Some good info here and some bad. As president of a local Lyme Disease Association, I know more about this subject than hunting predators. First off,the larger dog ticks are better known for transmitting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and rabbit fever aka tuleremia. Approx. 30% of infected deer tick bites result in the bulleyes rash. Ten days of antibiotics is a joke. Some patients are on meds for years. The medical community is missing the boat on this subject.
Many doctors are clueless about the coinfections that can transmitted along with the Lyme bacteria. "Two weeks of antibiotics and you're cured" is all they hear about it in medical school. The most commonly used test-the ELISA is over 60% INACCURATE resulting in many false negatives. With most folks not presenting with the rash and the poor testing combined with the lack of knowledgable physicians it's easy to see most patients aren't getting proper diagnosis and treatment. Even the hapless, incompentant, corrupt CDC admits at least 90% of Lyme cases are being missed. To those who think living with ticks is not a big deal, I vehemently disagree. I watched my oldest child writhe in pain for MONTHS and not get out of bed for days on end. I witnessed her sister scream out at night and sweat gallons while having horrific nightmares. I saw their oldest brother not keep down a solid meal as a toddler for weeks at a time and go through vivid hallucinations claiming he saw "little men" running across his bedroom floor with a look on his face as if he'd seen the devil himself. My wife was nearly too sick take care of three sick little ones while pregnant with our soon to be born (and sick) fourth child. I worked at my contracting business for years with daily migraines that would drop a rhino while nearly drowning in debt from medical bills. There were some weeks I couldn't get out of bed from extreme head to toe muscle and joint pain where I could do nothing but curl up and cry like a baby. Our insurance company would not cover most bills from a Lyme literate physician we found because he was out of state and his treatment methods did not fit within the medical guidelines that they wrote for "mainstream medicine". My family went through two years of hell on earth from this devastating disease. Three years later we are healthy again and digging out of the financial hole a few tickbites put us in. I receive calls weekly from all over the country and hear stories that make mine sound like a walk in the park. Some of these calls are from spouses or family members of people who jumped off buildings or blew their heads off because the bacteria had reached their brains and they didn't know where else to turn. Most never knew what ailed them and had been to 10 to 20 doctors looking for help. Links between Lyme and ALS,MS,Alzheimers,heart disease,diabetes,lupus and autism are being researched. For prevention, tick checks and permethrin are very effective. After everything we've been through, nothing is going to keep us out of the woods but we are not going to be stupid about it either. Anyone can send me a PM if they have questions.
Signed,
Redeyeddawg
Dale E. King
President of the Lyme Disease Association of the Eastern Shore Of Maryland
