I have done a bit of searching on here and there seems to be quite a lot of info. I picked up a tick last Tue night and didn't discover it till first thing Thu – it was still tiny – managed to get it out intact (was at work and tick twister at home so used a penknife delicately !). Sunday night started getting mild flue/fever symptons, night sweats etc. Off to the doc in a few hrs and hopefully antibiotics. I was actually on the last day of a 2 week course of antibiotics for a throat infection when I got the tick, so hoping there was enough still in me to stop any new infection and this is maybe just a bug on the back of the throat infection…………

Seems an extremely quick reaction to be a tick, however seeing the GP is the best bet.

interesting – any idea how long a normal reaction would be ? I was feeling a bit crap before I got the tick so very much hoping it was something that was already working on me.

Ta

I had a bite a few years ago when I moved over here, it took a few weeks before the classic bulls-eye became big enough to really worry me, I never felt bad and trained through it.

Last year I either had a blood infection from an open wound or a tick bite, (both occurred in the same climbing trip), and within 48 hours my body had collapsed and went in to AE.

However everybody is different.

Several weeks for rash and around 6 weeks for it to stand any chnace of showing up on a blood test.

I got a huge deer tick about 3 weeks ago, removed it OK and the bite site looks fairly calm, I feel fine, so no stress methinks.

sounds encouragingly like current lurgy is too soon to be tick related – might urge doc for antibiotics though as from what I can find the tests are not very reliable

Indeed, hardly worth the bother.

I had a tick bike reaction after 2 days or so – as the mouth parts were still in – removed and now calmed down.

There is more than one infection that can be gained from ticks in the UK:

http://www.bada-uk.org/homesection/about/diseases/indexdiseases.php

interesting – any idea how long a normal reaction would be ? I was feeling a bit crap before I got the tick so very much hoping it was something that was already working on me.

Be suspicious that you already had a viral infection or similar before you were bitten myself ?

Be suspicious that you already had a viral infection or similar before you were bitten myself ?

yeah – I am hoping that is what I am feeling now, rather than anything tick related !

About 3 years ago i noticed the old bullseye ring abouve my knee, took ages to go away, IIRC was a week or so after doing some SDW riding. I didnt realise this could be indicative of a tick bite, although i dont recall having a tick on there. I havent suffered any ill effects subsequently, should i get my self checked out now, or is it not worth it??

iainc – If your worried go see your GP – better safe than sorry IMHO – If its serious it will prob progress and if its just an endemic 'virus' like a cold or flu it'll improve – Most Tick bourne diseases just get worse but Lyme's disease can wax and wane 🙂

foxy – thanks for that (i think :-)) – yes seeing doc later this afternoon and planning on asking for the reccomended antibiotics – better safe than sorry. cheers

There's a lot of info on this over on UKClimbing.com If you go over there & do a search on articles on it. Should throw up most of the info you need without actually going to see someone about it. Can't link right now as i'm in work.

I got one on Monday night and it was probably on since Sunday )-: Didn't realise it was there so scratched it off and woke up the next day with the dreaded bullseye.

Went to the Docs the next day and got some antibiotics which should sort it before it starts hopefully. Its the same antibiotics that are used for STD's apparently so might kill two birds… (-:

had a look on the UK Climbing forum – lots of good info. I am armed for my trip to the doctor with lots of stuff off the internet – his worst patient of the day probably !!

Afaik, its not advisable to remove a tick by hand. Instead use some vaseline and rub it on the tick. They breath through their arses basically, so the vaseline will force them to retreat. This leaves no infectious mouth parts in the wound.

Im pretty sure this is not a good way to get rid of a tick. IIRC they tend to barf their stomach contents into your bloodstream, thus increasing the change of getting nastiness off them.

You're quite right.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ticks.htm

Some good info there

removal techinques in animals from experience:

1. Tick hook
2. Tweezers at apex of tick head (runs the risk of bursting/leaving hypostome in (mouth parts)
3. Paint with vaseline, nail varnish (blocks repiration) and tick drops off
4. Use acaricide like frontline etc – tick dies and drops off
5. Ice cube – freezes tick and kills it – tick will eventuall drop off

I'd use a tick hook if you spot one – works everytime and removes the hypostome which is not infectious but causes a foreign body type reaction, the red ring of often a reaction due to the tick secretions.

