Lyme disease in Miami?

Five weeks ago something bite me on the leg and the area was irritated and was itching but not as a mosquito. The area was sensitive and soon it looked like this but the red area was larger.

The red area was about 6x12 inches with a red ring around. I'm born in Scandinavia in an area with many (borrelia) ticks and I know how ticks look (I have taken away several on other people and animals). This didn't look at all as a tick. Now I am living with my family in Miami. After 4 weeks I went to a dermatologist and he put me on antibiotics (Doxycycline). Yesterday he called me and said that it was lyme disease in the blood results but that he hadn't got answer on all of them.

My questions are:

- I don't think I have been bitten of a tick ever, but if I had been and it gave me lyme disease, how long time will it stay in my blood?
- Can something else, like a spider, give me lyme disease in Miami? I woke up during the night and felt that the area was irritated. I also get a similar bite on a toe some days earlier, that as well during the night (but this didn't got the red circle, but was more itching).

My mind continually tries to grasp the complexity of the lyme and co-infection situation, usually without success. It is basically unknown exactly how lyme (and co-infections) are transmitted although the mainstream docs want you to believe "tick only"...that's what they have been told. I believe it can be transmitted lots of ways, but then that's a personal opinion. I have been working on a horrible thought, so would like to throw it out there for anybody to respond. Lots and lots of press lately about bedbugs and the resurgence of that epidemic. Does anybody think that maybe, just maybe, bedbugs are, or may eventually be, a carrier of lyme, current co-infections, or yet another type of co-infection?????

I didn't get to sleep last night until after 3:00 AM....and these are the things I ponder.....

Post Edited (Mamyou) : 11/4/2010 10:45:45 AM (GMT-6)

Thank you for all answers!

Traveler said...
It is absolutely necessary that you be on the right dosage of Doxy, for the appropriate amount of time in order to rid your body of this infection. If not, the infection will move from your blood stream to the tissues & organs & then it is really hard to rid the body of it. What is your dose of Doxy? How long has your doc told you that you will need to be on the Doxy?

I am taking 200 mg of Doxy every day and I should take it for a month.

I really can't believe that it was a tick that bite me. It didn't look at all like that (if I didn't scratch it off in the sleep) and as well I have never seen or heard of any reaction like the picture above after a tick.

As well, we find to insects bites on my son yesterday which where red and swollen. We went to his pediatrician (a fantastic doctor) and he thought it was from spiders so he is now getting antibiotics (Amoxicillin) and cortisone. I will call pest control today, that is for sure.

Hi Pelen,
It is not surprising that your Dermatologist isn't aware of the proper treatment for Lyme, it is however surprising that he knew to put you on Doxy!! Maybe you could go back to your Dermatologist & see if he would write you another script bringing you up to 200 mgs 2 or 3 times a day??

You should really read Dr Burrascano's Lyme Disease & co-infections 'paper'. He is one of the most respected Lyme Drs in the country. You can download the article here;

www.lymediseaseresource.com/Burrascano.html

In it he suggests that with a recent infection (I believe your is?? unless you took steroids) - which is known as Early Disseminated Lyme- treatment with Doxy should be 200mgs with food in doses of up to 600mgs daily. Blood levels of Doxy need to be very high in order tocombat this infection and to keep it from traveling from the blood stream into the tissues & organs - you definitely don't want that!!

I would heavily suggest you find a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) right away to be sure you are evaluated for co-infections & get the right kind of treatment so that you can be sure to get rid of this right away. It has been proven that if aggressive treatment is started right away after a tick bite, you stand a very large chance of completely ridding your body of this. If you don't get the right treatment & this moves out of your bloodstream, treatment then usually becomes complicated & challenging.

I don't mean to scare you into anything - just want you to be aware of what is going on. I would also suggest you get your son evaluated for Lyme & co-infections as well.

You could be very right about not getting this from a tick, but please don't underestimate the disease.


Mamyou~
" Welcome, Pelen. Traveler does a good job of welcoming so I usually leave that up to her." --- LOL!!! you crack me up!!!

I wouldn't get my hopes up!!! Did you see the post I made about what happened on the Georgia State LD site? They can't even get their stories straight, not sure they are capable of getting them right!!!