# ugh! my first ever...



## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

tick bite...:flame:

Got up to pee at 230 this morning and felt the need to scratch on my left rib cage....gross! 

My friends kiddo had to go on meds last August as he was positive for lyme at 2 weeks out.

I dont have time to be sick and antibiotics are troublesome for my system so lets hope it doesnt develop....

My skin is crawling....my skin is crawling...benedryl take me away.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Well, let's hope it's just a simple bite. I've picked dozens and dozens off of me and the kids over the years and so far nobody has gotten Lyme (and we even lived in CT, where it was first discovered). Did you get the whole head out, with skin in its mouth?


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

But the news kept saying all winter that because it was so cold many bugs would die....they promised :sob: You mean they weren't telling the 100% truth!!


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## LT2108 (May 28, 2014)

Ohio dreamer said:


> But the news kept saying all winter that because it was so cold many bugs would die....they promised :sob: You mean they weren't telling the 100% truth!!



Say it isn't so, the news, passing false information out....... What is this world coming too


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

Pretty sure I got it all and it was only on from maybe noonish at the earliest.

Black flies are out now too....

Winter was long and cold...but apparently not bad enough!:sob:


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## PeachyLeigh (Sep 24, 2011)

I am impressed, your first ever?! My next will probably be my 1,000 ever. It's a way of life round these parts.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Had one 2 weeks ago, on my back. Felt the need to scratch, but couldn't reach. Asked wife...well, it had just started (less than 2 hours...if I recall, lyme takes about 24 hours). DW couldn't get the head out with tweezers. She's not the squeamish type, so out came the nail clippers. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cut a chunk of my skin off. 
Still itches a bit, but no red marks.
Calling for a bad tick season up here.

Matt


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I got chiggers. First time in nearly 50 yrs.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Cyngbaeld said:


> I got chiggers. First time in nearly 50 yrs.



My daughter too. Hubby took the kids to the archery range and they piles some said up around one of the bags and she came home with her hands and feet chewed up.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

I just had to pull another one off today... that's 5+ so far this year. 

I use a Coleman version of one of these tick removal pens. Very quick and easy removal and it gets the whole tick every time, so far.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/197300/coghlans-tick-remover-polymer-yellow


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

K.B. said:


> I just had to pull another one off today... that's 5+ so far this year.
> 
> I use a Coleman version of one of these tick removal pens. Very quick and easy removal and it gets the whole tick every time, so far.
> http://www.midwayusa.com/product/197300/coghlans-tick-remover-polymer-yellow


Must not be a good sign.. they are on backorder... Never seen one of those before.. One will be added to our kit.. thanks!


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Mpillow - wishing you the best, we moved from Maine right before Lyme disease move in. All my family has been treated several times. 

Our ticks here just *hurt* when they bite. Love the tool idea K.B., DH never gets the head out, then he gets a huge reaction and I have to dig the head out. 

Gotta say, love that Oregon has no black flies! They can drive you insane! Every time I entertain the idea of moving back all I have to think of is black flies and gardening in mosquito head nets.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Hey, Amazon has a lot of tick removers! I had no idea such a thing existed.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

"The Coghlan's Tick Remover is a simple and effective tool for removing ticks. This tool prevents messy tick removal as it allows you to pull the entire tick free. The Tick Remover is also great for use on pets."

I've never needed a pen with a clamp to remove a pet that bit me???

A pair of forceps works fine. Ask your dentist if he has any retired ones.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

One other thing, I've been fortunate to not have a run in with Lyme disease so far, but I always keep the ticks that bite any of us in a ziplock in the freezer for a few months. I figure if one of us gets the signs/symptoms, it can be confirmed based on analysis of the culprit. Hope I never have to find out.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Harry Chickpea said:


> "The Coghlan's Tick Remover is a simple and effective tool for removing ticks. This tool prevents messy tick removal as it allows you to pull the entire tick free. The Tick Remover is also great for use on pets."
> 
> I've never needed a pen with a clamp to remove a pet that bit me???
> 
> A pair of forceps works fine. Ask your dentist if he has any retired ones.


I have forceps, they never get the head out! Maybe I don't do it right. We've tried everything, and DH has gone back to just yanking with his fingers.


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## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

mpillow, I got bitten other day, too.
It's happened before, but my dog came down with lyme this spring/winter, and all the talk about the lyme disease really makes me paranoid....
I got all of it out, but the little buzzard really hung on for a bit. He wasn't engorged, but did have some of my blood.
It itched for a day or two, as well. While at Dr's yesterday, showed her and she asked what kind it was....I couldn't tell if it was dog or deer tick. I'm just going back to get the meds for it.
All of the years I've pulled them off the kids when they were growing up; all the years I pulled them off the dogs, I never once worried about disease. 
Used to put them in a glass jar w/ alcohol, and wait a bit to see if anyone got sick.
When I finally detatched that tick, he immediately tried to attach to my fingers...eeewww! (couldn't find tweezers) I threw in toilet/flushed.
This spring have found lots of them on my shoes, socks, etc. Found 'em crawling on dogs. Been a long time since I've seen this many.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I just finished a course of antibiotics for Lyme disease. My symptoms were very sore knee joints and fatigue. Both are better now but not 100% yet.

