How did you get Lyme??

I don't know how I got it. I don't ever remember having a tick. So if I did have one, it was very small and unnoticed.

Is it possible to have gotten it from a mosquito? I've been bitten by millions of those. If so, that means that the exposure rate goes way up. I've heard of people that never go to the country that have Lyme. Probably some people here.

Tick in the nymph stage can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence. I had my legs covered in them last year, so I know just how small those little buggars can be!!

But, many other insects now pass these infections on as well - /www.facebook.com/LymeDiseaseChallenge/posts/771335459678742

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC266646/

I was bit on my forearm and never saw the tick. I just saw the big red circle and thought it was a spider bite or something.

It did not itch but it stayed on my arm for 3 weeks. I had benadryl on hand in case I was allergic.

I knew absolutely nothing about lyme disease and did not show any signs of infection for 52 days. Then all heck broke loose.

I think I got mine from a spider bite or mosquito. I had a very itchy bite that looked like a normal bug bite. 3 days later a faint bulls eye. A day off, a very large bullseye that was red, hot and swollen. It continue to grow, and the bullseye turned into a rash that covered my entire torso 😔 I trusted my naturopath, who said it was a spider
Bite and no need for antibiotics. Had me take 3 weeks of herbs and that was it. I told him a month later I knew I had Lyme from developing joint pain...he argued with me, and said no...you don't have red and swollen joints. No Lyme.

I tested positive with high numbers and 10 bands present 4 months, After getting my bullseye. I cannot support him ever again with my business.

Sorry, I got a little carried away here...I guess I'm resentful 😬

But, yeah...no tick, just an itensely itchy bite.

You look at the types of situations like most of you suggested, and, while it goes without saying, they make a lot of sense. "I was outside, near a wooded area" or "I live near a wooded area with lots of animal traffic."

Meanwhile, you look at the pale, nerdy, emo shut-in of a boy breaks a ground level window in his basement bedroom, decides to take a little nap, and wakes to this strange sensation that something isn't how it should be, wakes to find what he later realized to be ticks, crawling around on his head.

I still don't know how I felt or found the little buggers in my hair, as long as it was, but I did. Three or four of them. Heck, there could have been more, for all I know.

I didn't even stop to think about them, even though I found it strange that they were so hard to kill, and that the one I did manage to get had red blood, as if it had already been eating. It was so obvious.

But, people just don't talk about Lyme around here, even though I feel like Iowa and other midwestern states have been hotspots for some time now. In time..

I'm guessing I missed one or so, and they fed on me, or one of the ones I tossed aside, thinking they were just some random insect, came back and got me later. Maybe both? I don't know.

Anyway, yeah..

ALSO.. I've a question though, as it relates, and it is something I've begun to be curious about

It's going on 8 years since that day, but, if I were to have pulled one of the ticks out improperly, leaving its head embedded, is there any chance it could still be there? I feel like my body would have eventually pushed it out, like a splinter, or "best" worst case scenario is that it would have been completely absorbed and would no longer have any effect on me. That may be a stupid question. *shrugs*

Sorry if this post is long.

Talking about a combination of good luck and great timing!

I worked in a dog groomers, got bitten by numerous ticks, fleas and the odd tetchy dog. I am a mosquitoes favourite starter. Take your pick, lol, could have been any/ all of 'em!?!!

No idea. I'm not traipsing through the woods or anything. We do have deer in our yard often. Our neighbor mentioned he had a bout of something (it was either lyme or RMSF) and told us prior to moving in. Ignorant about Lyme at the time I just figured you would get a bulls-eye rash if we got infected. But I never pulled a tick of myself. I have removed one from my husband, son and daughter. We must be loaded with them here in NC. Plus have a dog...

Unfortunately, we are aware of children who acquired these infections congenitally. Their parents post/have posted on here.

And, studies have shown that Lyme can be transmitted sexually. I'm not sure about the other infections but I know Babesia is in the blood supply.