Lyme Disease

[Rach]

also agree with kitch about twisting them to pull them out - although i was always told to twist anti-clockwise as they twist themselves in colockwise so you need to counter it.

also agree with the vaseline thing - but make sure you don't suffocate them. if they die with their pincors in then they're nie on impossible to get out. put a bit of vaseline on and leave about 10s then do the twisting thing. the idea is that they can't breath and so loosen their grip to move and you whip them out whilst they're vulnerable.

ticks definitely like me. the most i've had is 28 in 30 mins.

i find that after about an hour (?) of having one in you start to get a small red area due to them sucking the blood. if the red patch doesn't go 24 hours after you've pulled them out, go to the doctor. and if you leave the pincors in by mistake, make sure you dig then out with a needle if theres still any body attached...

[H]

I caught lymes disease at the end of august in 2003. I didn't notice my rash for over a month - I don’t know how long it appeared after I was bitten (the bite was just below my right buttock!) When I did notice it, it was a bit bigger than the diameter of a tennis ball (the rash gradually spread out and became fainter with time). It was slightly red and slightly more blotchy round the edge but also the colour in the middle was a bit like a bruise - a bit purpley. After several visits to my GP (including a NEGATIVE test result for lymes) I was eventually referred to the infectious diseases unit at a hospital. The rash had disappeared by this point - 6 months since the initial bite. I described the symptoms and the hospital doctor recognised it straight away and gave me the antibiotics and another blood test which did come back positive.

I think was quite lucky with symptoms as I know some people get them much more severely.

The rash is generally described as developing within 3-30 days on any documentation you might find but as with most things, everyone responds differently.

I think the best defence against lyme disease is to check thoroughly before ticks have chance to bite. There is no vaccination against it.

[TimD]

I also was under the impression that you twist anti-clockwise and pull slightly upwards at the same time. It has worked for me in the past.

I picked up one of these blighters at the Scottish last year and didn't notice it for a few days. I duly removed the tick and a week or so later a rash appeared about 5cm diameter around the site of the bite. I went to the doctor who didn't really know what to do but a mention of Lyme disease prompted him to look it up. A strong course of anti-biotics followed which knocked me for six.

From what I remember (and I am not medically minded) they can't actually test for the presence of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. All that they can do is prescribe anti-biotics and then after a few weeks test for the presence of the antibodies that fight the Lyme disease bacteria. If this test proves positive then this is proof that the Lyme disease bacteria was present and is now hopefully banished. If the test is negative either you didn't have the bacteria or the anti-biotics didn't work.

Not all ticks carry the bacteria and it is generally only if they are fully gorged on blood that they pass on the bacteria so prompt removal of the tick is a good thing.

[Gross]

what's the best antibiotic.... might buy some to stick in first aid bag

[kedge]

Mrs H, its about eight years ago now so my recollection is shaky, but as I recall the blotchy red ring appeared a week or two after the bite (which I picked up while controlling an event) and it wasn't until it reached the diameter of a tennis ball (it seemed to spread out a bit like a fairy ring fungus on a lawn) that I thought anything of it.

As with the others, the blood test showed the presence of antibodies, so the doctor concluded that I must have had Lyme Disease at some time, whether it was then or sometime earlier.

[HOCOLITE]

Mr Hoco got a ring round a bite and visited the Doc. Who being an outdoor enthusiast had heard of Lymes Disease and got quite excited. You don't really want to hear 'Oh great I've never had to treat Lymes Disease it is exciting' Fortunately the test proved negative. However a member of our club had terrible problems and the doctors said it was arthritus, and it was only a passing comment to Iffititches that led to eventual diagnosis.

I wonder what it is that means some people are more vulnerable than others. I know some get more midge bites, I suffer middling in that but haven't yet had a tick visitation.

[PG]

Just in case anybody starts getting really worried, in most areas Lyme disease is only carried by a tiny percentage of ticks if any and tick-bound encephalitis by even less.

