Dang Ticks again,, hows everyone doing?

[Warden609]

About seven years ago I had over 200 chigger bites on one leg   . I take time now to prepare for my outings across the state. This is a good thread. Please take time to educate yourself about prevention methods to improve your outdoor experiences.

The other day I stopped along a highway to glass a group of turkeys, all hens and young from last year,  I never left the shoulder of road.  There were a few weeds growing along the edge of the pavement.  Heading down the road, I felt something on my leg.  I turned at the next gravel, bailed out, dropped my pants.  I had one on my leg, and two more in my light tan pants.  That's why they say wear light colored clothes.   Ticks have been out before the season opened here.  I was hoping that the late cold snap would make a difference, but no.  We had no frost in the ground this year here, thanks to the early and season long snow cover.

[Roy from Pa]

Rob that's what I've been told also..

[highlow]

Just about the same here in NJ as what the others  are saying. Had one crawling across the computer screen the other day. I'm 72, have lived in NJ for 70 of those years. Growing up, I didn't know what a tick was much less looked like. Would love to know what caused the upsurge in the last twenty or thirty years. Have had many embedded but so far have escaped the resultant disease. Hope the luck continues.

I am sure most have read about how lyme's disease actually got its start as a  bio test, however, there seems to be a huge upswing of all ticks.  Around here, when I was a kid, very few of us ever got a tick and we were out kicking around in the weeds and woods along the rivers all of the time.  With all of the aerial spraying done both high up and low over our bean fields, enough that corn has to be aluminum resistant and our song birds and butterflies and bees are in a steep decline, one would think that tick numbers would be going down, but the opposite seems to be the reality.

[Rob DiStefano]

while this thread is not about trad bowhunting, i believe it's an important conversation that levies serious concerns about your personal health and both your future afield and even pulling string, if you contract lyme disease.

do the research then think about it - lyme disease was named for the connecticut town that its doctor identifier of the borrelia spirochete (or more basically, borrelia burgdorferi) practiced.  

there was no lyme disease ever recorded anywhere on planet earth until its special diagnosis started showing up here in the nor'east.  

since most of the unfortunate victims and their docs knew nothing of this bacteria, the disease was allowed to flourish to the point of not only making humans wheelchair bound for life, but killing them as well.

the borrelia bacteria has spread from nor'east usa to most of the rest of mainland usa, alaska, canada, and now many offshore countries.

a lotta gloom 'n' doom, but truth and knowledge is important in any battle - or world epidemic.

when it comes to lyme, i would be Very wary of most western docs as most don't know squat when it comes to this disease.  i was fortunate to find a naturopath doc who correctly diagnosed lyme when western docs kept telling me i had joint tendonitis and nearly screwed up my liver with anti-inflammatories.  within a few weeks i kicked 95% of my lyme symptoms.  i have it under control, it's with me for life.  i was lucky.

don't take tick bites, skeeter bites, chigger bites, really ANY bug bites lightly.  understand the symptoms of lyme, get proper help sooner than later.  this disease is bad juju for everyone.

It actually is a trad bow issue around here during turkey season.  When we get together we talk about three things, 1. Where we went. 2. The toms that would not come in. and 3. Our individual tick count.

[Sam McMichael]

Around here the winter never got cold enough to slow ticks down at all. By the way, there are a hell of a lot of other illnesses that can be caused by ticks. Spray liberally with Permethrin, even if you are only walking the dog in the yard. I know about ticks. I got Alpha Gal allergy from a tick, and now I can not eat meat from any mammal - a real pisser. The doctors seem to understand even less about Alpha Gal than they do lyme disease.

[Bowjunkie]

Rob DiStefano, you and I are 'brothers of the bug'. I had/have Lyme. I had it so bad, it stole two years of my life, and then some. I missed two hunting seasons, was so weak eventually I got to where I couldn't even string my wife's 35 lb bow. I couldn't do steps, had to crawl up them on my hands and knees. I didn't know what was wrong, was so weak, in such unrelenting pain, and in a completely mind numbing fog, I thought I could die at any time... especially at night... those were the worst. I was practically bedridden, and my heart would just stop beating... I'd even stop breathing at times. It was a desperate, dark place I was in. To this day only one or two folks know the reality of what I endured, but I have a feeling you might understand.

Many doctors failed me, tests failed me, the government and my insurance company failed me, drugs failed me, friends and family... I could do little more than sit at the computer, in great pain, and study, and ultimately diagnosed myself, and sought a LLMD/Naturopath(Lyme Literate M.D.) and together with him and what I learned, we waged a multifaceted war... and eventually won. I got my life back. I DON'T want to ever go back there again.

