Lymes season (my bullseye pic) please be careful!

[Swanny in MD]

Hey Ray, how's your bud with the Lyme doing?  Haven't heard recently.

[paradocs]

Serious stuff, folks.  May just be the next big epidemic on the horizon.  A stunning number of dogs around here are seropositive; I had two today, and one yesterday.  My wife was stricken 3 years ago; her physician was convinced she had MS, and it took some serious arm-twisting to get him to test her for Lyme.  She responded almost immediately to treatment, but still has some minor residual effects; I doubt it's been totally cleared.  She never exhibited the characteristic lesion; in fact, she was not aware of a tick bite at all.  It can mimic practically anything; if you're under the weather, get checked; if you're strongly suspicious that you may have it, skip the GPs and run, don't walk, to an infectious disease specialist.

[geno]

The ring is not normal after just any bite. I have never had one and I have been bit alot. I pulled one tonight that was stuck. Dang I am iching now...

[Roadkill]

When I was at the UW-Madison, I hunted your area a lot.  Lucky not to have gotten anytick bites.  Good post in a timely manner.

[rxhntr]

It is always a good idea to get any bite checked out, and with lyme disease the old saying an ounce of prevention....
Many times with a tick bite, a simple dose of doxycycline or appropriate antibiotic can go a lot further when early treatment is applied rather than waiting. So please heed the warning and if you suspect a tick bite-get seen!

[nontypical]

Here is a tick bite I had 3 wks ago
 
Found him stuck in me w/the ring already there!! I thought it came after.Well Im on anti's now twice a day,and had blood work done.When the Dr. looked at it he dismissed it as a tick bite.Said it looked like a spider bite,even after arguing w/him,telling him I pulled it out myself.Saw him the other day and he said no need for a follow up blood test because the antibiotics will take care of it.Boy, I would like to tie him to a tree and shoot him w/dull BH's    

PETE

[Little Tree]

Pete! Ride out the antbiotic treatment, take every last one, and find a new doctor, he sounds like an idiot. My bullsye is fading today, and I am feeling better....good luck bud. Brad

[Jim Moore]

Got that bullseye myself after attending an archery shoot near Tulsa OK.  I was living in Ak at the time and none of the docs had seen that bullseye before.  I finally got treated for it, but it seems as if my muscles are always stiff.  I just pass it off as age (48) but now I am wondering...

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Jim Moore:
... but it seems as if my muscles are always stiff.  I just pass it off as age (48) but now I am wondering...

Classic Lymes symptom - you need to treat that ASAP.  I highly recommend finding a naturopath that's versed in Lymes disease and a Vega energy computer.

[gifford, MO]

I got the bullseye about 7 years ago from a tick bite. Got the shots the next day. Had blood test six months later and had another blood test after a year. The tests turned out negative so I dodged the bullet that time. It's something that's out there and need to take precautions but it's just part of being in the woods. I'm there since it's part of my job and I enjoy spending time out there, hunting and hiking.

[Rob DiStefano]

Be aware that blood tests for Lymes disease are totally unreliable and therefore meaningless.  

Instead of checking your blood, I suggest having your energy levels compared to known dangerous bacteria, and supplemental antidotes to that bacteria prescribed.  The only device I know of that can do this is a Vega energy computer, and it takes a knowledgeable naturopath to do the interpretations and prescribe the proper supplements to kill and/or suppress the bacteria that's hiding in your body joints, masking itself as something other than Lymes.  

IMO, antibiotics should always be regarded as a last resort - they can really screw up your system, as can anti-inflammatory drugs (did for me).  And each case of Lymes will most likely be unique, requiring special diagnosis and treatment.  

For your own sake, don't take any of this lightly, this is really serious lifestyle threatening stuff ...

[Ray Hammond]

Rob, isn't the unreliability of the test though, that it shows false-positives...meaning that it shows you have it when you do not, rather than the opposite, which would be showing you don't have it, when you DO?

If that is the case, I would still take the test..

[Rob DiStefano]

Ray, the real issue is that a blood test for Lymes is a crap shoot.  Receiving a negative test result for Lymes, when in fact you DO have Lymes, is not a good thing.  I've been in that situation twice already.  I will not play Russian roulette with my health.  

I see absolutely no justification in getting a Lymes blood test.  

After 9 months of pain, 2 negative Lymes blood tests, taking multi doctor prescribed cocktails of anti-inflammatories for a mis-diagnosed "tennis elbow", screwing up my liver during all this nonsense, my symptoms only getting worse, finally my wife ("Miss Wildcat", and aptly name - right Terry?   ) dragged me hollering and kicking to a naturopath and within 3 weeks I was well on my way to remission (NOT a cure - there is no cure).

[Ray Hammond]

interesting...so its not just false positives???

Wow. Ken Swann and you should write a book on Lymes. His experience sounds as complicated as yours.

Then on the other side of the spectrum is my best friend...who sought out experts in NY, CT, and Charlotte, NC who were renowned for their work with Lymes disease...and after two years of taking IV antibiotics and destroying his immune system and not getting better his other friends and I convinced him to go to Mayo. They kept him for 30 days the first time..and a couple weeks a second time.

They determined he did not ever have Lymes..no markers in his body for it at all...and that it was an odd neurological problem. He is now much better...not over it, but much better.

[Jim Moore]

Rob, out of curiosity, what was it the ND had you on? I would understand your hesitation to post the stuff as I understand that each person in different.  My episode was back in '03.

[Rob DiStefano]

Ray, I'll add a caveat to all I've said so far - the naturopath I went to was my Lymes savior, and I have no idea if his actions to "cure" me was borne of supreme knowledge, luck, a fluke, or a miracle of divine intervention.  All I can say is, the herbal supplement remedies worked extremely fast and well for me.  With an ND, there's nothing to lose but money - no part of the remedy process will harm your body.

Jim, there was a whole litany of different supplements and dosages I took, many times per day and under very specific conditions.  It was really intense for the first month.  And as the process progressed the supplement types and dosages were changed, based on my energy and bug level readouts.  Again, all I can say is that I followed the prescriptions religiously ... and after over a year of intense joint pain, and not being able to draw and hold a 30# bow I'm now totally pain free and back to shooting my 55# bow with amazing ease.  I could be a poster boy for an ND Lymes success - if it wasn't such a serious matter I might be laughing, but Lymes is no laughing matter - at least to me.  I've got a checkup scheduled for next week, I'll collect the supplement names that I'd taken and let ya know.

[Shakes.602]

Are there any  "HOMEOPATHIC REPELLANTS"  one could use? Specifically for that Disease? Or something to give Us a Little Edge over the Nasty Little Monsters just to Stump or Wander in the Woods? I have had My Eyes  OPENED  to Nature,Wives Tales,or Whatever you want to call it.
 Some of them "Old Wives" were Pretty Darn Sharp!! I take "Dandelion Capsules", 2 Caps 3X a Day to help Cleanse my Liver from  ALL  the Painkillers I have taken and still take. Hey, I figure it Cant Hurt, Right??  

[Rob DiStefano]

I've not heard of anything that will guard against Lymes before being infected.  But I'll check that out with my ND next week.

I do a body detox about twice per year - it helps in many ways, and for many things including Lymes.  Right now I'm doing a liver detox along with daily juicing - no question, it really perks up my energy levels and no caffeine is involved.

Now, I'm sure someone's gonna question the validity of this thread here on PowWow - "Hey Rob, this has nothing to do with trad bowhunting, why is it still here and why are YOU posting on it?"  

My retort is that trad bowhunting is a lifestyle to most of us and we wouldn't want it any other way.  Lymes will shorten or stop a trad bowhunter's lifestyle in almost a heartbeat, and will forever change your life.  As hunters, our milieu - the woods - is the same as a tick's, and they are hunting us at the same time we are hunting our prey.  I consider this thread as a necessary public safety document for all trad bowhunters (actually, for anyone that treads tick territory).

[JasonV]

I don't want to get into an arguement about "natural remedies" compared to pharmacologic treatment - if you've used a naturopath and feel well, then no harm done (probably).
But I'd be willing to bet that it had nothing to do with curing Lyme disease.
This is a well studied and very serious disease - it is an infection by Borrelia burgdorferi transmitted by 2 specific tick species - Ixodes scapularis and ixodes pacificus.

There are specific tests that CAN reveal the presence of Lyme disease, but your physician must order the correct tests - and I agree completely, if he/she doesn't take your concerns seriously, you should find another physician.  The serum testing may not be needed in classic examples (like the pic above)

PLEASE if you have a rash like you saw in the picture (that is a classic example) go to a PHYSICIAN - there are no studies showing effective treatment of Lyme disease with homeopathic/herbal/vitamin supplements etc - it requires treatment with ANTIBIOTICS.

I'm not trying to target Rob specifically - and I agree that most herbal remedies are harmless  UNLESS they cause you to delay appropriate and proven treatment.  So if you want to use an herbal cocktail, use it as a chaser for your doxycycline.

[JasonV]

Thought this map might be helpful - pretty self-explanatory