been an issue.

I took a few and set them on the vanity and started watching them with a cell phone (zoomed in camera) and sure enough a couple of them started to wiggle and move around. At that point, I refined my search efforts and sure enough we found info on seed ticks.

We checked our dark couch (both dogs are cream colored) and area rug near the couch and found a couple hundred of the little buggers.

Around the same time, I developed little read bumps (bites ) just below my sock line. I'm assuming this happened in the woods on the hike because I felt a little itch at a couple of points in the hike.

We treated the rugs, couches, base boards and everything with food grade diatomaceous earth and haven't seen a tick in two and a half weeks.

I hate ticks, always have so, during this whole process, I was extra watchful. Flashlight inspections daily on all surfaces etc.

Ok . . . so now the good part . . . in addition to the three or four hundred seed ticks, we also found one or two young\adult ticks. One of those ticks had fed and was pretty swollen. The other had not fed. Both were about half the size of a pinky fingernail and dark black (swollen gray) in color.

At some point I also noticed a couple of bites on my hip and one on the side of my stomach. At first one of the two bites resembled a mosquito bite. It was pinkish and slightly raised. A couple of days went by and I noticed that it had increased in size. I circled it with a permanent marker to keep tabs on spreading.

Now a week or so later, it is about 2.5-3.0 inches across and does resemble pictures that I have seen of the "bulls-eye rash" that is often associated with Lyme Disease. . . . I'm nervous.

I went to the doctor and told her the following:

1.) time since bite approximately 2.5 - 3 weeks
2.) all ticks were larvae stage or I guess maybe some nymphs with exception of the two larger ones
3.) I shower twice daily and was vigilant- I am shirtless when I sleep and hang out at the house
4.) It seem highly unlikely to me that I ever had a tick large enough/developed enough to bury it's head and/feed for the 24-36 hours that I understand is required to pass the illness. My son. wife or I would have seen the nasty ******.
5.) I'm not aware of any symptoms like stiff neck, fatigue etc. but then again, I'm 45 years old and back ache and tiredness after a long day's work are fairly typical .. .lol.

Based on that, the doctor said she doubted that I had Lyme disease. Then when she saw the bite, she said"Ya know . .that's what it looks like." She drew blood and sent it off to the lab, but perscribed Doxycycline anyway.

Based on all that I've read, this shouldn't be Lyme disease, but what do you guys think?

-TickVictim - out

Hi tickvictim, welcome to our community!

Tiny 'seed' sized ticks can attach and infect you with lyme disease....these are the ones that we should be worried about, as we don't often see them.

It is unclear as to how long a tick needs to be attached...likely doesn't need 24-36 hours.

And, the little ones...sometimes you can't see them (as you know)...and they could be under your hair, in your armpit, groin...and hidden from sight.
It is actually recommended that you 'feel' for them - I read you are more likely to feel them rather than see them.

If you have a bulls eye rash - you have lyme disease. That is a symptom of lyme disease...
Do not hesitate to get proper treatment NOW. Get a prescription of doxycycline.
Here is an excerpt of the Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines (ILADS)

"EARLY LOCALIZED
-
Single erythema migrans with no constitutional symptoms:
1) Adults: oral therapy
- must continue until symptom and sign free for at least one month,
with a 6 week minimum."



Do not expect a positive test result...and do not base your decision on treatment on the test. They are not reliable/accurate.

Please please take it from us who have been suffering with this darn disease.

Bulls eyes= Lyme disease

The longer you wait, the more the disease will spread and you will never be free of it. Get treatment now.

My husband and I got bit at the same time - May 2000. Thought we had poison ivy blisters but mine had black tips on the blisters. Had no idea then that it was tick larvae.

Here we are 15 years later still battling. Get treatment. It could make all the difference in your life.

We can also help you find one...if you like...you can start a new thread titled: "Looking for LLMD in /near ______, Tennessee"

Then enable your email option to we can send you the names. We can't post the names on here for privacy reasons (we need to protect our Docs)

to enable: Click on "My Profile", "Edit Profile", "Show my email" and "submit".


Good luck.

You should be taking 200 mg twice daily...
You have the opportunity to treat it now...and not develop chronic lyme.