Lyme's is carried by the very small ticks, not so much by the big ones. If you are infected there is usually a bulls eye shaped rash around the site of the bite after a few days. It is very important to catch it early. It can be very difficult to cure if you have had it for awhile.

I was shocked by the price of the doxycycline, $140 for a 21 day course.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

fyi on an option for the doxycycline:
http://www.calvetsupply.com/category/Oral_Antibiotics/2


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

And fyi the oft-mentioned ADC from India, a *lot* less expensive, more so if you combine multiple meds and/or stock up for multiple treatment doses in the future to save on the flat $25 S&H charge: http://www.alldaychemist.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Doxycycline+Hydrochloride Wow, but you're right, looking at my favorite price comparison source, CostCo pharmacy online, they show their doxy as *generic* but still looks into that $150 range for what 100mg, 2X a day, for 21 days, would work out as. You could treat for 30 days for under $10 other than the S&H with ADC sourcing. Suppose I may add a bit more of that into our TEOTWAWKI prep meds storage next order.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

I keep a bottle of *Campho-Phenique* and douse them with it. They back out on their own, then we pick them off and put in a baggy.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i got one off me the other day..it buried up for a drink....AND DIED....ROFLMAO...i musta been toxic to it.

i hate the things !!

if i knew it wouldn't hurt me i would drink,inject or use pour on iveomectin on myself....lol


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Doxycycline is pricey again thanks to what I consider unscrupulous business practices in the drug world. It was generic, cheap, on the $4 plan at Walmart and then a company paid off the other manufacturers so they are the only manufacturer again and made it super pricey! For awhile many insurances wouldn't cover it without a prior authorization. But the price is coming back down now. The 150+ quoted above is much less than it was the past 2 years.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Publix pharmacy gives out free antibiotics with a scrip.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Harry Chickpea said:


> Publix pharmacy gives out free antibiotics with a scrip.


Wish we had one around here.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I get at least 2 or 3 tick bites every year for as long back as I can remember and I just pull them out and put some alcohol and triple antibiotic on the bite.


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## gweny (Feb 10, 2014)

No kidding, there is a tick research lab less than a mile from my house. They have posted 'tick habitat' signs all over any public wooded area.... Here's your sign? But seriously the ticks are out of control here... They've got their own lobbyists!
Thank god for my chickens, cause I haven't got a tick yet this year while working in the garden.


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## Dutch 106 (Feb 12, 2008)

Hey Guys,
WHat happenend to the old Boy Scout method of touching a blown out match head to the ticks body to get them to pull out? Works nest with strike anywere stick matchs but if you can get the buggers to pull out them selves it got to be better!
I also recomend the keeping a few chickens around the place. They just love all the bugs thay can find and we usually don't find any ticks on the dogs when we had them.
Dutch


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Dutch 106 said:


> Hey Guys,
> WHat happenend to the old Boy Scout method of touching a blown out match head to the ticks body to get them to pull out? Works nest with strike anywere stick matchs but if you can get the buggers to pull out them selves it got to be better!
> I also recomend the keeping a few chickens around the place. They just love all the bugs thay can find and we usually don't find any ticks on the dogs when we had them.
> Dutch



the match thing was decided as not such a good solution if they were really in there 

we bought tick keys http://www.amazon.com/ANODIZED-ALUM...8&qid=1402350958&sr=8-8&keywords=the+tick+key we found a 3 pack for a decent price on amazon

they now say you want to pull the head without squeezing the body , f you squeeze the body it pushes the bacteria in their bellies into you and that is what transmits disease and why all the new tools for removal 

but have not used them yet , so far we have found all the ticks before they bit


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I've gotten antibiotics at:

http://www.fishmoxfishflex.com/index.php/

They're almost always out of doxycyline tablets, but they have all kinds of others, and free 2-day shipping. I use them instead of ADC unless I need inhalers or something else and want to make the order bigger (since shipping is the same no matter how much you order).


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Really? Your first tick ever? Have you lived in some sort of plastic bubble? 

Over the course of a normal summer I must pull fifty ticks or more off of me, by hand, and swat a hundred thousand mosquitoes. So far the record for the number of leeches found on my body is 6. Had a spider bite on my finger a couple of weeks ago. It swelled up like a hot dog but then I woke up one morning and it was fine again.

Never had lyme or dengue fever or any of the other things that the news uses to sell ad space and scare people with. Your body will eject or dissolve severed tick heads in a couple of days with no real worry. 

Really, guys ... don't fear the woods.


