WHAT TO DO ABOUT A TICK BITE?

Saturday, 27 March 2010

WHAT TO DO ABOUT A TICK BITE?

In this day of internet access many of us seek our own information about our health.
For this post I decided to put into Google search engines What to do about a tick bite? Up came 555000 links and I was very pleased to see that Lyme Disease Action was the second link on the list.
http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ticks.htm

It is directly thanks to Lyme Disease Action in their efforts to raise awareness that I eventually have my health back after an illness of 6 1/2 years. I was diagnosed with many things

Fibromyalgia
ME/CFS
Arthritis
Muscle weakness
Polymyalgia Rheumatica
and finally
Lyme Disease

Those aware of the dangers of contracting Lyme Disease by the bite of a tick will do well to read information on line before discussing with their doctors as sadly because of the politics and controversy over this illness doctors are not well informed and can often miss early opportunities to treat this infection.

One lady I spoke with local to me in Guildford said her GP was so excited when she presented with a tick attached and regretted not having her camera to take a picture. However she failed to treat with antibiotics and the patient still continues with chronic ill health, which may or may not be related to the bite.

Another lady who I met with,told me that when she presented at the surgery the GP did not know what to do and called a colleague, between them they managed to remove the tick intact but lost it on the floor, where it was left to seek out the rest of it's blood feed! This poor lady has serious health problems including scans of her brain showing abnormalities which have not been attributed to any illness but which are thought to be connected with her Lyme diagnosis and on treatment her health is improving.

Another lady attended the hospital for a tick to be removed and the first time the doctor squeezed it between his fingers to pull it off!!! The next time she attended she was more informed and insisted the tick was removed with the correct tool. As it happened to be an Army hospital another doctor was called who was an Army doctor and therefore, as a tick remover was standard kit in the army, he was able to remove correctly.

A little boy was in the Bolton paper last year, he had waited with his mother at A & E and the nurse attending did not know what to do about removing the attached tick, so the mother took her son to the vets who duly removed the tick.

These are just a sample of stories I have heard, but do illustrate the serious lack of knowledge about tick removal amongst doctors. Not their fault but a fault of the training they are given and the lack of awareness about Lyme Disease and tick bites. Sadly when My MP Anne Milton asked the Health Secretary what they intended doing about raising awareness the reply was that HPA had updated their website!! Not much help to those of us who are not aware of being able to get tickborne illness in the UK.

In my personal story it took 5 doctors and 3 rheumatologists 4 years to diagnose me although I had attended at the surgery with tick bites, bulls eye rashes and summer flu' followed by migrating arthralgias.

How many people with symptoms such as mine Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Muscle weakness, ME/CFS, Polymyalgia Rheumatica could infact be suffering with Lyme Disease?

2 comments:

Richard Lucas27 March 2010 at 18:05
In t'old days, before health and safety, I used to burn ticks off with a glowing cigarette. Tincture of iodine works as well, but it's inflammable, so don't use it to back up the cigarette technique!
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Joanne29 March 2010 at 15:07
NO NO NO Richard that is precisely one way to make the tick regurgitate the contents of it's stomach into you and thereby increase the chances of contracting Lyme disease. If you have been bitten by ticks and with your current health problems you really need to read thoroughly Burrascano Guidelines found on www.ilads.org
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Lyme Life written in 2009

I started suffering with arthritis in mainly my large joints especially my knees 6 years ago. The symptoms varied and I remember saying that every joint was affected except my elbows to one doctor. I was told it would be hormonal and to take the usual supplements cod liver oil or glucosamine ( I would certainly recommend buying shares in the companies producing these supplements) They had no noticeable affect.

All my symptoms deteriorated significantly over a few weeks,4 years ago. Hips shoulders and knees being the worst and I started with muscle weakness in upper arms and upper legs. I had difficulty standing and walking across a room. I was unable to walk upstairs and my husband was making plans to convert to a downstairs bedroom. I had seen 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists and put on steroids for Poly Myalgia Rheumatica diagnosis. I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS.

I have X rays and scans showing signs of osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. ( later note.- the X rays done some years into treatment showed my hands completely normal no signs of inflammation or RA confirming how they felt - normal) I have been retired early from the Civil Service having lost my job not to mention my earning potential. My illness seemed to progress through my body not affecting the same joints left to right at the same time. I had bursitis in left hip, right hip, left elbow. I had synovial thickening in both wrists. At that time I could not lift and hold a magazine so lifting a kettle I could only do if a third full and with two hands. Each joint in my hands fingers feet and toes were affected. I had swallowing difficulties and many other symptoms. None of this describes the endless and awful pain whenever I moved or the tiredness but inability to get quality sleep.

Two years ago my GP gave me Amoxicilin for a sinus/throat/chest infection. All my arthritis symptoms improved. The course ended the symptoms deteriorated I started a second course the symptoms improved. The improvement was more significant than when I had started taking steroids. This led my GP to suspect Lyme Disease. I laughed because we do not travel abroad but she said they had had other cases in the surgery in the early stages of tick bite and Erythma Migrans rash. She said but you have not had a bite. I said oh yes I have I had two on my ankles with rashes, March 05 this was confirmed on her computer when I had seen a locum doctor. My worst symptoms were waking up feeling rigid and having to painfully flex every joint in my body before struggling to get up. The only other time I had experienced this was in May 2003 during a flu like illness like no other I had ever experienced. At that time I had a bite and similar rash on my right foot which lasted like the other rashes about four weeks. I had also consulted the surgery and it was dismissed as a virus. I walked our dog daily in the woods adjacent to our house where the deer roam, prime tick area. Thus started my very lengthy search about Lyme Disease leading me through Lyme Disease Action to a doctor who specialises in this illness. He confirmed my GP's suspicions. I never had a positive blood test but then they are antigen tests and there is much research that shows they are unreliable. In my case the year of steroids and many weeks antibiotics could have affected the results. So with a clinical diagnosis and following ILADS International Lyme and Associated Disease Society guidelines I continued on antibiotics for two years. Both my doctors continued to treat me despite of Health Protection Agency advising against long term antibiotics. I am now nearly 100% recovered I have no pain or muscle weakness. I can walk upstairs something I could not do for three and a half years. I can garden do house work and live a normal life. I still need to pace myself and with only a few months to 60 will not be looking to return to work. Life is such a joy. Sadly there is much controversy about Lyme Disease and doctors in UK are taught that it is so rare. Well where I live in Guildford I have been in contact with a dozen other people with it so perhaps not so rare as HPA would like us to believe. I am in touch with nearly 2000 other patients through a chat line Eurolyme most had been misdiagnosed with several other illnesses. Look at UK charity Lyme Disease Action if you want to read more about this illness. There are many MP's taking an interest in the problems surrounding diagnosis and treatment see above charity links into a recent meeting at the House of Commons.

Thank goodness there are some thinking doctors around who have courageously treated me against opposition and I have made such a miraculous recovery albeit rather a lengthy one. One day there will be many more people who are helped with their chronic illnesses when IDSA starts taking note of what our courageous LLMD’s are doing following ILADS Guidelines.

ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Poly Myalgia Rheumatica, Arthritis, Bell’s Palsy, MS,MN, ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Heart Block, Stroke, Psychiatric, gastric problems the list is endless. Not all suffering from Lyme Borrelia but how many are even properly assessed for it.

UPDATE

UPDATE 10 January 2012