Posted: Sunday, August 7, 2011 9:54:50 PM
Yes, Lyme disease attacked my family. More about that in a moment.
Lyme disease is very sneaky because it's symptoms can mimic so many other diseases. Unfortunately,
Lyme disease ABOUNDS in the part of the country where I now live...the Hudson Valley of New York.
Lyme disease is carried by the deer tick (a much tinier tick than the common Wood or Dog tick). I
think just about every deer tick in the Hudson Valley is a carrier...(truthfully, the number could be as high as 50%) and a lot of those ticks seem to reside right in my own back yard!
Our house backs up to woods. Almost every time I go outside, I will get a tick on me.
But have you noticed...Lyme disease is NOT big news, any more. Almost NO ONE talks about it on TV.
It's not nearly as interesting as Justin Beiber's current girlfriend or what Lindsey Lohan is doing.
It's just not a hot topic.
However, Lyme disease is indeed a hot topic in our household. My husband was diagnosed with Lyme disease not once...but TWICE in the past year, and my daughter has had Lyme AND Erlichiosis, another bacterial tick-borne disease.
When we think of Lyme, we always think of the classic bullseye rash...and that's how you know you have contracted the disease.
But listen; this is very important. YOU DON'T ALWAYS GET A BULLSEYE RASH! Sometimes, you will get a rash in a few different places (not the bite site). Other times, there will be NO RASH AT ALL!
My husband DID get the classic bullseye rash the first time he was diagnosed - but not the second time. My daughter never got the rash at all.
Both of them were bitten by a tick...but we thought the ticks had been removed in time to ward off getting the bacteria. Supposedly, if you remove a tick within 36-48 hours of it biting you, the bacteria will not take hold. (Always remove a tick with with fine tip tweezers).
So what symptoms did my husband and daughter experience? I will tell you, but first I will say that the SYMPTOMS ARE DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE! Plus, the symptoms are often so VAGUE, they are easily confused with other illnesses and diseases,such as viral meningitas, or just plain flu.
That's where the trickiness of this disease and the downright sneakiness of the bacteria factor in.
It's almost as if the bacteria has a BRAIN, and is deliberately trying to fool us. Sometimes it does...and people will have Lyme in them for YEARS...always feeling like something is "off" but not sure what...going to endless doctors who misdiagnose them with everything from Lupus to Fibromyalgia.
Okay, back to my family's symptoms. My husband had: naseua, fever, chills, weird "skin tinglings" (which are really nerve ending sensations), fatique, headache (well there's a real vague symptom...a headache! A headache can be caused by multiple things, some as common as simple stress or tension...).
My daughter, on the other hand, had a really high fever (104),chills, neck pain, light sensitivity, and headache, also.
Luckily we took action, got the blood tests, and the subsequent antibiotics. The good thing about Lyme (if you can call anything about it good)or any bacterial situation, is that it will respond to anti-biotics.
Another problem with Lyme, though, is that the blood tests are not always conclusive...especially if the Lyme disease is in it's earliest stage.
If you know you were bitten by a tick and experience flu-like symptoms, don't give up just because the blood tests are inconclusive! Keep going back to the doctor...get another test.
The longer Lyme is in you the more damage it can do - and the longer your treatment will be. Long term Lyme can settle in your joints, causing arthritis...it can also cause cardiac abnormalities and cognitive disorders.
When walking in the woods (or in my case, my back yard) be sure to wear light colored clothing, and do a TICK CHECK when you come in. Have family members check your back. Of course, you can always wear tick repellent, if you can stand the smell.
(I always worry about the carcinogentic effect of bug spray, though...you can't win..it's always somthing)!
Good luck, and stay TICK(and LYME) free!
STATES WHERE LYME DISEASE IS MOST PREVALENT: Northeast state, from Massachussetes to Maryland. Also,North Central States, especially Wisconsin and Minnesota.