My record was when I was mapping a particularly dense green area of SW of Budapest, which was popular with both deer and wild boar. I had over 100 ticks one day and almost as many on others. I flicked most of them off before they dug in, but missed a few of the smaller ones till the itching started a day or so later (they come in sizes form pin-head up to 3-4mm).

I had no after-effects (though I had already had the encephalitis jab). I also collect them in the UK, so whatever it is that ticks like, I have it.

[Kitch]

what's the best antibiotic.... might buy some to stick in first aid bag

No Gross - thats why they have doctors - to prescribe them.
So they don't get dished out on the off chance
So they are taken as a proper full course
So that diseases don't become resistant.

(if you don't take a proper course some bacteria survive and adapt and becomne resistant and we're all going to die)

[deebee]

My daughter caught Lyme's Disease about eighteen years ago - from a deer tick in the Forest of Dean. It was a relatively unknown disease in those days and she suffered for a long time, having blinding headaches and various other nasty things. As you can imagine, we've been very particular about tick removal ever since. One thing I've found to work is to have a bath with a capful of Dettol, it seems to kill them and they can be easily removed. You can also exterminate them with alcohol, deodorant, after shave and vaseline. One thing I haven't found yet is what to put on the wound after removing the body. I always get a red spot which itches slightly for a while afterwards. I've tried Anthistan, Germoline, Savlon etc etc, but it makes no difference. I ran through Cartmel Park Woods on Sunday, treading where nobody has been since the storm of January last year. Thirty minutes thirty ticks, thirty itchy spots. Help!
Some people are more attractive to ticks.. I remember sitting in a wood at Lagganlia with Jon Duncan some years ago and he almost needed a dustpan and brush to get rid of them.

[Tatty]

Get a lot of ticks in the bracken, so loads down here in the New Forest. We always check after every event as we know a couple of people who've had quite severe Lymes disease. They seem to fair haired people a lot!Hide in crevases, ie behind knees, ankle bones between toes etc. Be vigilent. Incidentally when on eof my sons had the TBE jabs for JWOC we were charged £100!! And theat was several years ago.

[Barny of Blandford]

If there is a tick within miles I catch it - a couple of weeks ago at Stourhead weekend - over 18 on one leg - this weekend at Shearwater again quite a few - and yet my wife caught none
We all have a ready supply of the little green removers (in two sizes for horses ) that one of our members Richard Brightman gets from the vets in Verwood for a couple of pounds
Some of the advice I have received is a bit conflicting - I was told not to put thinks like vaseline on it but to simply twist and remove - then we use either teetree (if I spelt it right) or sudocream (also good for sore bums) I would be interested to hear what other people do or use (particularly from you medical types) so that I can reassure myself that what I am doing is good practice
(sorry - bad term from teaching!!)
Look forward to advice and comments

[Rach]

i think the advice for not putting vaseline on comes from the fact that you really don't want to kill them whilst their teeth are in as they don't release when they die... so vaseline etc is ok so long as you put it on and then whip them out straight away!
my parents have a fancy pair of tick tweezers that a german friend gave them. they tweezer and twist at the same time. not sure where you'd get them from but i find normal tweezers are good enough.
i use tcp afterwards, dab a bit on with cotton wool. seems to do the trick.

[Barny of Blandford]

the green plastic tick removers are an 'L' shape and on the bottom half have a 'v' which you insert under the ick and then twist - the advantage is that you do not chop the tick in half with the tweezers which can happen some times
I will take a picture of one in a minute and get the sleepy owl to post if for me via flickr - with a bit of luck and coordination between the two of us it might appear here later

[Barny of Blandford]

I am having a clever night tonight which at my senior age is good going
Whe I took the picture (hint - hint to sleepy owl to look at his flickr) I noticed the web site on the packet
Visit http://www.otom.com and all is revealed (I would put this as a hyperlink bit I have no faith in my ability - so hopefully a moderator or my sleepy owl will do it for me
Thanks

[Barny of Blandford]

It even has a realtime video demo on the web site of how to deal with the tick(s)