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## Brighton (Apr 14, 2013)

Ernie said:


> Really? Your first tick ever? Have you lived in some sort of plastic bubble?
> 
> Over the course of a normal summer I must pull fifty ticks or more off of me, by hand, and swat a hundred thousand mosquitoes. So far the record for the number of leeches found on my body is 6. Had a spider bite on my finger a couple of weeks ago. It swelled up like a hot dog but then I woke up one morning and it was fine again.
> 
> ...


Just because YOU have never gotten Lyme Disease or anything tick related doesn't mean others haven't!! Plenty of people in Northern climates get lyme's.


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## backwoods (Sep 12, 2004)

I'm seriously amazed this is your FIRST tick bite! We pull so many off every summer that I can't imagine trying to keep a count of them. The chiggers are so bad, I have scars from them, but I have something of an allergic reaction. IF you go outside, even on the driveway to get in the car, you can pick up a tick around here. I check the kids daily for them. I've pulled 4 off me and 3 off our two little kids, and they had on long pants tucked into boots and long sleeves, and clothing was sprayed with Deep Woods Off. My dd 15 can hike through our deep woods, and she rarely ever gets a tick on her, and is never bothered by chiggers. She teases me about it and says they don't like her blood. I've wondered if they are truly more attracted by some people's body chemistry? LOL


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## paqcrewmama (Oct 6, 2012)

We live in Lyme Disease Central. Dh and I have both had Lyme: he had the classic bulls-eye around the bite which developed in about 7 days, whereas I had NO bulls-eye and developed the joint pain, low-grade fever, headache and severe fatigue. They are now also testing for 2 other tick-borne diseases but I've had Lyme disease experts say that the tests are like putting a bucket in a huge river and hoping to pull out a fish. Very unreliable and treatment should be based on symptoms, not just a positive test.

That said, the larger ticks aren't suppose to carry Lyme but I'm NOT sure on the other two diseases. The experts advice showing as soon as you come in from your outside activities to wash away ticks that haven't attached yet and to hopefully scrub off any ticks that haven't attached enough yet. I removed a large tick off dh last week and two of the smaller "lyme" type ticks off our youngest son. Now I have to watch for symptoms but hoping they weren't in long enough (experts say 24 hours ). DEET is the recommended chemical of choice in the woods but I can't help but wonder which is more dangerous: DEET or Lyme. 

I don't fear the woods but I DO respect the junk passed on by some ticks. I've seen patients suffer permanent neural damage from undiagnosed/untreated Lyme Disease. 

I'm glad this was your first bite and hopefully, it's your last! Some areas are definitely more heavily infested than other areas.

Okay, and chiggers sound nasty!


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Rocky Mountain Spotted fever is not to be taken lightly either. Luckily it's more concentrated in the Rocky Mountains as the name suggests. 

Our ticks here tend to cause huge localized reactions if the head's left in. DH gets large, 10 inch round, raised, swollen, hot and painful areas around the bite. Then I have to dig the head out. Our new little tick removal tool has removed several, head intact! Worth the few bucks and cheap plastic crap


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

Ernie said:


> Really? Your first tick ever? Have you lived in some sort of plastic bubble?
> 
> Over the course of a normal summer I must pull fifty ticks or more off of me, by hand, and swat a hundred thousand mosquitoes. So far the record for the number of leeches found on my body is 6. Had a spider bite on my finger a couple of weeks ago. It swelled up like a hot dog but then I woke up one morning and it was fine again.
> 
> ...


No plastic bubble here! We do live in the woods and out in them walking the dog...foraging a lot...I just never got one....funny my 73yo neighbor had her very first tick the same week I had mine I live in her old house so she has been in this area 4ever. The cats and dog have had them and the children....just a few though and mostly the last couple 3 years. 

The wild turkeys have been covered with them and the deer and moose as well...our friend (a butcher) notes how much of an increase there has been also. EEE is also spreading North.

All is well here as far as the tick bite goes, but planting the garden has given me mosquito bites, black fly bites and deer fly bites.....moose flies at harvest time....FUN!


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

Never found any ticks here in my part of NM. Too high & dry I suppose.


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## fishinshawn (Nov 8, 2010)

Went out berry picking for fathers day and we ended up bringing 5 ticks home. They are having a big year, here on the coast we don't typically pick them up just walking in the woods. the only time I really get them on me is when I am hauling a deer or elk out of the woods.


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## driftwood (Jun 29, 2013)

when i was about 14 , i had a 300 honda dream and was in small band of bikers called smelly angels.....wearing my sleeveless ,buttonless, fatige jacket a rider said man you've had that tick in your navel at least two days now.


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## Dutch 106 (Feb 12, 2008)

Thanks Green County, I figured it was something I missed!
Dutch


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## obleo+6 (Jul 21, 2008)

driftwood said:


> when i was about 14 , i had a 300 honda dream and was in small band of bikers called smelly angels.....wearing my sleeveless ,buttonless, fatige jacket a rider said man you've had that tick in your navel at least two days now.


LOL...sorta...that's a big EWWWWWW! I'm assuming you removed it ASAP? Right? Right?


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