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Lyme? Which symptoms show up first?
Last wknd I removed a tick on the back of my shoulder that had likely been there about 3 days. I know this because for a couple nights I could feel an itchy sensation on my rear arm, but didn't think to look. On the 3rd day or so, I go to itch the spot and feel something weird. I look in the mirror and there was a tick, fully engorged. My wife removed it, but stupidly we both didn't think to save it and flushed it down the toilet. I immediately thought of lyme and figured the cats brought the tick inside. We're from southern Maine, but I know lyme is up in this area.
For the last day or so, I have noticed some sore joints (knees, ankles, shoulder). I should mention that I work out at the gym and push some heavy weight around, but I've done this for a long time and have never noticed joint pain before so I don't think it's from that. No other symptoms that I've read about like flu-like, tiredness, fatigue and most importantly no rash. It's now been 8 days and the spot where I was bit looks to be nearly healed over, but still noticeable. I'm not sure if the achy joints would come on that quickly or if there are other symptoms that come on sooner/later. I know everyone is different.
The weird thing is my wife was recently complaining of achy joints (knees) last week and was attributing it to her new blood press med and when she stopped, the pain has since gone away. I don't take meds, so maybe it's a coincidence or I've got sympathy pains for her:) or maybe there is another "bug" going around lately.
Anyways, I'm not sure if I should go see my PCP. Not sure if they can do much since it's only been a week. I know not everyone gets the rash, but what else should I look for, either visibly or symptom-wise that would be a red flag? Seems like a waiting game at this point. I wish we saved the tick. Arh!!! Thanks
For the last day or so, I have noticed some sore joints (knees, ankles, shoulder). I should mention that I work out at the gym and push some heavy weight around, but I've done this for a long time and have never noticed joint pain before so I don't think it's from that. No other symptoms that I've read about like flu-like, tiredness, fatigue and most importantly no rash. It's now been 8 days and the spot where I was bit looks to be nearly healed over, but still noticeable. I'm not sure if the achy joints would come on that quickly or if there are other symptoms that come on sooner/later. I know everyone is different.
The weird thing is my wife was recently complaining of achy joints (knees) last week and was attributing it to her new blood press med and when she stopped, the pain has since gone away. I don't take meds, so maybe it's a coincidence or I've got sympathy pains for her:) or maybe there is another "bug" going around lately.
Anyways, I'm not sure if I should go see my PCP. Not sure if they can do much since it's only been a week. I know not everyone gets the rash, but what else should I look for, either visibly or symptom-wise that would be a red flag? Seems like a waiting game at this point. I wish we saved the tick. Arh!!! Thanks
The regimen i got was four pills. Two/day at 100mg/pill. Without an official diagnosis would a lyme doc prescribe an extended duration of dox? Extended antibiotics can cause gi issues among other side effects.
Two doses, as in a few hundred mg each?
Not to bring you down, but the rash (if it's Lyme) will usually spread out with a clearing pattern inside a reddish ring that gets larger, and a smaller red 'bullseye' in the middle. Eventually it would fade, if it follows the classical pattern. Bad news #1: Not everyone gets a rash or a bullseye, so you could still have Lyme or another infection from the tick. Bad news #2: When the rash fades, if it's Lyme, you would still be infected.
The longer you are infected, the harder it is to kill the infection. Why? Several reasons. Wiki has a nice write up on Lyme and its particulars, including that Lyme "is very slow growing, with a doubling time of 12–18 hours (in contrast to pathogens such as Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, which have a doubling time of 20–30 minutes). Since most antibiotics kill bacteria only when they are dividing, this longer doubling time necessitates the use of relatively longer treatment courses for Lyme disease." Therefore the short doses of antibiotics such as the one your doc gave you may not be effective. Lyme also has the ability to suppress certain immune system activity.
Having lived through Lyme myself, I would make significant efforts to be fully diagnosed and promptly treated for Lyme and any co-infections (a variety of nasty diseases that about half the time accompany Lyme from the filthy-mouthed Lyme ticks) before simply crossing my fingers and keeping a watchful eye. Lyme does its dirty work where you can't see it and won't know it's operating.
Best wishes.
Best wishes to you.
Not to bring you down, but the rash (if it's Lyme) will usually spread out with a clearing pattern inside a reddish ring that gets larger, and a smaller red 'bullseye' in the middle. Eventually it would fade, if it follows the classical pattern. Bad news #1: Not everyone gets a rash or a bullseye, so you could still have Lyme or another infection from the tick. Bad news #2: When the rash fades, if it's Lyme, you would still be infected.
The longer you are infected, the harder it is to kill the infection. Why? Several reasons. Wiki has a nice write up on Lyme and its particulars, including that Lyme "is very slow growing, with a doubling time of 12–18 hours (in contrast to pathogens such as Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, which have a doubling time of 20–30 minutes). Since most antibiotics kill bacteria only when they are dividing, this longer doubling time necessitates the use of relatively longer treatment courses for Lyme disease." Therefore the short doses of antibiotics such as the one your doc gave you may not be effective. Lyme also has the ability to suppress certain immune system activity.
Having lived through Lyme myself, I would make significant efforts to be fully diagnosed and promptly treated for Lyme and any co-infections (a variety of nasty diseases that about half the time accompany Lyme from the filthy-mouthed Lyme ticks) before simply crossing my fingers and keeping a watchful eye. Lyme does its dirty work where you can't see it and won't know it's operating.
Best wishes.
Best wishes to you.
Doctor prescribed me a 2 dose regimen. I'm sure that might not be enough (or perhaps it is), but I think that's the best I can do right now. Fingers crossed and I'll keep an eye on the bite and other symptoms.
Define "long". I doubt my doc would give me more than 2-4 wks especially without a formal diagnosis. Are you saying that 2-4 wks would not be effective?
Lyme doctors will treat you for a long time, unless you can get a longer dose of doxy from a regular doctor.
I'm very proactive about my health and don't usually let things go too long. Hopefully it's just something else, but I can't see any harm in taking some antibiotics for a few weeks, but docs don't like to prescribe antibiotics due to increasing resistance, but seems warranted in this case.
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