Found tick behind ear yesterday

Hi! Sorry you got no response yesterday. Did you call your doctor?

I would not bother with the ER. A regular doctor can prescribe doxycycline over the phone. It's still very early, so you have a good chance of knocking out the infection. A reaction like that from a tick bite means infection has been transmitted, so if the doctor you speak with does not prescribe doxycycline for you, then call a different one. Your should take it for at least six weeks to be safe. Also keep your stress levels (of all kinds) as low as possible for a while.

If you still have the tick and are curious, then you can send it away for testing to see which infections it was carrying.

Alternatively, you can take the herb astragalus for a few months to prevent systemic infection. Renowned herbalist Stephen Buhner is an expert on herbal medicine for tick-borne disease, and you can find more information on his website about astragalus after tick bites.

Be firm if you want doxy. They may want to “wait and watch”

Urgent care an option?

Thank You; I am spending 50 dollars for a taxi to the next town to pick up my Doxycycline today because I found and pulled out another tinier tick embedded in my thigh yesterday!!!! My ear is not as badly inflamed today, but is still red with blisters, and itches. I feel warm but have no fever or headache. The side of my face and the lymph node in my neck is sore and swollen. I think I got the whole tick out. Is there any further advice anyone can give me about taking the Doxy? I was allergic to amoxicillian. I have also been dealing with contact dermatitis and skin allergies. I do every spring and summer. The doctor is only giving me 100MG Doxy twice a day for 10 days. Guess I am a little worried about taking the doxy because of how others have reacted to this drug. What choice do I have right now but to take this drug? Also, when should I ask my Doc for a blood test for these tick bites? I heard this disease will not show up in blood work too soon after the bite. Also, will the Prednisone 10MG tablet the doctor prescribed for me, stop my ear from itching? Thanks.

Post Edited (glenninindy) : 7/2/2020 9:29:40 PM (GMT-6)

The prednisone would stop the itching but depress your immune system, so I would not recommend taking any steroid right now, since you need your immune system to be in the best possible shape to fight off the infections you've been exposed to.

Amoxicillin is not at all related to doxycycline. They are different families of antibiotics, so reacting to one does not make you more likely to react to the other. If you by chance are allergic to doxy, too, then you could try a different antibiotic or herbal medicine; as I mentioned earlier, Stephen Buhner recommends extended doses of the herb astragalus for a recent tick bite.

I understand your hesitation to try a new drug, since no one wants to go to an ER right now, even more than usual! But it's highly unlikely that you'd need to go to the ER. Even most allergic reactions to drug do not require ER intervention. But the risk of trying a treatment really does outweigh the rick of not treating this devastating disease. The earlier you treat it, the more likely you are to save yourself literally years of misery and systemic damage. You are lucky to have noticed this right away and have the opportunity to treat it before it becomes a chronic debilitating illness! Lyme is very treatable when caught early. Do not wait.

You do not need to test for Lyme. If you have symptoms from a tick bite, then you have infections. If you treat properly right away and have no lingering symptoms, then you have nothing to worry about. The Lyme test that a regular doctor can give to you is highly inaccurate. As you mention, it can give a false positive. That said, you can test positive for the rest of your life because the test looks for antibodies, which your body may always make, even if you never have another symptom again. Symptoms are what matters. Testing is relevant when people don't recall a tick bite and have mysterious symptoms, or when people are sick and trying to figure out which specific co-infections they have in order to target treatment. At this point, none of this applies to you, because your bite is super recent, and proper antibiotic treatment ASAP can knock it out!

Follow Girlie's dosage recommendations. If your doctor isn't willing to order more meds or you develop further symptoms, then find a Lyme-literate doctor (LLMD) as soon as possible.

Good luck.

Thanks All; As you know, it was "on" with this disease a few days after I got bit and I was good to go taking the Doxy for the past 5 days. Intermittent Itching on my back, arms, and legs began yesterday. Should I stop taking it? The 500mg amoxicillin I once took also made me itch after a while, but it was much worse with burning and nausea. Is that why my doctor also prescribed the Prednisone with the Doxy for itching? Not familiar with Prednisone. I had two tick bites and do not want to have to stop taking the Doxy now. No stomach issues if I eat right after I take one. I did not mind taking Doxy but for these intermittent skin inflammation issues now. Would you call your doctor? All my other symptoms are gone so the Doxy worked! Please advise.

Post Edited (glenninindy) : 7/2/2020 9:41:20 PM (GMT-6)

I am now feeling sick and nauscious. I also have bad diarreah just like my allergic reaction was to the amoxicillian after a while.. I am stopping the doxycycline before I get worse. I tried ****ing drinking something but it comes back out and I feel sick. I felt ok before I took the Doxy tablet today, then all hell broke loose. how long do side effects from doxy 100mg last? Waiting for my doctor or nurse to call me back.

Post Edited (glenninindy) : 7/3/2020 4:00:55 PM (GMT-6)

Did you get these side affects later on like I just did? Were your side affects Like mine? How long before you felt better from side affects? I am trying to drink an electrolyte water beverage now. it is staying down but still feel nausea. will never take this doxycycline again. I had summertime skin allergies before I took it and should have known better,..

Post Edited (glenninindy) : 7/3/2020 4:03:26 PM (GMT-6)

I was extremely nauseous and had such severe reflux it was hard to eat anything. I also had bad headaches and head pressure which is also a well known side effect. I ended up taking Ceftin I have taken prednisone..but never with antibiotics. It can also give you stomach upset. Hard to decipher at times which drug is causing what symptom. Did you eat with doxy? That is a must. You are also not supposed to lay down for at least an hour after taking it.Hope this info helps you.

You have definitely had your share of challenges. I forgot to mention that I too had my original bite on my ear. I did not discover mine right away so consider yourself lucky that you caught it early! Maybe talk to your doctor and ask if you need to continue prednisone. Doxy and prednisone...pretty rough on the stomach! My ear also itched but that resolved along with redness and swelling with antibiotic treatment.