Tested Negative for Lyme

Submitted by mhagle on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 9:54am

Whew!

So it was just a convergence of the sun, moon, and stars. Tick bite + bad weather arthritis + bacterial infection. They gave me an antibiotic for the infection. The doctor did not hesitate to draw my blood for the test. He said that rocky mountain spotted fever is rare here, but Lyme Disease is rampant. Sure had me freaked out for about a week.

Many thanks to the folks here who contributed personal stories, advice, and links. Just another great thing about the people here at c99.

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lyme disease great folks at c99

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Comments

Submitted by Lookout on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 10:02am

That's good news...

Ticks suck! I've already pulled one off of me this spring...itty bitty, but the bite itched for a couple of weeks. Fine now.

Take care.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 04/19/2018 - 1:19am

Get a blood test anyway

@Lookout Besides Lyme, many other parasitic diseases are transmitted by tick bites--often with long latent periods before the onset of symptoms. If it gets into your brain, your effed.

Submitted by mimi on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 10:05am

Yippie, that's good news, now enjoy the warmer weather

and forget about the worries you had.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by CB on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 10:17am

Fantastic news

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzr2o4uNRS8]

Submitted by QMS on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 11:32am

Good news

The prevalence of multi-sourced infections has become an issue for healthcare providers. The range of tests can't seem to keep ahead of increasing diagnosis combinations.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 04/19/2018 - 1:22am

All new onset multiple sclerosis patients should be Lyme tested

@QMS Radiologically, brain imaging can be identical. Spinal fluid positivity in early cases of either can be falsely negative.

Submitted by mhagle on Mon, 04/23/2018 - 5:14pm

There are still many issues with diagnosis

@Alligator Ed

The test they gave me is only 60% accurate. Crap.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by randtntx on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 12:17pm

Glad to hear it.

Your experience reminded me to be more vigilant and less cavalier. Glad you're in the clear.

Submitted by mhagle on Wed, 04/18/2018 - 8:35pm

You guys rock

Absolutely

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by GusBecause on Thu, 04/19/2018 - 4:52am

I live in a Lyme disease hot zone

And can and do get my dogs tested yearly, for $9 a test. But when a human neighbor asked for a test after suffering odd pains for months, her health provider at first refused to order a test. Finally he grudgingly agreed, just to show her how stupid she was. The titer (?) came back so high, he then told her she must have been infected years ago with Lyme. My question, isn't it cheaper in the long run to routinely test humans in an area with high levels of LD

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 04/19/2018 - 7:13am

Western Fence Lizard blood purification

Glad to hear a negative! lol thanks. Now I will pipe up with some information about a friend who had a similar story; tick bite followed by a circle rash and feeling awful, joint pains ai yi yi! And she is a farm gardener too, she needs those joints to help keep food on her family.

It was not Lyme, but she struggled for a long time with the joint pains, and the Kaiser doctors. Now, finally she has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which is a whole 'nother bummer. But she is coping pretty well, trying alternative treatments for palliative relief. Kaiser tells their patients "you're just getting old" which is true, but not very helpful. Seniors pay extra to Medicare for that "Advantage".

My gf had 160 acres of forested Lyme hotspot, and that is when I learned Lizards Slow Lyme Disease in West. She had that place for twenty years, got bit by every bug you can imagine, and she never tested positive for Lyme. In the summer, we'd see the lizards with ticks in their gills, it was so gross! But I guess it worked. ~shrug~

This article is crazy-old, I'm sure there must be newer studies... ?

Ticks bite them - and leave with purified blood

Sabin Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, April 17, 1998
It may sound like witchcraft, but Berkeley scientists have found that ticks who feast on the blood of the common western fence lizard are purged of any Lyme disease bacteria hiding in their gut.

The newly published findings may explain why there is less tick-borne Lyme disease in California than in the eastern United States, where the debilitating illness was first discovered and given its name.

Researchers suspect that a yet- to-be-identified protein in the lizard's blood destroys the microbes that would otherwise flourish in the tick's belly and can be later transmitted to human victims.

"We've speculated on this for years, and now we have fairly good evidence that this is the case," said Robert Lane, a University of California at Berkeley insect biologist who has been studying ticks and Lyme disease for more than a decade.

Lane and his colleague Gary Quistad conducted a series of laboratory experiments using young Lyme disease-infected ticks and fence lizards. In the nymphal stage during which they feed on the blood of lizards, the ticks are only about the size of a poppy seed. But it is common to find 30 to 40 at one time sharing the blood of a single fence lizard.
[...]

The sickest bite for her was from a Blood Sucking Conenose, omg those things are creepy. Three courses of antibiotics and she was flattened, it was bad. That was before we met. ~shudder~ I only ever saw one of those bugs on the exterior cabin window, and she killed it dead. Onward and progression, all beings are sacred, even the blood sucking conenose.

Thanks Marilyn, thanks a lot for sharing all you do. I really dig it.

you rock
peace

Submitted by mhagle on Mon, 04/23/2018 - 5:11pm

Thanks for all of that information!!

@eyo

Well . . . I have been taking the antibiotic the doc prescribed for pharyngitis, and I am worse. One pill left.

Crap. I read that the test they gave me is only 60% accurate.

Do I need to buy some meds from Mexico? Still so much gardening to do!

Glad to hear a negative! lol thanks. Now I will pipe up with some information about a friend who had a similar story; tick bite followed by a circle rash and feeling awful, joint pains ai yi yi! And she is a farm gardener too, she needs those joints to help keep food on her family. It was not Lyme, but she struggled for a long time with the joint pains, and the Kaiser doctors. Now, finally she has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which is a whole 'nother bummer. But she is coping pretty well, trying alternative treatments for palliative relief. Kaiser tells their patients "you're just getting old" which is true, but not very helpful. Seniors pay extra to Medicare for that "Advantage". My gf had 160 acres of forested Lyme hotspot, and that is when I learned Lizards Slow Lyme Disease in West. She had that place for twenty years, got bit by every bug you can imagine, and she never tested positive for Lyme. In the summer, we'd see the lizards with ticks in their gills, it was so gross! But I guess it worked. ~shrug~ This article is crazy-old, I'm sure there must be newer studies... ? Ticks bite them - and leave with purified blood Sabin Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, April 17, 1998 It may sound like witchcraft, but Berkeley scientists have found that ticks who feast on the blood of the common western fence lizard are purged of any Lyme disease bacteria hiding in their gut. The newly published findings may explain why there is less tick-borne Lyme disease in California than in the eastern United States, where the debilitating illness was first discovered and given its name. Researchers suspect that a yet- to-be-identified protein in the lizard's blood destroys the microbes that would otherwise flourish in the tick's belly and can be later transmitted to human victims. "We've speculated on this for years, and now we have fairly good evidence that this is the case," said Robert Lane, a University of California at Berkeley insect biologist who has been studying ticks and Lyme disease for more than a decade. Lane and his colleague Gary Quistad conducted a series of laboratory experiments using young Lyme disease-infected ticks and fence lizards. In the nymphal stage during which they feed on the blood of lizards, the ticks are only about the size of a poppy seed. But it is common to find 30 to 40 at one time sharing the blood of a single fence lizard. [...] The sickest bite for her was from a Blood Sucking Conenose, omg those things are creepy. Three courses of antibiotics and she was flattened, it was bad. That was before we met. ~shudder~ I only ever saw one of those bugs on the exterior cabin window, and she killed it dead. Onward and progression, all beings are sacred, even the blood sucking conenose. Thanks Marilyn, thanks a lot for sharing all you do. I really dig it. you rock peace

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo