Ticks... Little buggers!

[Gerritt]

Went for a hike out the woods with my son yesterday, we had a blast!

 

Until I woke up at 6am with a pain in my side.. I had a tick buried deep in my skin on the side of my ribcage, I pulled it out hurts like no tomorrow

 

Should I be concerned? I know the tell tale signs "looks like a bullseye" well I have a hole in my skin and it as all red around it which I would assume would be normal with any bite.

 

The tick is still alive after I removed it, and I will hang onto it just incase..

 

But I would rather not go to the ER and waste anyones time if this is nothing to be concerned over..

 

Thanks for your input folks

 

G

[tjsa]

two words Gerrit, Lyme Disease. Take the little blighter with you to emergency.

[Gerritt]

yeah.... thats what I was afraid of, I was thinking of waiting to see if the red circle around the bite site grew or not... ugh, looks like a trip to the ER instead of fishing with my son..

 

G

[lew]

I know a lady with Lyme Disease Gerritt and it's a nasty thing.

 

I'd go see the doc and have it checked just to be safe.

[Gerritt]

Just an FYI for those of you that may get bit this year... I called TeleHealth Ontario @ 1-866-797-0000 This is a great service for us in Ontario to speak with a medical professional from the comfort of your own home.

 

The nurse I spoke with says calls about ticks have been prevalent this year, I was told that there is little they can do at this point in regards to the tick bite I received because it just happened yesterday and Lyme Disease can take 2-14 days to present itself, as not all ticks carry the disease. Even if I went to the ER or Doctor the blood test would show negative for Lyme simply because it just happened.

 

Should I experience headaches, a growing rash around the bite site, stiffness, chills or fever (flu like symptoms) then I am to go to the ER to be tested and placed on medication.

 

So just a heads up should you get bite this year....

 

I am also to keep the tick and give our local public health unit a call on Monday, they may want it to test it to confirm or deny Lyme in our area.

 

So looks like I am to monitor myself and should I notice anything different I am to go to the ER.

 

Be safe out in the woods this year! (and your pets too, as they can bring ticks into your home)

 

G

[Joey]

Jeez, that sucks Gerritt (no pun intended). I hope you don't contract Lyme disease as I hear it is quite nasty. I guess you'll have to take extra precautions with your family and pets now, especially fiddle head picking. Pants inside socks etc. or just stay away from the area you were in aswell, although that really is a shame

[Gerritt]

Sucks for sure Joey, as the woods are right behind my house, We love walking the trails back there! It is where I was going to be picking Fiddleheads... Ohhh well... how on earth it got through my heavy hoodie sweatshirt and T-shirt to bite me on my ribs I will never know.

 

Hopefully it was just a bite and nothing more becomes of it.

 

But I thought I would post about it here to warn others that tick season is upon us and to check yourself after being out in the woods.

 

Play safe,

 

G

[NAW]

Bang Gerrett. That sucks. I had planned on taking my boy for a walk today in the woods out back to check for fiddleheads. I am going to have to do more research on these little buggers.

 

Do they hang out in packs/swarms.. Or would there just be one or two hanging around? I don't even know what to look for to avoid them in the bush.

[Gerritt]

you can't avoid them, they are tiny and you will not see them. tips of grass or other plants and you get them as you brush up against them.. you can try bug spray but it seems to be ineffective... they are solitary there are no swarms of them..

 

I had to strip down my GF and son @ 6am this morning when I pulled the one out of me, to make sure they also were not bitten.

 

Here is a site with additional info and a map showing their assumed distribution.

 

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/id-mi/tickinfo-eng.php

 

I live in a hotspot apparently

 

G

[Moosebunk]

Other than Lake Erie, another known hotbed for ticks is the Rideau/Gananoque area. In the local ER's which I work, there has been an exceptional increase in ticks... to the tune at times of 3-12 per day presenting during the summer months. Last summer of all the ticks sent out for examination, there wasn't one confirmed case (last I heard) of those ticks carrying Lyme. Not sure your area, but incidence seems to be low overall.

 

Ticks should be removed with the proper tools. Pet stores sometimes carrying excellent ones that look like the hooks on a hammer, there are also keys (don't work as well) Ticks should be twisted out, not pulled. Try and keep head intact with body as, once you detach one from the other, the chance ot contracting lyme (if present in the tick) becomes greater AND, that head is tricky to remove once it's embedded on it's own.

 

Canadian blood testing for Lyme is crap. It is not as advanced as the States. Our family has a personal friend who was tested here, suffered many ailments for 5 years before retesting in the States, only to find out Lyme disease had been is issue all along. Doctors were baffled by him for years, he was misdiagnosed and treated wrongly for 5 years, and today he is still recovering years afterwards from the damage untreated Lyme disease had caused.

 

ER's do send the ticks away for testing. Prophylactic antibiotic treatment pre-diagnosis of possible prevention of Lyme seems to be a personal decision with each MD, although research does now have a relatively commonly used criteria which helps MD's make that decision. Working today, I could likely look that up.

