PSA- Don't get Lyme disease

[nymphingmaniac]

I've had no problem getting doxycycline from a local med express
The doctors I've seen there seem to freely write a script at any sign of a tick bite or bullseye.

My PCP - not so much

Some of those idiots would prescribe antibiotics for a common cold and other viral infections if asked. The customer is always right. They play an important function, but I feel it's the Wild West with these quickie marts. They are not as bad as the on-line pharmacies/care (gees, I just saw you can get antibiotic packs online), but Urgent cares need to be looked at more carefully.
PS not referring to legit Telehealth through health plans.

 

[poopdeck]

I never sent my clothes out to a service but I have been treating my own with permethrin for decades and I haven’t seen a tick on me in decades. Started doing it in the military when I would live for weeks in the field. buuuuuuuuuuuut, we also used it in conjunction with bug juice. I started with the spray on but moved to soaking in concentrate which was easier, quicker and a better way to apply. I would imagine these companies are simply soaking your clothing in a tub of Martins and stirring it with a stick and letting it dry.

No need to send your clothing out. Just buy a jug of Martins and get soaking but also use a repellant in addition to wearing your permethrin clothing. Using one or the other still leaves you exposed to tick bites and amounts to a half hearted attempt at tick avoidance. Using both a repellant like Murphy’s or Off applied to the skin and permethrin, an insecticide, treated clothing really ups your protection to a whole new stratosphere.

Remember, Permethrin should never ever be applied directly to skin and should never contact the skin when wet. If you’re soaking yourself in Permethrin where fly line is being damaged you are also causing great harm to yourself. Also, do not treat your underwear with Permethrin. No need to poke the bear.

 

[sarce]

Have dealt with it 3 times now, mix of work and fishing exposures to the ticks. The first time was pretty rough but was still caught early, took about a month to feel normal. One unpleasant side effect of doxy is reaction to sun exposure, that only happened to me once but it felt like my blood was burning under my skin. Cover up if you're taking that medication for any substantial amount of time.

After the first incident I got a little smarter about taking fewer chances with ticks. In certain areas I no longer bushwhack to streams, ever. I get there on established trails, entering at bridges, or by wading. Now with the emergence of alpha-gal as a nearly equal threat as Lyme I've finally taken to pretreating clothes with permethrin. So far so good.

 

[gfenlikestolosepasswords]

Back when I had it they didn't hand out antibiotics without a positive test, and the tests weren't very precise. I think I went through two before the third flagged it. Who knows how my life would've been different if they caught it right away.

But, the important thing people need to remember is the tick you find is not the one that will give you Lyme. Its the little pinhead ones, deer ticks, that are the carriers. And more so, the nymph versions that are the most prolific carriers.

Wear a hat. Treat your clothing with permethrin, and shower throughly and get all the fiddly bits as soon as you get home.

 

[1fish]

The posts in this thread caused me some concern so I had to do a little research. Turns out in Montana Lyme’s is the most common tick borne disease with an average of 13 cases a year. All of them acquired out of state. There’s a list under Tickborne Illnesses in Montana.

Tickborne Illnesses

dphhs.mt.gov

 

[bingsbaits]

Had it. PCP missed it three times. Went in for swollen joints. Right knee finally swelled right up and drained down into my calf, forming a Bakers cyst. Emergicare doctor had them Sonogram the cyst and if no blood clots test me for LYME. Tested positive. Anti's for 30 days. And when they say no sun they mean NO sun.

 

[5footfenwick]

What’s everyone’s record for most attached ticks found on them in a day? No outside the clothing or walking on skin should count. 4th base only. I’m talking locked in and going to town.

What is your highest one day body count? Of ticks bites? Or maybe better phrased, one day tick removal amount?

If you answer truthfully, maybe we won’t butt in line to get you as a donor for a blood transfusion. However, nobody here will judge you if your tick bite body count is high……..😊

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

What’s everyone’s record for most attached ticks found on them in a day? No outside the clothing or walking on skin should count. 4th base only. I’m talking locked in and going to town.

What is your highest one day body count? Of ticks bites? Or maybe better phrased, one day tick removal amount?

