Worried About My Husband's Infected Tick Bite

I posted earlier that while waiting for an appointment for my husband Bill to be tested for Lyme, I found an embedded tick near his arm pit, in the middle of a red oval spot about 3" long. The area around the bite was, and still is, hard, red and hot.

Wednesday, our primary care doc removed the tick and prescribed doxy. He said the bite was infected and told Bill to come back in on Monday. Friday, we saw the LLMD, who prescribed supplements and told Bill to continue the doxy (100 mg 2x/day for 30 days).

The bite has been itching like crazy, and Bill's whole shoulder area is painful. He has an appointment Monday AM with the PC to check the infection. Since he is a diabetic, I'm wondering if he should be in the hospital.

Our PC doc's office is open tomorrow but the doctor won't be there until Monday, when Bill has an appointment.

100 mgs twice a day is not nearly enough Doxy, even for treatment of very early stages of Lyme. And the bulls eye rash confirms Lyme completely. It's the only infection that creates a bulls eye - so be sure that you have taken pictures of it with something like a dime or ruler in the picture to show the size.

I would encourage you to not only stay away from your primary care doc, but that doctor that calls themselves a LLMD - neither of them follows the ILADS protocols - which happens to be the only protocol that is now listed in the National Guidelines Clearinghouse.

You will want to find a well trained doctor, not one that has self proclaimed themselves as a LLMD or an ID Doc (Infectious Disease Doctor), as ID docs believe Lyme is hard to catch and easy to treat, and don't believe in the reality of chronic Lyme. Go to the ILADS site to read the new (2014) Treatment guidelines and you can see that your husband should have at least been put on 200 - 300 mgs twice daily, which is twice the amount he was prescribed. :
www.lymenet.org/BurrGuide200810.pdf

Because he is diabetic, he will have to be more concerned with his immune system recovering, I believe, and to be sure that he gets appropriate treatments. I'm not aware of any other complications with Diabetics that have gotten these infections, but I've also not looked into it.

Please let us know how we can be of help!!!

Thanks to all of you for your interest and advice.

I can't keep Bill from going back to his PC tomorrow to have the infection checked. We've been married 42 years today, and he still won't let me boss him!

I look forward to seeing the results of our Igenex tests in the near future.

Traveler, do you know who our LLMD is? I'm wondering if you put two and two together to figure his identity. We discussed him two years ago by email-----Dr. C from near Memphis, TN. He doesn't like antibiotic treatment and has prescribed supplements and anti-yeast and a diet of fish, animal and vegetable.

At the time I started seeing him, you were unaware that he was taking new patients because he had quit at one point.

Post Edited (Mississippi Jane) : 7/10/2016 9:48:45 PM (GMT-6)

PeteZa, I didn't answer your question. The LLMD thinks my husband has Lyme because of the rash at the site of his tick bite. He sent Bill's blood to Igenex for testing and has him returning in a month for follow up blood work. He is supposed to take the supplements I currently take.

Our PC doc prescribed doxy and based on what I told Bill, he is taking a double dose of the prescribed amount, so he is taking 200 mg 2x/day.

Hey, Traveler.

Our pc doc removed the tick and prescribed doxy last Wednesday. Bill's appointment with the LLMD was on Friday. Our MS LLMD did not diagnose Bill with Lyme, but said he could continue taking doxy, use the vitamins and supplements I'm using. He also prescribed a simple diet, difucan(sp?), and nystatin(sp?) and told Bill to come back in a month.

Yes, Girlie, he had enough for 30 days of treatment.

But today, the pc doc took him off doxy and put him on clindamycin, 300 mg, 3x/day for 14 days.

He will have at least half the doxy left after taking the clindamycin. I'm wondering if he should go back to the doxy after finishing the clindamycin. I wish we could talk to the LLMD about this. Bill said he was taking 300 mg of doxy a day because I told him he should be taking 400-600/day, and he averaged what I said with the 200 mg/day the doctor prescribed.

I have no control. I tell him what you guys say, and he does what he wants.

Our co-pay on prescriptions filled today was $200. We are taking tons of supplements and have more on order from amazon.com. We can't afford to have two Lyme patients and one diabetic in this household much longer. One of us definitely needs to get well soon.