TICK BITES SHOULD BE MONITORED!
I have been an outdoors girl all my life. My childhood was spent outside all day long playing and having fun. As an adult, I continue to spend free time outdoors. I like to hunt, hike, fish, camp and paddle.
When you spend time outdoors, especially in the woods like I do, you are going to encounter bugs, ticks and chiggers. I have had more tick bites than I can count. I can tell you how many times I have had a reaction to a tick bite…one time.
This past year during bow season, I was bit by a tick. I removed it successfully the same day. About a month later I noticed a red, welted rash around the bite site. I hadn’t even noticed anything abnormal. I was shaken. I was out of town and I was sending my husband pictures of it and the more my adrenaline pumped from fear, the itchier it got. The next day I was home and I immediately went to my doctor and showed him. He sent me for blood work and started me on a strong antibiotic. The medicine made me sick for about an hour each time that I took it, twice a day for two weeks. The blood work returned and I was positive for the early stage detection for Lyme Disease. That is the simplest way I can explain how the results work. It is complicated, but I will keep it simple. My doctor had me continue the medicine and advised to me return in a few months to retest, unless I had additional symptoms start.
Late November, early December I started having bad joint pain in my knuckles, knee joint pain and minor jaw joint pain. I was tired and wiped out and crashed a couple nights in the recliner early. Now, I also had enough stress and long hours that I wasn’t sure if it was just stress and possibly arthritis setting in because it had got colder too. I wasn’t sure and I wasn’t wasting time finding out. I returned to my doctor. He ran the blood work again.
I was relieved to hear that the second test came back negative.
The initial round of medicine worked! Thank goodness. Please don’t waste time getting tested for Lyme Disease. It is a serious disease that can cause a lot of health issues. I am grateful that I noticed mine early, got tested early and my doctor started me on medication right away.
Now, I have to accept that I am getting old and cold weather bothers my old lady joints. I can handle that over the alternative!
FLATWOODERS 