Now when I go afield, my clothes are sprayed with Permethrin, any exposed skin is covered with Deet, and I NEVER brush against a stick, leaf, weed, stem, tree, or anything without thinking there may be a tick poised, reaching to latch on to me.

I walked less than 100 yards from the truck 2 days ago through very open mature woods, avoiding as much as possible the sparse twigs growing low to the ground, spotted a few birds, then turned and walked right back to the truck... and had 3 ticks on me. One of them bailed off of my Permethrin soaked pants, one died on them, and the last I threw out the window on my way down the road after I plucked him off of my thigh.

I have helped dozens of folks with their Lyme, and deal with them on virtually a weekly basis. The whole thing is really sad and desperate... there are folks who should be in prison because of what they've done... or not done.

[Rob DiStefano]

jeff, i have felt your pain, i know exactly what you went through, it's HELL.  like me, you were one of the lucky ones who had a naturopath's help - it is THE way to go, though in the beginning i thought it was total BS (the voodoo vega machine).  but i kicked it the natural way, in a manner that NO western doctor still can't understand. but it works.  our country and the world CONTINUES to be in the middle of another mega pandemic that no one knows about, nor wants to talk about.  wonder why ... ?

[Tajue17]

Rob thank you for keeping this thread alive I apologize I was truly thinking of turkey hunting and even if I do have my blind theres no floor in it.

my buddys dog went blind because of a tick bite!!

nobody ever mentions this and I guess I can read the directions but the permethin spray can you wash your clothes after applying and do you guys spray it in your under shorts?

I do know that when ticks started getting bad here in Mass way before most of you ever even saw one friends of mine who worked in landscaping and tree work wore womens pantyhose under their jeans
 like longjohns because I guess the ticks do not go thru it so it would keep the ticks out of your privates and these guys swore by that,,,,, also the ritual was once you got home you would take a shower with harts flea and tick shampoo and even wash your work clothes in harts so laugh if you must but keep those tips in mind.

I know many of us will be out kneeling somewhere trying to drop ole tom and unless someone did a controlled burn in that area the ticks will be there,,, and its those tiny 1 centimeter sized ones that will hurt you.

[Kevin Dill]

Easy strategy: Spray your outer clothes ahead of time with permethrin. Do your boots too. Before going in the woods tuck your pant legs into your boots, and then securely duct tape around the boot top. If it makes you feel better, spray some deet around your boot tops, waistline, and arms. Doing this simple procedure has kept me tick-free easily and I seldom get a chigger bite. I don't wash my clothes until they get dirty, and regardless of what I hear I always re-treat after washing. It beats the heck out of getting sick (again).

[Snow Crow]

30+ picked off from 3 hour rove in MN today: about half and half deer vs wood ticks.

[bucknut]

This year My daughter did a presentation on global climate change for her college at the Mideast Honors Conference. In her studies she found that the big explosion in the population of ticks and many other bugs was because our climate is staying warm long enough for them to have multiple breeding cycles. Believe it or not, it makes good logical sense. I had over 75 ticks that I found on me in one day in our gun season last year. 2 of them latched on. Going to get tested in a week for lymes disease. I was a Taxidermist for 15 years seeing a few ticks here and there, the deer in the last 5 years are horrible with ticks. The 2 bucks my brother and I killed last year had the whole brisket area rubbed bare from scratching the ticks. This Lyme disease seams nearly inevitable for the hard core outdoorsman.

[Rob DiStefano]

Lyme Disease and Tests

Try to avoid Western medicine doctors at all costs.  Most have NO clue about Lyme disease.  Be your own health advocate.  In this day and age, that sentence has never been more true, and for more than just Lyme disease.

In some, but not all cases, there’s a clear sign of Lyme disease — a painless, spreading rash that may, or may not, grow to look like a bull’s eye. If you have this rash, and you recently had a tick bite or were in an area known for Lyme disease, you more than likely have been infected.

Some people get the blood tests for Lyme disease because they feel achy and tired. These symptoms are very common and often come from arthritis, depression, the flu, or other causes. If you only have these vague symptoms, Lyme disease is not usually the cause.

The Lyme blood tests can trigger false positives, suggest­ing that you have the disease when you really don’t. Feel like gambling on "iffy" tests?

This can lead to unnecessary treatment with antibiotics. These drugs can sometimes cause side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and increased sensitivity of the skin to sunlight. In rare cases, they can even cause dangerous allergic reactions.

