Lymes season (my bullseye pic) please be careful!

[Little Tree]

Hey everyone, LittleTree here, please be suspicious of any and all flu-like symptoms this Spring (Headache, muscle aches, stiff neck, fever/ chills etc). This is my second bout with Lymes in three years. The first time, I wasn't lucky enough to get the bullseye, and had to diagnose with only flu-like symptoms. This year I got the Bull, and got on meds pronto. Please be suspicious!!!! This is stage 1 symptoms, where the disease is easily treatable. Left untreated after the initial symtoms subside, and it morphs to stage two and three, where it can and will change your life for the worse! Be safe and aware......

[Shawn Leonard]

Glad your OK and good post!! Everyone can use a reminder and nothing better than a picture which is worth a thousand words!! Shawn

[Deerhntr]

Good post and something for all of us to be aware of. I have a couple friends who have dealt with this and as you say it can change your life.

[Steelhead]

Good headsup!Go prepared in tick country.I like a tight turtleneck shirt.Tuck your shirt in your pants good and cinch your belt up tight.Tuck your pants in your boots if you can or tape em on tight around ankles.Check yourself often and really look yourself over after the hunt well.Use tick repellants.Preventions the best medicine.

[Izzy]

Ouch! Hope your well.

[Tim Kosteczko]

hope everything works out for you, thanks for the reminder, like shawn said the picture says enough

[strick9]

When I worked for the USDA Forest Service in one night I pulled off over thirty embedded seed and deer ticks, no bulleyes, now I always check anything that seems to itch after the hunt, 90% of the time I find them before they bury in and always wear long socks pulled up and lapped over the top of my boots,, At one time I covered my body in permanone due to the frequency of embedded ticks. These days I can not stand the smell or feel of any chemical, resolution have a good looking gal check in those hard to reach spots...regularly after every hunt or outing.

[Rob DiStefano]

I have Lymes, got bit almost 3 years ago, it never fully leaves your body and at least for me it requires once or twice a year attention.  

It would be cavalier for me to say "be careful" because as careful as you can be, you still run the risk of Lymes if you go into those dangerous woods ... or even yer own back yard.  

IMO, it's all a matter of Divine destiny, but if yer going afield it sure doesn't hurt to cover up as much as possible, use Permanone presoak on ALL yer outer clothing, step around and away from all low lying  vegetation, be very careful where you sit!, do a thorough body strip check after playing in the woods.

Also, Lymes will manifest its presence in many different forms, and the classic bullseye doesn't always occur (didn't for me), and symptoms may not show up for weeks or even months.  This is one very very nasty disease, and once bitten you have it for life.

I wish all the best for ya, Brad.  Rather than conventional Western medicine, do consider visiting a Naturopathic doc - I did and he literally saved my life, and without using invasive drugs.

[bayoulongbowman]

does that run down south as well...??? mark

[S. Brant Osborn]

I know a doctor in Alexandria, LA that had it a few years ago.  He is not a hunter either.  Spends little time in the woods
B.

[Alex.B]

this picture speaks a thousand words. I never go in the woods without  my spandex running tights and long sleeve mock-neck shirt under my hiking/hunting clothes, and I try to remember checking myself in the mirror when I get home. I've been bit a few times, but lucky to find the tick before it worked its way past the skin layers. Glad you'll be OK

[FAIRCHASE]

I for one know that feeling, I also received a "Bullseye" on the back of my left arm last archery season in Vermont. A visit to a local hospital and two weeks on meds seemed to take care of it. Lucky I guess. A good reminder, take care out there folks. All the best,   Carl

[hunt it]

Anyone ever had regular ticks (wood ticks we call them here, big ones) leave this red ring as well??

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by hunt it:
Anyone ever had regular ticks (wood ticks we call them here, big ones) leave this red ring as well??

Any tick species can carry Lymes, though specific tick types are the primary carriers in different regions and US states.

[hunt it]

Rob,

My son got a wood tick bite way back, 7 years ago and it was a big wood tick. After I got it off he had that big circle for three or four days. He has never had any symtoms and at the time they thought only deer ticks in our area carried lymes. I guess if seven years has gone by with no issues all should be ok. I was just wondering if the ring was normal after any tick bite.

[Ray Hammond]

Hunt it.
I would not rely on "after 7 years and no apparent symptoms" as an indicator that everything is OK. It might not be.

Lymes is an insidious disease that manifests itself in lots of different ways...it can kill you brother....do damage to your brain, your heart, your liver, kidneys....everything important to a long life.

It can lay dormant in you for years, then another bite can immediately set it into high gear...very wierd disease that often is masked as something else, or not at all. There are many false positives on the test...so that it is unreliable...its just not a good thing to get.

If it were my son I would get him tested, pronto, and then test him again in a year..and again..after that.

[BillW]

Brad, I did not know or realize we had Lyme disease in our area. I will be headed up to my property that is just 20 min east of Viroqua in a week or so. I will be opening up our place up there.

Hope this clears up!

Regards,
Bill

[Rob DiStefano]

Heed well everything that Ray just posted.  Lymes is  a very insidious disease that easily masks itself as something minor, or at least something not at all major.  A blood test for Lymes is totally unreliable.  It took 9 months and 4 docs to finally diagnose that indeed I had Lymes.  The last doc, a naturopath, nailed it within 20 minutes, and taking a multi daily concoction of natural herbs knocked out almost all of my symptoms within 3 weeks.  If you've been stuck by a tick, I highly recommend a visit to a naturopath and a Vega computer energy diagnosis.  

Once bitten, and once the bug's spirochete juice flows into your veins, you have it for life - there is no known 100% cure for Lymes disease.  And make no mistake, Lymes has increased to what I would call epidemic proportions here in the US.  

For ground stalking bowhunter's, ticks are more than mini speed bumps to avoid during a day's hunt - they are a serious enemy, and despite their diminutive size are actually hunting us as they perch on a bush leaf two feet off the ground with outstretched probes, just waiting to latch onto a new host meal.  Take heed, take care.

[Little Tree]

Hey BillW, SW Wisconsin is one of the hottest-spots for Lymes in the entire U.S.!!!. We have an enormous population of the Black-legged species which generally carry the disease. I judge the "bad times" by my dog, and how many I pull off of him. I have pulled off over 50 deer ticks off of my dog in one sitting! That is with Frontline tick treatment! And Yes, he does have Lymes. Be careful if you are spending time here in the Spring, and acording to the Experts....it will only get worse from here with global warming. Mild winters do not kill any of them off!

[Rob DiStefano]

Ticks and Lymes disease has gotten so bad for dogs around here (NJ/NY) that our dog has come down with it at least twice a year for the last 6 years.  Dogs show the effects of Lymes within a few dayze and a few week's worth of antibiotics will keep it well in check.