If you answer truthfully, maybe we won’t butt in line to get you as a donor for a blood transfusion. However, nobody here will judge you if your tick bite body count is high……..😊

Only remember having had one at a time... maybe a half-dozen spread across my lifetime. Chiggers are a different story.

 

[teedee]

Found lime in the blood test for my regular checkup but never had any symptoms. Did 60 days of doxycycline a couple months ago. I’m usually very cautious and treat clothing with permethrin.

 

[Bamboozle]

https://www.insectshield.com/pages/insect-shield-your-clothes

has anyone tried one of these permethrin treatment services? I'm thinking of sending in all my wet wading pants/ sun shirts etc

Ticks freak me out

I've been sending my stuff into the Insect Shield folks for a quite awhile. It's WAY easier & less messy....

Their treatments last WAY longer with more permissible washings than the DYI treatments I did in the past. They also sew an Inset Shield label into the treated garments so you know they've been treated.

 

[rrt]

Try spraying your clothing with Sawyers Tick and Insect repellant. It has worked well for me.

 

[Bamboozle]

What’s everyone’s record for most attached ticks found on them in a day? No outside the clothing or walking on skin should count. 4th base only. I’m talking locked in and going to town.

What is your highest one day body count? Of ticks bites? Or maybe better phrased, one day tick removal amount?

If you answer truthfully, maybe we won’t butt in line to get you as a donor for a blood transfusion. However, nobody here will judge you if your tick bite body count is high……..😊

ZERO deer ticks in my life and MAYBE two or three wood ticks ever...

I attribute that to Insect Shield treated clothing, having my lawn areas sprayed for fleas & ticks, almost exclusive wet wading, always wearing a treated hat & bandanna around my neck, an immediate shower after fishing or cutting the grass and DUMB LUCK.

I must emit some kind of pheromone or it's the cigars I smoke, but I also never had a close encounter with a bear or snake and most fishermen avoid me like the plague... 😉

On the other hand; mosquitos, no-see-ums and black flies love me and I get poison ivy by just talking about it...

 

[sarce]

What’s everyone’s record for most attached ticks found on them in a day? No outside the clothing or walking on skin should count. 4th base only. I’m talking locked in and going to town.

What is your highest one day body count? Of ticks bites? Or maybe better phrased, one day tick removal amount?

If you answer truthfully, maybe we won’t butt in line to get you as a donor for a blood transfusion. However, nobody here will judge you if your tick bite body count is high……..😊

About two dozen, all deer ticks, which led to my first Lyme encounter. Got most of them off within 2 hrs but still had a few on me the next morning that I'd missed.

 

[bingsbaits]

What’s everyone’s record for most attached ticks found on them in a day? No outside the clothing or walking on skin should count. 4th base only. I’m talking locked in and going to town.

What is your highest one day body count? Of ticks bites? Or maybe better phrased, one day tick removal amount?

If you answer truthfully, maybe we won’t butt in line to get you as a donor for a blood transfusion. However, nobody here will judge you if your tick bite body count is high……..😊

I was a logger for 50 years in PA and NY. Many years in the ANF. Hunted, fished , hiked for all those years. I have had ""1"" tick on me in all those years. He imbedded and gave me lyme two years after the bite.

 

[Mike]

Chest waders vs ticks:
I suspect that chest waders are beneficial in preventing tick problems. I spent 42 yrs doing fieldwork and in the last half of those years only wore chest waders when doing stream surveys, no matter the stream depth. Previously, hip boots were standard wear unless a stream was too deep. That was true for my crews as well. I never had a tick bite…nor did crew members that I can recall. On the other hand, we were frequently finding ticks hitch-hiking on our clothes when doing office work because of the grassy areas surrounding portions of the office property. That’s how I got my one or two attached ticks too. My standard protocol was to minimize arm and neck contact with brush when going from the truck to the creeks, often holding arms high, ignore the brush contact when electrofishing, searching my arms after completing a day of fieldwork, and immediately showering with ticks/nymphs in mind when I got home regardless of dirt or sweat accumulation.

