Lymes disease 90% got it.

Tick bites are generally painless. Many people may not even notice the bite and may never find the tick if it falls off. Small ticks, like the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, are so tiny they may be nearly undetectable. Some ticks are about as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

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From
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ticks/pa ... _and_signs

IDB1":1dpo8rn5 said:

Tick bites are generally painless. Many people may not even notice the bite and may never find the tick if it falls off. Small ticks, like the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, are so tiny they may be nearly undetectable. Some ticks are about as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

Click to expand...

From
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ticks/pa ... _and_signs

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I've only ever been bitten in the borders and highlands in Scotland. Obviously we just have the big buggers up here.

Tazio":16di2lmf said:

I've only ever been bitten in the borders and highlands in Scotland. Obviously we just have the big buggers up here.

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Weeeell.. we found a few on one of the dogs when we lived in Essex and they were rather chunky too so I thought they were one size fits all too..
Only been doing some reading about it from this thread (since, for some reason, I was under the impression that Lymes was non-existant over here) and it's pretty scary stuff..

Thetford Forest, for instance, has been the source of Lymes disease in recent years.

IDB1":1zmwsgiu said:

Thetford Forest, for instance, has been the source of Lymes disease in recent years.

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Like I said earlier on Kaya was telling me last year about him having it. He said his biggest battle was getting the docs to believe him there was something wrong.

Seems like it's not THAT bad if you catch it early but there's some serious s**t if not.

Tazio, looking at the OP's pic of his leg, the the bull's eye rash is clearly seen where bite was, so as has almost certainly been confirmed by his doc, it's Lyme disease.
Last time I had a tick was summer last year, never felt it bite, could barely see it as it was tiny. Looked like a tiny bit of dirt. We'd been canoeing down at Lochore Meadows. From carpark to water was less than 5 meters, we landed on one of islands for a wee look so hard to know where it hitched a lift. Was checking my leg every day for a couple of weeks for signs of the rash. All OK though. I'm now paranoid about checking for ticks where I'm likely to get bitten.
Had to remove tick from one of our cats recently, luckily it was on it's ear so visible.

old_coyote_pedaller":1c89qwxk said:

Tazio, looking at the OP's pic of his leg, the the bull's eye rash is clearly seen where bite was, so as has almost certainly been confirmed by his doc, it's Lyme disease.
Last time I had a tick was summer last year, never felt it bite, could barely see it as it was tiny. Looked like a tiny bit of dirt. We'd been canoeing down at Lochore Meadows. From carpark to water was less than 5 meters, we landed on one of islands for a wee look so hard to know where it hitched a lift. Was checking my leg every day for a couple of weeks for signs of the rash. All OK though. I'm now paranoid about checking for ticks where I'm likely to get bitten.
Had to remove tick from one of our cats recently, luckily it was on it's ear so visible.

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Looking back now he's cut it down to one pic it is indeed very clear. Ticks really are evil little buggers.

The chunky ones we were sent these as being tres effective for removal (by someone who has removed loads from their dogs)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tick-Remover- ... 500wt_1076

An ex-friend used to Frontline her kids and poured some (Frontline) over the ticks on my dogs leg to get them off.. worked a treat..

Tazio, what you wrote about Kaya having difficulty being taken seriously by doctors is what tends to happen. The 2 people I know of and others I've read about all seem to have had a problem getting diagnosed when all the indications and symptoms pointed directly to Lyme disease.
Many doctors seem ignorant of Lyme disease and don't act with the speed required to check for it to give antibiotics as soon as possible.

From what i've gathered recently.........not all people get a rash, which means you may have it for longer without knowing..........only about 50% of the rashes are typical the others can be atypical and mistaken for less serious things again then if left till other symtoms occour.........so the fact that one of the bites went typical was lucky for me to get a quickish diagnosis.

The ones on my hands did invert to a small bulls eye but they were too small for 'textbook' diagnosis.

1st doc said it will go away you've just had alergic reaction to bites !

2nd doc said no can't be Lymes (you've not been swiming in dirty water !!! that weils you idiot)

3rd doc i took many pics of typical/atypical rashes + good medical
summeries of the net, but didn't need persuading and said the main bigger rash was 90% typical and they do not appear other than Lymes really.


Wishing the 1st doc had put me on meds there and then as now there has been a delay of 3 days ............and fast treatment is crucial..........Lymes can reach your central nervous system quite quickly, a day or two.


I feel quite flu like and weak and a bit stiff in my lower back and a bit sick.

Hoping the NHS guidelines for length of treatment will be enough as there seems to be big debate you need to be on med a few weeks longer to get it properly.