HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Help for a relative, need your expertise fellow Lymies!!

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/3/2017 9:31 PM (GMT 0)
So, my brother found a tick on him this morning. He woke up to pee in the early morning and his armpit/peck area was sore. He said it felt like someone punched him, or like when your muscles are sore from working out.

He found a tick attached where it hurt. His wife is a nurse, and hopefully she detached it properly. But, they still have the tick.

His primary care gave him 2 100 mg of doxycycline. That's right, 2 pills and that was it. They told him he would be fine if the little ****** that bit him was carrying Lyme.

Enter me, as he has seen/heard what myself and our father is going through, he didn't trust just the 2 pills.

So, what I am asking for is this:

We live in Central MA, and I suggested he get the tick tested. Does anyone know of a GOOD place to get that suckered tested?

Second, I thought the tick bite wasn't supposed to hurt bc they have numbing stuff in their saliva? So, if it hurt, is that an early warning sign, and warning of what?!

He has 2 kids, and I want him to be ok and help him be ok so he doesn't go thru what we all r going thru.

Any suggestions on what he should do?

Thank you all for your wisdom!
Posted 5/3/2017 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
You can send the tick to Igenex.

He needs to get more abx - 4 weeks would be best and increase to 200mg twice daily.

Hit it hard now...don't let an infection take hold,
Posted 5/3/2017 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
UMass has a tick testing program:
/ag.umass.edu/services/tick-borne-disease-diagnostics
/www.tickreport.com/

Says it provides results w/in 3 days! Let us know how it goes -

-p
Posted 5/3/2017 11:11 PM (GMT 0)
The pain could be from lymph nodes swelling from infection or maybe even immune activity. Although I'm not sure what to read into that. It is AWESOME that he found the tick and kept it.

-p
Posted 5/3/2017 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
I was thinking UMASS too. He sent me pictures and they look awful! He has swelling and redness around the VERY obvious bite (it looks like it left a HOLE in him, almost like a blood blister). It was a red swelling a few inches "around" the bite. I think it might be a bullseye.

But do the bullseye rashes start that early? I never saw on on myself, so I have no idea!
Posted 5/4/2017 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
The theory is that the redness is indicative of the WBC rushing to war. Depending on the person, it can take awhile. Seems like it would be a good sign for his immune response to be so quick but I'm really not sure.

Please have him take a permanent marker and mark the perimeter of the rash so that he can track its growth and pace (also jot down date of marks - on paper, not skin LOL) This also helps convince some MDs that it's an Erythema Migrans (EM) rash since some think they have to expand in order to be an EM (they don't).

-p
Posted 5/4/2017 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
*sigh* is right.

-p
Posted 5/4/2017 10:02 AM (GMT 0)
He took the pills the doctor prescribed him and the redness/swelling is going down. I'm not sure he CAN track it. But if he only got 2 doses of abx, will the rash come back?


Also, is there a way to share the pics he sent me?
Posted 5/4/2017 12:41 PM (GMT 0)
PF,

Have your bro take 3000 mg of Astragulas Root per day for at least 30 days. Has a bullseye rash developed yet? It can take up to a week or so. If yes its 100% certain he got lyme and needs to make an appointment with a lyme MD, not an average primary care physician. If no bullseye that doesn't mean no Lyme, since it only appears in about 50% of people.
Posted 5/4/2017 3:07 PM (GMT 0)
PF -

Yes, you can use a 3rd party like photobucket or imagr to upload the photos to, they'll give you a link and then you can post the link here - these kinds of sites might require you to sign up w/ them.

Just have him keep an eye on the rash - place a quarter next to it when it's photographed to give scale. Hopefully the early abx help keep it from growing, but the assumption is that the rash is proof of the infection moving through the body. So, it's a good "red flag" to have, so-to-speak.

But the absence of it, or the resolution of it really have little to do with whether or not the microbe causing the rash (and infection) are still available to the body. Chances are, in his case, the abx reduced the microbe load pretty well and hopefully his immune system can do the rest. But to be sure, this is why a lot longer course of abx is necessary. And in the absence of--or until he can get more abx, the astragalus tickbite666 mentions is a good idea.

I may have developed an EM-like rash after I was bitten but it was on my back and I had no idea what to look for or that there was a tick anywhere on me (I'm remembering this only in retrospect). After starting IV abx 18 yrs later, I did develop several EM rashes that come and go... so they're tricky fellas to make sense out of.

-p
Posted 5/4/2017 3:30 PM (GMT 0)
If he hasn't already gotten more abx, do get him on the astragalus as Tickbite has suggested.

As Pirouette has suggested, keep taking pictures, with something in the picture to denote size and shape of the rash.

Rashes are not required for a person to get the infection(s) - less that half of those with these infections have any kind of rash, and only 10 % of those with a rash actually have a bull's eye rash.

Please do let us know how he's doing, what he's been able to do for treatment so far and if you can share those pictures!
Posted 5/4/2017 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
Tickbite, anywhere I should have him buy it from? And r the capsules, or would tinctures work as well? If I rmember correctly he doesn't do well swallowing pills
Posted 5/4/2017 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not Tickbite, but, yes, tinctures would be fine, as long as he gets the proper amount.

I'm going to use this as the example - buy a good brand though, one that has a reputation of using high quality herbs.

/www.iherb.com/pr/Gaia-Herbs-Astragalus-Root-1-fl-oz-30-ml/15623?gclid=Cj0KEQjwoqvIBRD6ls6og8qB77YBEiQAcqqHe71AgmVLYCxNqOaKW78IWxQTGnSZU6ls9Dgx3e0SbMQaAmER8P8HAQ

So, as you can see, if you scroll down to product overview, that the 'serving size' is one dropperful (30 drops) will give the person 667 mg/ml Herb Equivalency - so they would need to take 2 droppers full am, noon and pm (3 times a day) to get to the full dose.

BUT - they should start out on just a small amount to see how they will respond first - then slowly raise the dose up until they have reached the optimal/full dose.

Do be sure to talk to them about detoxing too!!! It may save them a ton of pain and issues.
Posted 5/4/2017 8:18 PM (GMT 0)
He said he can now swallow pills. He and our mother have had hard times swallowing pills, but apparently he got over that!

Thank you all for your help. I'm going to get him on the syragalus ASAP.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply