busmaster2 Loc: College Point NY

Now I know why I've always had a phobia about woods and things. I rarely venture more than 50 feet from concrete. Must be the Bronx in me.

Djedi

Hee hee- Three years ago near Albany NY, I took a short walk in the woods around the house to recover a crashed drone. When I got back I saw something crawling on me. So I did a complete strip-and-check. I found 8 ticks on me, 4 of which were already busy digging in. That was April. I learned a valuable lesson that year. When in doubt, DEET!

Djedi

One more thing. I am also very allergic to tick bites. As soon as they take one bite, I react with a red area. It usually gets between one and three inches wide, stays thick and itchy for about 1 week, and then calms down to the size of a mosquito bite. Only thing is, it hangs around, itchy as he_ _ for 3-4 months. Cortisone is the only thing that relieves the itch. It's not lime, just an allergic reaction.
Funny thing, I had 25 yellow jacket bites after stepping on a nest last year, with no more than a week of itchiness. Mosquito bites don't usually last more than a day. But ticks....

jkm757 Loc: San Diego, Ca.

After reading the affects I'm confused, do I have Lyme disease or do I just drink to much?

Hbuk66 Loc: Oswego, NY

yes

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Outdoor clothing should be sprayed with permethrin - it is a tick repellent and will last through several washes. If you spray your socks and pants and a tick latches on and starts to climb up, looking for some warm soft flesh to bite into - it will drop off. VERY important product! We don't have much Lyme Disease in Florida, but when I am going to the jungles I lay my clothing out on a sheet, spray until damp, turn everything over, and spray again. There is a faint odor when damp, but none once dry. It also keeps mosquitoes from biting through your clothing. In the past it was impossible to get folks in Africa to use mosquito nets to prevent malaria because the ones with mesh small enough to keep mosquitoes out were oven-like. Larger mesh allowed the mosquitoes to go through - which they did after landing on the net and crawling through the mesh. Using wider mesh treated with permethrin works great, and is the preferred technique now.


The Sawyer brand has been around a long time - $15 for 24oz at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-SP657-Permethrin-Repellent/dp/B001ANQVYU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490652605&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=permethrin&psc=1

krl48 Loc: NY, PA now SC

That's why we have The Attic.

westitzer Loc: Central California coastal area

The key is getting treatment as early as possible. My daughter ended up with Lyme. Don't know when or where she got it, but it was a long time ago. It really knocks her down for the count every now and then. She's 40+ with little hope of getting rid of it. It's too bad the medical industry would not recognize Lyme as a legitimate disease for the longest time. The insurance companies would not pay for treatment, either. It's gotten better, now that the main guy opposing Lyme treatment, who lives in Lyme, Conn., has a wife who contracted Lyme.

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

Had a friend of mine in Rhode Island that had it and all his joins swelled and was out of work for close to a year. This around 83 or 84 when the disease was just getting known.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

Ive been all over thecountry hiked all over. You want ticks, try the NewJersey pines. One day we pulled almost 30 off of pants shirts and body. Never seen anything like that.
I spray clothes and tape ankles and still get em.

rugerbearcat Loc: Newport Beach, Calif.

After a day of hiking I took one of those to bed with me once. Didn't know it until the next morning when I felt a little bump just above my ankle. Yuck!!!

dickwilber Loc: Indiana (currently)

As I understand it, "Lyme Disease", is a term that covers the afflictions from at least three different spirochetes spread by the deer tick. The most common is usually successfully treated by the preferred antibiotic protocol. The other two are not as easily treated. So when you hear of someone having long term problems it is likely they have one or more of the less common varieties, or more than one of them (even all three), or that they went an extended period of time before being treated. For those with one of the more virulent varieties, insurance companies have been known to be unsympathetic to extended antibiotic treatment. Be insistent!

Back in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, I knew several people, and one entire farm family, who were afflicted. Most were fine after the prescribed course of antibiotics, but a few had long term problems.

The best course is to not contract the disease. Use of "permethrin" on clothing, deet on exposed skin, tucking in the bottom of pants (use gators if you have them), and thorough body inspections when you get back are all recommended strategies, but none are guaranteed. I'm one of those lucky people who hasn't always had the sense to use all the recommended cautions, but been fortunate and have never been afflicted.

ygelman Loc: new -- North of Poughkeepsie!

Also, ticks can carry ehrlichiosis. About three hours after I started feeling "funny" I felt so awful that I had to call a taxi to take me to the emergency room. An antibiotic made me feel better almost immediately, but I had to take it for about two weeks longer.

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

I went to Panama and was warned about mosquitoes and yellow fever; never got bitten once, in an entire week in the rain forest. Came home, almost immediately took a short hike on the Appalachian Trail and got bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme's disease! I realized immediately what it was and was treated quickly. The biggest thing I remember was terrible joint pains - and I had a mild case. I know of others that have had far, far worse.

But I also remember that the doctor told me that the target rash was the best diagnostic evidence that I actually had Lyme's. He said that the tests are notoriously inaccurate. With the other symptoms I demonstrated, he was going to give me antibiotics anyway, just in case. Lyme's, he said, was nothing to play with, in his view.

songoftheramapos

Have had Lyme.Once u have it you will always test pos.What nearly killed me was the Babesiosis and Erlichiosis at the same time.I use spray on pants sox and skin and boots.This time of yr. I look down at my pants no more than every 100 yards.When I get home everything I wore that day goes into a separate plastic bag for hot wash later,and inspect my bod before shower