MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
...Lyme Disease isn't a stranger in our family, my brother has it last 6 years getting better.
We went away this summer to France (back 2 weeks ago), my youngest who is ASD/ADHD came back with what looked like a insect bite on his arm, over the last few days it got bigger, this morning bulls eye rash, straight to GP who has prescribed 3 weeks of antibiotics followed by a blood test in 3 weeks.
Obviously not every tick is infected with Lyme and the antibiotics are a precaution if its present will hopefully knock it on the head.
The thought of him having Lymes along with ASD/ADHD is really 3ucking with my head wife has gone mental with anxiety - and we have to be positive at this stage- having watched my brother we know how 5hit it is.
Even if it is Lyme, he may not react as badly as your brother, plus getting antibiotics early on should help.....
FWIW I've twice had to have the antibiotics. Seems it works in all but a tiny %age of cases.
unfitgeezer am sorry to read about your young lad and glad that he's been prescribed antibiotics. Here's a link to dosages for children and worth checking that your son has been given the correct amount. Also if symptoms continue then a further course of antibiotics can be prescribed.
https://caudwelllyme.com/lyme-disease-childrens-treatment-dosages/
Also current Lyme disease testing is unreliable so unsure why the GP feels the need to test. More info here:
https://caudwelllyme.com/lyme-disease-testing/
Link to NICE guideline, may be worth printing this off for easy reference if you need to revisit the GP::
https://caudwelllyme.com/what-does-the-nice-guideline-for-lyme-disease-say/
I was just given the antibiotics and told not to worry about it unless I had any symptoms after treatment, so far so good one year on.
I'm with the calm responses above. My 7yo is a tick magnet, we just watch for symptoms and try not to worry. Antibiotics have a 98pc success rate so if a bullseye rash ever developed I think a three week antibiotics course would ease our fears a lot although we'd be watching her health/wellbeing like hawks in the coming months.
Also current Lyme disease testing is unreliable so unsure why the GP feels the need to test.
The test is susceptible to false negatives in the earlier stages [1] but not false positives. So it's worth doing the test because it won't clear you but you *may* find for certain that you have it and can rule out alternative causes.
[1] But far better later on - 97pc accurate if you have Lymes related arthritis and 87pc if it's in your nerves.
+1 for the calm and sensible responses above; I see quite a few people in his position each year.
Early treatment like this with A-B and where there has been little or no initial sign of infection (the flu like symptoms), then there is every reason to expect the treatment to be fully effective. The chronic stage of Lyme is therefore quite unlikely to develop. Just make sure the full dosage is taken in and gets absorbed, then he'll be fine.
+1 for the sensible responses. STW at it's best
But I am disappointed no one has blamed pro remain ticks or the fact it was those Europeans in France infecting the poor child. Some of you need to up your game!
Hope your youngest heals fast
db
Sorry to hear of your troubles OP.
I'm now worrying though, as I never find them on me and rarely on the kids. Although I caught several before they bit in Scotland. Guessing it's a location-specific thing.. hope so anyway otherwise I am missing a lot.
You've done everything right. Just get through the course of antibiotics and all should be fine. Fwiw I, my son, lots of cycling mates and lots of school kids near me have all been through the same. Drs locally treat folk everyday in the high-tick season with ticks, bullseye rashes and/or fevers after bites.
There is a Tick reporting app to help study them and narrow down where lymes seems to be a problem.
Your brother did your daughter a huge favor by having it before. You knew the signs, you knew what to look for and what to do. It bought her time and very prompt treatment. Much more prompt than most people get. She has every chance that she'll be fine. Thank your brother.
As someone who gets tick bites all to often I sympathise with your situation. But... Whilst getting Lyme Disease is 'unlucky', getting Lyme with a bullseye rash is better than getting it without a rash and not knowing you have had it until you get serious symptoms. Not everyone gets a rash and most people who get seriously ill don't know they have become infected until it's a bit late to treat it easily.
As such, at least you can get it sorted at the stage it's properly treatable. I always hope I don't get infected but that if I do... I get the rash so the Doc believes me and I can get it treated... If that makes any sense...
There’s a good podcast by NHPR (New Hampshire Public Radio) about Lyme Disease - including an interesting diversion on the origin of the phrase from which it takes its title. It’s called Patient Zero. Four episodes so far - chronicling the discovery to discussion of the symptoms etc. Might be of interest to some who post on these threads.
Had exactly the same on my 10 year old, got in early with antibiotics, no issues 3 years on