Bullseye rash on 6 month old

Hi everyone...I was helped by reading some old threads on here as I sat in the ER this morning, so I thought I'd join and see if your collective wisdom could answer some of my remaining questions. My six month old son got a bug bite a few nights ago (I never saw the bug) which a day later had a red ring around it with a clearing around the bite. I freaked out because we have many dear friends who have battled Lyme disease or have chronic Lyme. That was in VA, now we are in NYC but I know they are everywhere.
I am flabbergasted how he could have had a tick because we weren't in the grass and nothing could have been on him for more than a few seconds without me seeing, unless it was in our house overnight (plus we cosleep).
It is a little faded today but the ER Doctor did agree it looked like the erythema migrans and wasn't sure what else it could be. I have a prescription for 3 weeks of amox but haven't filled it yet.
I hate the idea of giving my baby and his perfect bacteria a huge round of antibiotics. But Lyme thoroughly scares me as well, so I will do that if it's called for.
My remaining questions that Google won't answer easily are:
- I read on here that erythema migrans means Lyme is present, not just a random tick bite. Is that true?
- Does the size of the rash mean much? It is less than an inch across. Like a tiny raised red bump and a very fine line around it. Some places say it needs to be much bigger but I wasn't sure if they were conservative enough about Lyme. This is probably my biggest question. I also wondered if the size of a Lyme rash would be adjusted on a baby. I know there's a huge variation and not everyone gets a rash, it's more does this definitely seem like it.
- Does fading mean much? If it doesn't get bigger over the course of a few days or fades quickly? It has not grown in over 24 hours and seems a tiny bit faded.
- Does the fact that I never saw a tick and it couldn't have been there long matter much either?
And the question no one can answer for me...is there reason enough to treat my son preemptively for Lyme? Is there any other bug bite that it could possibly be?
Thank you so much.

In case it is helpful - here it is when I noticed it.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwNWf5zrn96jV3BQRW9rZEtEdWM

Post Edited (Whatisacait) : 8/20/2016 9:30:59 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Whatisacait, welcome to our community!

I'm sorry you are having to worry about this...but glad you found your way here.


Yes, it is true that an EM means lyme is present.
Treating preemptively is treating a tick bite without a bullseye rash.

A bullseye rash = Lyme disease...it needs to be treated.

I copied and pasted this from Dr. Burrascano's Treatment Guidelines for Lyme Disease..

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.
2) Pregnancy: 1st and 2nd trimesters: I.V. X 30 days then oral X 6 weeks
3rd trimester: Oral therapy X 6+ weeks as above.
Any trimester- test for Babesia and Ehrlichia
3) Children: oral therapy for 6+ weeks.

Please treat it now....it is your best chance for if not become a chronic infection.

The size of the rash doesn't mean anything.
..And no, it doesn't matter that you didn't see a tick...and length of attachment. If it was on long enough to create an EM...then it transferred the bacteria.

I just looked at the photo...that is a bulls eye rash....Your baby needs treatment...

I am so sorry that your little one has Lyme. That must be heartbreaking for you. But I am so glad that the baby developed the rash! Because of this you can treat it thoroughly and probaby avoid the ramifications of chronic lyme. Please do your research and just don't rely on a regular Drs. advice. They are not trained thoroughly in Lyme.

And do check out Yancy's Link. It will be helpful for you to see what others are doing for their children. Also we do have many parents on this forum that deal with this so feel free to ask any and all questions. This is a really caring community and we want to help others who have to deal with this disease.

Blessings to you and your little one.

Thank you all so very much. You have no idea how helpful it was and how much more confidence I had starting the amox with my little guy Sunday evening. Lyme scares me much more than antibiotics, but I'm very 'into' the microbiome (and even rep for a probiotic) so antibiotics have always been something I'm desperate to avoid. At least I know I have something good to rebuild his system with. Right now I'm just grateful that the ER Doctor listened to me and knew to prescribe the antibiotic and that we could start it within a few days of the bite. Forever grateful for that rash.

So now, is even 3 weeks on antibiotics not enough? Should I request three more? Do a blood test after the three weeks? If so, what blood test do I request, and is that something a regular doctor can do or do I need to see a LLMD?

He just turned six months and is not on solid food yet. I will probably delay longer so his gut doesn't have too much going on. Since he is exclusively breastfed, is there anything I should be doing with my diet? Will it make a difference to be strict about no sugar, etc? I know sensitivities are affected by breastmilk but not sure about if the same goes for diet changes people make when battling Lyme.
Again, your experience and length of research is such a blessing. It's impossible to get enough answers in only 24 hours of searching on your own. Thank you.

Just wanted to stop by and agree with Girlie on this. Please do make sure he gets all the treatment he needs.

Thank you all. Any thoughts whether I could try to get more abx prescribed by our ped or another doctor, or really need to get to a LLMD? Plus any testing after the six weeks? (Would it be out of his blood if that's enough or is it forever going to show up?)

And don't waste your money on testing to see if he's healed. There are no tests that provide that kind of information, they can only tell a person if antibodies are being produced - if the body is still overwhelmed with Lyme bacteria, the immune function is just too low to produce those antibodies, and not having a positive IgM only means that the body is no longer actively fighting the infection.

Testing won't show if he has active infection.
Yes, concentrate on getting the antibiotics.

What does the bulls eye look now -has it faded at all?

Burrascano guidelines on treating children with ammox:

*Amoxicillin- Adults: 1g q8h plus probenecid 500mg q8h; doses up to 6 grams daily are often needed
Pregnancy: 1g q6h and adjust.
Children: 50 mg/kg/day divided into q8h doses.

I haven't heard that having extended period of antibiotics creates an allergy.
There are a lot of different antibiotics - so I wouldn't worry about that at this point.

I don't know about babies and detoxing.
is your baby fussier than usual?

That is good - that it's almost gone...

Yes, agree about being fussy. But, if there was a significant change...that might be a sign he's not feeling well.