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Tick paranoia

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Posted 5/31/2014 2:53 PM (GMT 0)
Anyone else here completely paranoid about ticks since getting lyme disease? I am completely paranoid. For example, where I live right now there are a lot of woods. I just forced myself to go for a short walk- on the road- with woods on both sides, because I need to exercise more. In the five minutes I was out - I stayed in the middle of the road- I felt something itching my ear, brushed it off and it was small and black- I didn't even look closely- but it may have been a tick. ( It may not have been but I am so tick paranoid). I was like- oh man I cannot believe just on a walk not even touching any plants a possible tick fell on me. ugh.

Also, I wonder about all my friends who are so casual about their nature encounters. Are they all gonna get lyme too? Are ticks really everywhere like I think they are?

I don't even like to sit in the grass or pick any wildflowers or anything anymore. It is definitely kind of an obsessive fear. And peple who don't have lyme cannot understand it.

Do you all feel the same way? Just like there are ticks everywhere that there are plants?

Up until this year, until I got sick from it, I still went in the woods, and did not have the fear of ticks. I thought they were just in the messy overgrown parts which I stayed out of. Now I feel that they are everywhere and it is really affecting my life.

Posted 5/31/2014 3:41 PM (GMT 0)
Katebirch, I think it is entirely understandable for you to be that paranoid. This infection is so bad they call it a disease! But it is important to address these kinds of reactions, which you are doing, so that is a good start. I feel very much the same way but I have been too sick to get out of the house so I haven't had to face any nature. But I feel like you can catch the co infections of lymes from so many things like other animals, biting flies, sexual contact, gestation, that for me I would have to be afraid of everything, well other than being reborn without dying. Not sure what you believe about the contraction of lymes but it helps me to realize that we are all susceptible to catching lymes, infections and parasites it's just a matter of whose immune system is strong enough to host the bad guys rather than get taken out by them. It's in the lymes best interest for us to survive which makes me think focusing on building up the strongest immune system ever is a better way to use your energy than being scared of lymes outside. But I know what you mean nonetheless, this disease causes some of the worst anxiety. I will keep my fingers crossed for you that you can overcome your fears and enjoy the outdoors again!
Posted 6/2/2014 12:16 PM (GMT 0)
YES, I can relate. And especially because I have no recollection of ever being bitten by a tick to begin with.

Post Edited (RTF) : 6/2/2014 6:20:05 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/2/2014 12:49 PM (GMT 0)
It is a really weird thing to have to live in a world where nature is dangerous on this level. It is also weird how some people get lyme and some don't. I live in a rural type area in the northeast and people here are very outdoorsy- lots of hiking etcetera. And most people I know do not have lyme. I mean there are many who do but many more don't. And those are people who hike every day and that kind of thing. Yet I am pretty cautious about all that stuff and I still got it. It is a weird thing and super lame that it exists.
Posted 6/2/2014 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, very much so. Before I knew I had Lyme I bought a house beside a wooded area and now I am very nervous about it. I used to look at nature and be awed by it's beauty. I still do, but now there is an undercurrent of fear as well.

I never used to be afraid of bugs at all but now any time I see the tiniest fly or whatever I smash the heck out of it.
Posted 6/2/2014 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
ha ha me too on the bugs and nature. We built a house in a wooded area dn cut a huge patch of trees down to have a sunny field. I smash all bugs too. hate them
Posted 6/2/2014 10:59 PM (GMT 0)
I know someone that recently found a tick in their daughters head. She hadn't been outside so they figured it probably fell off the dog and onto her. I mean, I think it's more than a nature problem. You could be at a friend's house that has a dog and get a tick on you without ever going in a patch of grass.

I think about all the hunters and maybe campers or hikers out there and wonder how more people aren't deathly ill from this. I hope they find a cure or better treatments for people soon.
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