Using too many antibiotics can also lead to the growth of drug-resistant bacteria. This means that bacteria in your body may get stronger and more difficult to treat in the future for many types of infections, not just Lyme.

A false positive can also lead to more unneeded blood tests, urine tests, x-rays, and doctor visits.

If you have a false positive, you may not get treated for the real cause of your pain. For example, rheuma­toid arthritis is a disease that causes joint pain. It can lead to permanent and severe joint damage if you do not start taking the right medicines as early as possible.

The blood tests for Lyme disease will cost over $300, in addition to the cost of your doctor’s appointment. And if you have a false positive, you may also waste money on unneeded treatments.  Again, you are gambling with your life on a test that's at best "iffy".

In some cases, you can have Lyme disease without the rash. Or you may not see the rash before it goes away on its own.

Look for these signs that you might have Lyme disease:

    You were in an area with ticks and Lyme disease.  Doh, for us, that's Everywhere!

    You also have fever or redness, warmth, and swelling in one or a few joints at a time — usually the knees, shoulders, elbows or wrists.  This can be accompanied by pain and/or stiffness, where it feels as if the joint issue is tendinitis.

Other symptoms can occur later on.

For animals, in particular dogs, Lyme disease is easy to spot and fully cure - you will see them walk with a "robot like" stiff gait and their joints will be sore and/or painful, 10 days of doxy and (unlike humans) they are Lyme free.

DO consider alternative medicinal approaches in identifying and arresting Lyme disease without the use of antibiotics - get checked by a qualified Naturopath who specializes in infectious diseases.

Good luck.

[Kevin Dill]

bucknut...I think your daughter is absolutely on the money with that conclusion. The warming climate here has us experiencing huge populations of other insects, mites and arachnids. Asian lady beetles anyone? There is a well-founded theory that part of the explosion of lady beetles is due to warmer climates which in turn foster larger populations of aphids which is part of their food.

I have shot deer in November which had so many ticks (a hundred easily) it honestly made me feel uneasy about blood exposure and meat quality. Nobody really wants to kill and eat a parasite-loaded animal.

[northener]

Asian beetles were introduced into the US to combat aphid damage in soybean fields, now we can't get rid of this pest. Just an FYI.

[Sam McMichael]

Rob, can you discuss the non Western treatment that you found more effective than standard medical practices? I have had some friends with lyme, and they had a long, rough road to recovery. Oddly, while reading this thread last night, I found a tick on me. I only went to the back yard to shoot the bow. I live in town, but we have them just as much as in the countryside.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Sam McMichael:
Rob, can you discuss the non Western treatment that you found more effective than standard medical practices? I have had some friends with lyme, and they had a long, rough road to recovery. Oddly, while reading this thread last night, I found a tick on me. I only went to the back yard to shoot the bow. I live in town, but we have them just as much as in the countryside.

ok, you asked - spooky, weird, BS sounding stuff follows ....

still suffering with severe lyme symptoms that prevented me from even pulling string on a 30# recurve, while at the beach a friend of my wife's just looked at me for the first time (we'd never met before), "read my aura" and she said to her that i had lyme disease.  at my holistically inclined wife's insistence i made an appointment with a naturopath who's practice is a town away from lyme, ct.  

i rolled my eyes in disbelief when he hooked me up to a "Vega computer" that "measured my body energy" in comparison to vials of known pathogens.  within 10 minutes he said i have lyme.  i thought this was all total BS, but what the heck, i was in pain and if it meant i was reduced to dealing with voodoo witch doctors, so be it.  

i was put on a regimen of foul tasting liquid and capsule medicinal herbs four times daily.  i followed that prescription to a "T".  inside of three weeks i was lyme disease symptom free.  it took another three months of taking the prescription to get the bug level down 99%.  the bugs never leave you, it's a systemic situation, you just go into a remission state.  i get checked twice a year.  it came back a few times.  the herbs kick it back down again.    

i am no longer a disbeliever in herbal medicine and Naturopaths.

[Pete McMiller]

A comment:  While am a full supporter of alternative medical therapies and in fact use them myself on occasion, please be aware that Lyme is a potential fatal disease with multiple stages that can go on for years if left untreated.  

Rob the fact that it flares up again and again - that would concern me personally. I've had two friends in stage four and it wasn't pretty.  One is fine, the other suffered for ten years.

Full disclosure:   I have never had Lymes or any other tick born disease though I do react to their bites.