 

[falcon]

I got one very small deer tick cutting limbs and clearing brush on my property and another larger tick when fishing the Beaverkill. Both last year. I have had a few over the years in the past as well. I always get a prescription for Dox.

 

[dc410]

I’ve been a forester for over 37 years. I’ve pulled dozens of ticks out of me over the years. Most of them being deer ticks but some of them were wood ticks. I’ve found several Lone Star ticks crawling on me over the past few years but was not bitten by one of them yet. I contracted Lyme disease back in the early 90’s with at least 3 or 4 bouts of symptoms over a 5 or 6 year period. Doses of doxycycline always seemed to effectively bring me through it but it was kind of tough sometimes convincing the medical folks back in the day because it was still kind of the mystery disease.

One day I was in the doctor’s office trying to explain to them about my current symptoms and my extremely high risk of getting ticks on me with my work. As I was talking to them I felt one crawling up the back of my neck. I said “matter of fact here is one of the little buggers right now”, I picked off the tick and flopped it onto the counter. The entire doctor office pretty much came unglued as they all were looking at probably the first live deer tick they ever saw. I promptly left with a prescription for a 21 day dose of doxycycline and it worked well.

 

[Swattie87]

I’ve been a forester for over 37 years. I’ve pulled dozens of ticks out of me over the years. Most of them being deer ticks but some of them were wood ticks. I’ve found several Lone Star ticks crawling on me over the past few years but was not bitten by one of them yet. I contracted Lyme disease back in the early 90’s with at least 3 or 4 bouts of symptoms over a 5 or 6 year period. Doses of doxycycline always seemed to effectively bring me through it but it was kind of tough sometimes convincing the medical folks back in the day because it was still kind of the mystery disease.

One day I was in the doctor’s office trying to explain to them about my current symptoms and my extremely high risk of getting ticks on me with my work. As I was talking to them I felt one crawling up the back of my neck. I said “matter of fact here is one of the little buggers right now”, I picked off the tick and flopped it onto the counter. The entire doctor office pretty much came unglued as they all were looking at probably the first live deer tick they ever saw. I promptly left with a prescription for a 21 day dose of doxycycline and it worked well.

I think I’ve heard you tell that story before somewhere along the line John. Still good the second time. Been too long since we’ve fished. Let’s fix that.

I have a good PCP. We’ve discussed my hobbies and tick risk is an every visit discussion. He’s in Chester County (densest population of deer ticks in the world, congrats Philly, 😜). When we moved from Morgantown (PA) to Linglestown (general Harrisburg area) I kept my PCP from the Morgantown area. Worth the 75 minute drive. (And opportunity to bring take out back from one of our old favorite food spots nearby.) The rule is if I find one crawling and not engorged I don’t worry about it, but remove it and kill it by any reasonable and safe means. If I find one attached, period, regardless of engorged or not, I’m to remove it, kill it (rubbing alcohol) but save it, and call him. He prescribes a “double” dose of doxy. 2 standard dosages. Take them either 12 or 24 hours apart (I forget) but the first one ASAFP. I don’t know all the math, but I believe this greatly reduces the transmission risk of the tick vector stuff. I haven’t had to use any of my saved ticks with this approach, fingers crossed. I’m grateful the science has caught up (at least some) to it to allow for prophylactic approaches like that. The day I find one on one of my kids…

 

[Sharknado5]

Permethrin should never ever be applied directly to skin

Actually its pretty safe, its very poorly absorbed through the skin. It's FDA approved for scabies and head lice in children as young as 2 months. Kids get it in a lotion. Maybe the Sawyers spray has some propellant that's irritating to the skin..

 

[lycoflyfisher]

I purchased bulk permethrin concentrate from tractor supply and made my own spray, a little stronger than sawyers. I actually soak my hunting and outdoor work pants in it.

I must have sat down in a tick neat last year in turkey season because I watch more than a dozen ticks crawl up my boots and barely make it 2 in on my panta before they fell off. It has greatly reduced the number of ticks I find crawling on me and havent knowingly had one embedded for quite a while.

Tucking your shirt in is another good protective measure.