One darn tick bite....

[dkvart1]

4 or 5 weeks ago I wasn't feeling very well and was having a bit of trouble breathing and DH insisted I go to hospital... so I did. While there I mentioned that about 2 weeks prior I had been bit by a tick and was concerned that possibly my problems was related to that. After arguing with the Dr. I was assigned in the hospital, he finally LOOKED at the tick bite and after every test they did came back great he called in the infectious disease Dr. He looked at the bite, said 1) Lyme disease is not much of a problem down south 2) it was unlikely that the tick bite was the cause of my shortness of breath and 3) it would be several weeks before toxins would show up in a blood draw and told me to come back in 4 - 6 weeks as he didnt' want to put me on meds if they weren't necessary.

Now I get a little spacy on time frames occasionally.. and with buying a house, preparing to move and our beloved dog dying I just sort of forgot about it, even though the tick bite is still red, itches like crazy at times and I developed a rash around it and had the same rash briefly on my arm. Today the nurse called... sending me forms for lab work and have an appointment on the 17th...now they are concerned because of the rash. I was concerned when I was in the hospital and made that very clear! I have had tick bites before, we like the outdoors and it's inevitable that from time to time you'll pick one up... but after a couple of days they disappeared, didn't linger for weeks... why are doctors soooooooooooo hard headed? I know my body better than anybody... just like when I was starting the change and told the doctor that's what it was... he had me undergo every test he could think of because he thought I was to young... in the end a simple hormone test proved me right... Arrrrrrrgh!!!!

Sorry, just had to get this off my chest!

 

[3goodeggs]

Lyme's is VERY prevalent in the south. What was he thinking? Antarctica?
And, just because it isn't Lyme's does not mean it could not be a host of other things. Dirty filthy tick mouth all over everything slurping away at who knows what.
Even if it was an allergic reaction to the bite, the doc still needed to factor those things in.

just because he graduated from med school, it does not mean he was at the head of his class.

 

[jerseygirl1]

My DH ended up in intensive care with Lymes Disease and what one ER nurse told him always stuck with me

"If you take just ONE antibiotic within 24 hours of a tick bite, you WILL NOT get Lyme Disease"


Now, we keep doxycycline (SP?) on hand jsut in case he does get bitten - did the doctor give you ANY type of Antiobiotic?

They didn't with my DH and let me tell you - it was HORRIBLE - three trips to the ER in one week until the blood work came back, then they finally did a spinal tap where he was diagnosed with Lyme-related meningitis and admitted. But, he walked around in horrible agony for a month.

Nope, take the antibiotic ASAP from when you find a tick bite

 

[schellie69]

DH say it seems Dr have had the common sense taught right out of them. I believe it them seem to forget to keep it simple.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

delete

 

[dkvart1]

Jersey girl, Drs response was "I don't want to put you on antibotics if they aren't necessary!" all the arguing in the world wouldn't change his opinion.

All I've suffered so far is the bite that won't heal and the rash... my daughter had Lyme disease when she was younger (about 13 or 14) and suffered horrible aches and intermittent fevers of course it was hard to believe at first because she was always a bit of a drama queen and tended to exaggerate a hangnail into the need for amputation! Finally after a couple of bouts we figured it out, by that time the doc had put her on the right antibiotic, since nothing else had seemed to work and she recovered nicely. I just get so FRUSTRATED with doctors, which is why I generally avoid them like the plague unless I'm really ailing!

Steve, sadly you are SO right about that!