Beware the lyme!

ellbiddy

Active Member
So I'm fairly sure that even after my post ride checks that I had a tick bite me and there's a decent shot I've got lyme disease given the pattern of the bite mark :(. I can't say for certain, I'm on antibiotics now and am going for a lyme titer tomorrow and 4 weeks from now to see if that's what it is. Better safe than sorry I guess.

So.....check yourself after you ride ;) Especially after you faceplant into the bushes.
 

pinkshirtphotos

Active Member
when life gives you limes, make limeaid
juices_limeade_display.jpg
 

ellbiddy

Active Member
I was fairly lyme conscience so I knew all the details, but it didn't help...

It takes 24-48 hours for you to get infected after it lands on you, and you're much more likely to catch it from a nymph as opposed to an adult so it's much more common to catch it during the seasons in which they come out and bear arms against the races of man...damn ticks.
 

scotth

Well-Known Member
I'm very sorry to hear that you got bit by a tick. Is there an area that has less deer ticks? or a type of woods that has less? Take Care


Regards,


Scott
 

chemgirl

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
This appeared on my husbands leg today. Obviously lymes. In the morning it was a little red spot, by 5pm it was this! He rode CR yesterday and on Saturday. Wissahikon last Wed. Not sure when he had a tick and I have no idea how long it takes for this to appear, but once it started, it grew fast. I love swimmers who shave all the hair off their bodies, and my husband always thought I was nuts. Maybe now he'll do it so we can see ticks better:D
 
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scotth

Well-Known Member
In my late 20's & early 30's I didn't spend much time in the woods so ticks were not on my mind. The past few years I have been scuba diving, my wife even got certified. After we had our son I started thinking that diving was not worth the risk so I decided to sell my gear and buy another mountain bike. The first two times I rode I got ticks on me now I'm worried about ticks, what if I brought a tick home and it bit my wife or baby. Is there anything that could help with the tick problem. I wish Chemgirl and her husband a miracle that this Lymes gets kicked from his system.


regards,

Scott
 

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
This appeared on my husbands leg today. Obviously lymes. In the morning it was a little red spot, by 5pm it was this! He rode CR yesterday and on Saturday. Wissahikon last Wed. Not sure when he had a tick and I have no idea how long it takes for this to appear, but once it started, it grew fast. I love swimmers who shave all the hair off their bodies, and my husband always thought I was nuts. Maybe now he'll do it so we can see ticks better:D

i didnt know lymes was a physical disease. i thought it was internal. that looks like ringworm.
 
D

dzm3

Guest
From what I learned in my research, yes I was diagnosed too and just finished my antibiotics course, that the bulls eye mark appears only in about 50% of the cases, and not always around the bite site itself either...
basically the bacteria gets into your blood stream and then can surface anywhere on the body. I actually had three marks, arm, leg and my side, hard to imagine that I was bit by three infected ticks at the same time, or that one tick traveled that far without falling off...
I had a habbit of getting the blood work for lyme test done twice a year, ironically i had blood drawn 2 days prior to the mark appearing, and it confirmed lyme.
they say that it takes 4-6 weeks fro it to show in the blood work after the infection, and that it takes 7-14 days for the bulls eye marks to appear. I guess it wasn't the case for me...
In addition to using tick repellants and checking for them post ride, i'd recommend getting blood test done two-three times a year, especially during summer, just to make sure you catch it soon, before any serious permanent damage had been done to your body. Lyme goes into all organs, liver, brain, etc... Untreated for long time, it will wreck serious permanent damage.
unfortunately, one does not gain immunity after the first infection and can be re-infected and the subsequent blood tests are alway false positive, I, and others who had it, cannot rely on them in the future and it's all symptomatic diagnosis from now on...

just my $0.02, YMMV

dz
 
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MST.ESQ

New Member
...one does not gain immunity after the first infection and can be re-infected and the subsequent blood tests are alway false positive, I, and others who had it, cannot rely on them in the future and it's all symptomatic diagnosis from now on...

dzm3 makes a very good point. I would add that we all be vigilant when it comes to our kids being in the woods (especially near Dear Park, Stevens State Park and Allamuchy where we used to live).

My son contracted Lyme before he could even talk! Thank god he got the bullseye marks or we never would have known. Medicine has finally caught up to the treatment with a super-course of antibiotics and he received his first treatment the morning the rash appeared with no apparent long-term effects... but I am concerned with another infection for the above reason. He is now 6 years old and wants to start camping and riding off-road with me and wants to enter his first H2H race when he is 10 (currently rides a 16" Haro Z - how cute is that!). I always take a shower as soon as I get home - but I am seriously worried about my son getting another infection and not having "typical" symptoms from which he can be easily diagnosed...

HEY - I KNOW I MENTIONED THAT MY SON RIDES A HARO - BUT DON'T TRY TO TALK HIM INTO GOING TO HALTER'S TO TAKE A MARY SS FOR A SPIN... DADDY GETS HIS NEW BIKE FIRST!
 
B

Bean

Guest
I've never even seen a tick on me in all the years I've been riding , and this year had three on me.

Felt like garbage for the past two months so I got a test, and it was positive for Lyme. No spots or other symptoms except for a weird low grade fever that lasted for a few days, and feeling really tired. Out riding I was getting passed by guys that I always ride circles around. At first I thought I was just stressed from work or something. Finally insisted on a Lyme test.

There is a lot of mis-information about the disease, even from the medical community. I am going to see a Lyme specialist over here in Westchester next week, because even after two weeks of the antibiotics, I am as weak as a baby.

Bean
 

MST.ESQ

New Member
I am going to see a Lyme specialist over here in Westchester next week, because even after two weeks of the antibiotics, I am as weak as a baby.

You are correct! The medical community used to undertreat Lyme with less than 20 days of antibiotics. Once they (or atlease some from what I still hear) figured out that you need 30+ days they started to get a handle on it - so much so that Lymerix (or however they spell it) preventative shots are no longer on the market.

Warcricket: Talk about scared... I was blessed with hairy Italian legs :eek: (hence no Lycra for me!) and have yet to see a tick on me, EVER! I know they must be there so I have to take long showers immediately after I ride.
 

dirty bert

Banned
Spray

there's no way that they, whoever that may be, can spray in the woods, to kill the ticks. like they use to spray, back in the day, for them gypsy moths?

ticks sux!
 
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