Ridethelakes where were you at to get your reactive bite??? got one as well last week after some grizedale exploration, getting lost, got the antibiotics now and the bite seems to be quieting down looks grim though and itches like ****

Sam – probably Staveley / Kentmere but I was gardening during the day at home (windermere) so could have been either. Apparently Lymes disease is very rare (according to doc).

yeap got the same response but was given the pills as a precaution seems to be clearing the welt up not quite as hard or hot………………..hummm sounds a bit suss that last statment 😯

I found one crawling up my leg recently and flicked the little bastid off. I always just check myself over on most rides or when I'm having a breather – especially if I've been blatting through foliage. I take my helmet off too and give me head a quick rub 😳 I've been wearing deet recently (cos the midgies around here are really biting at the moment) and I know it doesn't repell ticks but the oily layer certainly makes it less attractive to them. The trouble with our ticks is that they are so small and sometimes hard to spot.

i had one on my hip last month… woke up in the morning at it was there – perhaps the cat brought it in?

also have used rum to remove them from the cat – soak in rum then pull out with tweezers…

might be worth getting one of those hook things

Iain – If you die a slow, agonising and frankly horrible death from Lyme disease, can I get your Orange 5?

LOL @ downshep !

Just back from the GP – he was pretty knowlegeable and receptive to my 'internet amateur researches' – bloods taken, and he did admit that they are only 50% reliable. 3 weeks course of doxycyline 200mg a day. here's hoping…..

iainc – make sure that you take your doxycycline with food. I had it a couple of months ago after a tick bite and couldn't tolerate the nausea, but it's not so bad if you take it with a big meal.

thanks tinners – took the first one but no apetite -(.

did you get the fever or the rash or what ?

Just a note, do not use any of the methods which involve soaking, burning, freezing etc or otherwise harming the tick, as these cause it to release its gut content into your blood, giving you any diseases it might be carrying. Only realy safe method is to use a tick removal tool, or carefully remove with tweezers at the very bottom with a slow but firm pull and a slight twist

managed to get it out intact (was at work and tick twister at home so used a penknife delicately !).

agreed, but needs must and once I found it I wanted it out asap !

My daughter saw the tick stuck fast on my calf and engorged with blood as I stood in the kitchen taking a cold pint of water after a ride (I might have contracted it from an earlier ride). I thought it was a blob of mud and instinctively swiped it off. Wife shrieked in horror that I'd not "gone outside to brush off the mud", but in doing so, it landed on a tiled floor and we noticed that it was a tick. It left a very obvious puncture hole about a mm across. Thought nothing of it but then developed a spreading bullseye rash. Then had the antibiotics. I had 3 days of increasingly unbearable nausea (I'm not a wimp) on doxycycline, so I switched to an antibiotic called amoxycillin, which I took for 2 weeks. Nothing since. The trouble with Lyme is that you firstly won't notice the tick because they inject a local anaesthetic that numbs the bite. Although it's true that not all ticks carry Lyme, it's also true that you won't necessarily get a rash either. The illness itself kicks in much later and often it's difficult to even realise that there was a link with an earlier (possibly unnoticed) tick bite. Testing is of dubious value in that it's often negative and you wouldn't logically NOT treat if a person has suggestive symptoms but a negative test. One thing's for certain – treatment early (within days) is usually successful and later treatment can be much more involved – lots of properly serious symptoms and prolonged intravenous antibiotics etc.
Bottom line as far as I'm concerned is to be tick aware and to bear it in mind as a possibility if you develop symptoms. The more I've read about it, the more I think that the known cases are the tip of the iceberg (and this seems to be the feeling of experts in the field too – no pun intended)…..and we're the ones who are at greatest risk of contracting it compared to the couch potatoes. No need to panic, but it's sensible to check and see Dr if any suspicion. Most Drs in the know have a low threshold for treating if there's a suspicion because the consequences of inadequately treated Lyme are so serious (and difficult to treat in the later stages).

well just finishing the 3 weeks course of antibiotics and neither I or Doc think Lyme's. Had the blood test and that was negative although it only has a 50% success rate anyway. Tests also indicating virus and doc reckons post viral fatugue, as still feeling crap, headaches, ripping throat, sinus pain, so a few weeks off the bike and then back into it slowly.

just re-read this though :

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bit-of-sympathy-and-support-wanted-please

so will proceed with caution !