Lyme Disease

[Mrs H.]

Just been reading about Kirsty Waterson whose athletic career has been ended by Lyme Disease caught from a tick picked up during a cross country race in Thetford forest (Porky country). that'll scare the punters out of the forest for a while - bit worrying really when you read the list of symptons : extreme fatigue, joint pain, headaches, short term memory loss, stiff neck - i've got them all but I suspect that's got more to do with being "a certain age"
Mind you I bought a pair of those short trousers recently as Ian didn't have any long ones to fit me in royal blue - and the first thing i notice is that ticks shoot straight up the legs - be vigilant kids as you head off this summer - if you get a rash at the scene of a bite get yourselves straight down to the doctors and tell them what you think it might be 'cos they probably won't think of it otherwise. Prompt treatment with anti-biotics will stop any long term problems.

[Copepod]

Also, discourage ticks from becoming attached by using insect repellent - I know ticks aren't insects, but they don't like insect repellent. DEET is the most reliable, although not approved for use on children.

[Adventure Racer]

How do you actually tell when you've got a tick? I'm not aware of ever having had one, despite having spent lots of time travelling through tick country where other people have reported getting loads of them. Am I simply immune / they don't like me, or have I not noticed?

Extreme fatigue / joint pain / headaches / short term memory loss (looking forward to racing again next weekend) - tick ( ) to all of those at the moment for some reason.

[Gross]

and anyone heading to Europe this summer should get a jag against tick bourne encephalitis........

[ratleikur]

How do you actually tell when you've got a tick?

You can see them. Larger ones look like small grey baked beans, smaller ones like small brown dots with legs. They stay attached feeding for at least 24hrs so checking over your legs every day should be enough to spot them.

[bedders]

Yes and sooner rather than later...its too late if you're heading to lithuania for Takas because it needs 2 jabs and they have to be a minimum of 14 days apart. I only just about fitted mine in, as in I'm getting the second one this afternoon.

[Copepod]

To Gross - Tick borne encephalitis is not present everywhere in mainland Europe - best to check on http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/ TBE vaccination requires an ititial course of 2 jabs with 1 to 3 months between, plus a further booster 5 to 12 months after the 2nd jab, then boosters every 3 years if at continues risk. Think well ahead, as there may be a dealy of up to 2 weeks before an appointment with a GP / practice nurse and not many surgeries keep the vaccine in stock. They can charge for most travel vaccines, including TBE, so it might be quicker & easier and no more expensive to go straight to a travel clinic.

To Adventure Racer - Ticks do prefer some people more than others and tend to hide in inaccessible locations eg groin. That's where a (close / good) friend and a pair of forceps / tweezers (parallel with skin to avoid squeezing contents of tick body into human) is useful!

[Becks]

Just to emphasize that if you suspect you have it, spell it out to the GP! When H got it she went to the GP, said "I was bitten by a tick here, then a circular rash round the bite appeared, and now I feel like I have flu, I must have Lymes Disease," and he still told her it was unlikely and asked her to come back later if she still felt bad. I think he was having a bad day, but still, it's an interesting story.

[Mrs H.]

AR - you must also check your upper arms,under arms, neck and midriff - sometimes you can feel them when you wash - they are like little rasied brown dots and they shoot up your sleeves when you push through undergrowth. they look like dark freckles but the skin round them starts to go a bit pink and they lift off like scabs - it's really hard to see any legs on them. I'd be amazed if you've never had one

[Kitch]

To remove

grip between the tips of your nails on thumb and second finger. Then twist clockwise.

Now place on back of thumbnail and crush mercylessly using the back of the nail of your opposite index finger.

if blood appears exclaim; 'you little ****'
if no blood; 'ha ha ha think you can get away with sucking my blood ? Wrong - die scum!'

Alternatively, if you are of Russian extraction you could always hack a 1cm hole in your own tender living flesh using a rusty safety pin and hope the tetanus doesn't get you.

[Stodgetta]

They definately prefer some people to others - I remember the Badge Event in Airds Park after the British on Craig Mich, where the whole uni minibus load sat down on the grass to eat our Wilfs. That night, Stodge and I removed over 20 each, while others who had been sitting with us had none

From experience, they seem to crawl upwards and onwards until they get stuck, so knicker elastic followed by bra elastic seem to be favourite places to hide!

I agree with Kitch about twisting clockwise to get them out, and make sure you grab them as close to the head as possible, otherwise you are at risk of separating the body and leaving the head buried to fester

Other removal methods are to coat them in vaseline to suffocate them before pulling them out, or to use the lit end of a cigarette/hot end of a recently put out match to cremate them before removal (although depending on where the tick is, a bit of a tremor at this point can lead to some painful scarring )

[Klebe]

Prevention is better than cure!
Get down to "Superdrug" and buy yourself some 'Autan' Tick and insect repellant. Autan is one of the few products on the market designed to repel ticks as well as insects.
We always spray exposed arms (and knees) as well as over our bramble bashers/gaiters/trousers. This generally does the trick. Our only experiences with ticks are when we haven't bothered with the spray.

[kedge]

A few years ago, when I got the circular rash and went to my GP suggesting Lyme Disease, he thought it unlikely but did a blood test.

A couple of hours later he rang me to say 'my partner has just read an article in the medical press which suggests that if a patient appears presenting Lyme Disease symptons and appears to know what they are talking about, give them antibiotics straight away, rather than waiting for the results of the blood test. So will you please come back in.'

He gave me a long course of antibiotics: the blood test came back positive. I didn't feel too bad at the time, but my arthritis got worse.

[Suzy R Sopham]

I use the O'Tom tick twister to remove any I get. You can get from most vets in rural areas, and I know GP practices in certain areas give them out for free!

http://www.otom.com/

[Mrs H.]

Kedge - can you describe the rash in more detail (Size/spread/colour) I've mentioned a slight pink inflamation round the tick - to differentiate it from a dark freckle (which we as a family have plenty of) but I guess the rash is a bit more spectacular - and how much longer after the bite did it appear?