Mysterious bite yesterday and found a tick walking around on me today. What do I do?

High risk bites are treated with 30 days of antibiotics.

I don't know how to tell if it's high risk...as it seems that lyme is everywhere now.
You didn't have an embedded tick...and don't know for sure that you got bitten.
I know some LLMD's say : "Get it Right, treat the bite" But you don't even know if you were bitten.

I think you need to decide if the risks of 30 days of abx are minimal compared to the risk of a lyme infection.

This is what the guidelines say:

TICK BITES - Embedded Deer Tick With No Signs or Symptoms of Lyme (see appendix):
Decide to treat based on the type of tick, whether it came from an endemic area, how it was removed,
and length of attachment (anecdotally, as little as four hours of attachment can transmit pathogens). The risk of transmission is greater if the tick is engorged, or of it was removed improperly allowing the tick's contents to spill into the bite wound. High-risk bites are treated as follows (remember the possibility of co-infection!):
1) Adults: Oral therapy for 28 days.


Knowing what I know now...I personally would treat it.

You could do herbal - I think it's Andrographis that is used. You can make a poultice to cover the bite with it.

Hopefully someone will know how much Andrographis to take...and how to make the poultice.

A gas or electric dryer will kill ticks- not the washing machine.

astroman said...
I no longer walk in the woods during the spring time, stick to wide weed free paths. After June- then yes, with permetherin on my shoes/socks. always wear socks for perimeter spray- fashion does not apply to health. flip flops in nature ?- that nuts and many do this, I see it.

LOL - I wear flip flops. But, where I walk is a pretty wide path...not foliage hanging over...or brushing up against my legs.

Not like where I used to run.... was constantly brushing branches with my arms, legs...etc.

i'm petrified to go back to that trail...lol.

I didn't see anyone mention taking herbal Astragalus 3000 mg per day for 30 days.

I take 1000 mg per day just for prevention.

If you can get some Doxy, go for it. 400 mg per day is needed for at least 30 days

anxious_girl said...
Thank you for the tips, everyone. We always dry our clothes is a drier so that's okay. I will stick to wider paths in the future, but I did love the adventure of going off the beaten track so it will be a bit disappointing to have to stop doing that.

I've found another bite on me on my ankle of all places but not sure if it is a tick bite. My ankles were slightly exposed on the walk, even though I wore walking boots.

I think I may get the treatment to be safe. What do you guys think?

I would -

I don't know that I would go with wider pants when hiking or walking in the woods. I would tuck my pants into my socks and wear a hat of some kind. This would help avoid the ticks getting up inside your pants and/or in your hair, unnoticed.

I never had a bullseye rash, but I got Lyme. And, I never had a tick attached to me for any great length of time. Chances are that my Lyme came from a smaller tick that got stuck in my hair, one I couldn't see, but I'll never know for sure. There's no way of knowing if a tick will infect you or not. However, I've heard that if a tick (big or small) is attached for 24 to 36 hours, there is good reason to consider seeking preventative treatment. I don't know if this is fact, but something to think about. I also know someone who will go to the walk-in-clinic and tell them they got bit by a tick, and they give them a round of antibiotics. As long as this doesn't happen too often, I guess it could be an option.

Let us know what you decide to do. So many options.