Tick bites swelling, itching and what looks like bruising?

I got bitten by a tick the other night while i was in bed sleeping. It looks to have bit me 3 times and then it latched on. I woke up and removed it. It's been about 4 days now. My leg is extremely itchy, and around the bite probably up to two inched away from the bite marks there is bruising and it's red. It is super hard to the touch and it's swollen.

Should i be concerned? I literally just got tested for lyme by igenex, it was negative. That was a few weeks back, i don't feel like paying out of pocket again for another test.

http://imgur.com/Hp2lNOp

Those are the bite marks. They itch from there to all the way down to my ankle. The swelling has gone down a bit. It's been about 3 days since the tick was on me. I can't remember if it was a dog or a deer tick as i was half asleep when i got it off and flushed it. Was not thinking at the time.

What do you mean in treatments? I was tested negative for lyme about a month ago from igenex. I don't want to pay for another test again.

But i will be going to the doctor today and she is very good with lyme. She knows a lot about it and i'm sure i'll get some answers.

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Post Edited (khughes1041) : 6/27/2016 12:38:20 PM (GMT-6)

What do you think about the bites?

Do they look abnormal?

I'm not expert, but to me it looks like there is the first ring of a bulleye forming at the bottom of the picture.

It may be that those that are experienced with Lyme are the ones saying Lyme. It's definitely suspicious looking! If it was me, I'd treat for Lyme based on that picture.

Sure, some swelling is normal, but it's the hot, red, angry looking bites that worry me, especially when the itching is bad. I got bit by something the last time I was out weed eating the yard and it got really red, quite hot and swelled up pretty good, so I immediately upped my dose of astragalus for about 5 days and it went away mostly. I do have a bit of light itching still, but otherwise it looks completely normal now with no increase in any symptoms.

Yeah the bites are decently warm. They were a lot warmer yesterday.

But i took ibuprofen and benadryl last night and it helped on the swelling.

The bites are swelling at least two inches away from the bite site. If not more than two inches. It's like holding onto a side of a golf ball when i grab the area.

Asmoline said...
I would recommend starting on some herbals, especially if you are not feeling so well since the bite. The chances of them helping you are much higher than hurting you. This is not pseudoscience. It has been proven by people doing independant research, the same way your pharmaceuticals have been proven.

What I'm trying to say is, because of political reasons, information will generally be contradictory to itself when searching for it.

Swelling is caused by your body, not the bacteria per say. Sometimes your body will swell and win against the infecting agent. Sometimes your body will swell, and do its best... and not succeed fully, eventually the infection can leave the bite location and move to another location in your body, where you will not get visual cues, swelling at the bite location can subside and you think all is jolly. Years later someone who hasn't thought about bacteria in 15 years will be telling you that you have Fibromyalgia, and you may never make the connection again.

If something doesnt feel right since the bite, I highly recommend spending every ounce of energy you have dealing with it now, because it's interest driven. The longer you wait, the higher the cost. I wish I had of done more sooner. Learn from my mistake :)

VERY good info in your post Asmoline and I echo that inflammation is generally your body's immune response causing tissues to swell in order to "punt" stuff that shouldn't be there out of the tissues, as a means to address infections. So, some inflammation is a good sign that the immune system recognizes there's a foreign body there. And the fact that MDs nonchalantly then also prescribe anti-inflammatories tends to only exacerbate a sick-person's response to an infection because then the body's own immune response is knocked out...

But I do want to emphasize that while there are many good and effective herbal remedies that are being successfully used, particularly with lyme, most don't have imperial data to prove their effectiveness. So I wanted to clarify that. This is a clear disadvantage to us lymees, given the stealth behavior of the Bb spirochete and their ability to evade the immune system and antibiotics over time. This is less critical to a person like khughes who was just bitten, as immediate abx prophylaxis is usually very helpful in controlling the spread of the microbes and herbal use can do a LOT more to help support the body and prevent body-wide infection.

Let us know how you're doing khughes and what your MD has to say!

-p

Update: Won't be able to see the doc until 2:45 tomorrow.

I'm feeling pulsing pain in what seems to be my calf muscle. This is a new side effect.

Khughes it may be worth writing your symptoms down over the next 30 days until you see him again. Reading it near the end may give him some needed information on whether to continue treating or not.

Goodluck! keep us updated