 

INSTEAD of ER's... you can take your tick to a local Public Health Office and they will send it away for you. If it comes back positive for Lyme, you will be notified. Testing can take over a week.

[Gerritt]

Thanks Bunk... thats exactly what the RN from TeleHealth told me.. Keep the tick and take it to my local Public Health office for testing... and to monitor the site of the bite and my overall general health..

 

Seems Lyme Disease is on the rise here in Quinte/Northumberland region and is a large high risk area

 

I accidently pulled it out myself this morning when I woke up... I thought I had a pimple or something and to my surprise I pulled out a tick. It is still alive and I have no remnants of the tick under my skin

 

G

 

 

The coloured zones on the map indicate current predictions for regions where Lyme endemic areas are most likely to emerge provided that suitable woodland habitat for the blacklegged tick exists. The yellow zone indicates the main extent of locations where Lyme endemic areas may emerge. The orange zone indicates areas with a particularly high risk for emergence of new Lyme endemic areas, while the green zone indicates areas where the risk of Lyme endemic areas emerging is possible but low. The grey zone indicates areas where in general the risk of Lyme endemic area emergence is predicted to be very low and risk of Lyme disease is mostly restricted to that posed by ‘adventitious’ ticks dispersed by migratory birds from Lyme endemic areas in Canada and the USA. Even so, in some localised areas of the grey risk zone, local environmental conditions may be suitable for Lyme endemic areas to emerge.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Gerritt

[Moosebunk]

If tick had been in for an unknown amount of time that could have been or is greater than 72 hours, (or a known 72+ hours) you'd likely have been given a prescription for Amoxil or Doxycycline. Otherwise, tick is tested, you monitor yourself... and wait results. No news with P.H. is usually good news.

 

You have a fully intact tick that fed less than 24 hours... your chance of Lyme is quite low. If tick is fully engorged, your chance is higher. Your family MD can also deal with this.

 

What you do with any information is your responsibility Gerritt. I gotta CYA my butt out of this. lol.

[mr blizzard]

Gerritt we are keeping our fingers crossed for you, learned a great deal thru the postings

[Gerritt]

If tick had been in for an unknown amount of time that could have been or is greater than 72 hours, (or a known 72+ hours) you'd likely have been given a prescription for Amoxil or Doxycycline. Otherwise, tick is tested, you monitor yourself... and wait results. No news with P.H. is usually good news.

 

You have a fully intact tick that fed less than 24 hours... your chance of Lyme is quite low. If tick is fully engorged, your chance is higher. Your family MD can also deal with this.

 

What you do with any information is your responsibility Gerritt. I gotta CYA my butt out of this. lol.

 

I appreciate your input Bunk.. I have a family member (Aunt) suffering with Lyme disease and has to go to the US for treatments, as Canada is very poor when it comes to Lyme disease, their testing is not accurate to say the least...

 

I will submit the critter to PH before I really worry about it. I figured I would start this thread to inform others that Tick season is upon us and to take steps to prevent being bitten.

 

Seeing my Aunt go through this has got me a little concerned though.... No sense in freaking out till I know for sure.

 

G

[farsider]

I know Gabe Magnotta (of Magnotta Winery) died from Lyme disease because it was never diagnosed. The familiy now have a foundation spreading awareness of Ticks and Lyme disease.

 

Ray Mears got it as well and has fared well after treatment to everyones benefit.

 

Good that you caught it so early.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[4thgen]

What I don't believe has been mentioned yet is that there are a number of tick species in Ontario. If you still have the tick in your possession, you should try to identify it. Every tick that I've picked up in Ontario has been a Wood Tick of the genus Dermacentor, which is not a carrier of Lyme disease. Best of luck.

[Toad Hunter]

is it possible to send the tick to a lab to be tested ? might save you 2-14 days of worry and stress ?

[Gerritt]

What I don't believe has been mentioned yet is that there are a number of tick species in Ontario. If you still have the tick in your possession, you should try to identify it. Every tick that I've picked up in Ontario has been a Wood Tick of the genus Dermacentor, which is not a carrier of Lyme disease. Best of luck.

 

This is a male deer tick (Black legged tick)... I have identified it.

 

is it possible to send the tick to a lab to be tested ? might save you 2-14 days of worry and stress ?

 

exactly what I am doing.. I will be dropping it off at my local public health unit tomorrow.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Gerritt

[jimmer]

Your obviously aware that you should not take this lightly. Keep an eye on the bite and the other symptoms. I know someone that died from lime disease and it's not a nice road.

[The Urban Fisherman]

Hey Gerritt,

 

I've had three, Averie has had two, my son Luke has had 1 and our dog managed a bad infestation a couple of years ago. This has been over the course of the last 6 years that we've lived out by Longpoint and it's known for the odd case of lyme disease. So far so good - on a couple of occasions when the tick was inflated practically to the point of explosion the doc put us on antibiotics and eventually each test came back negative for Lyme. I'm sure it'll be all good but keep an eye on it and next time don't by shy to pop by the ER. You're not wasting anybody's time when it comes to your health or that of your loved ones! Doctors in our area are used to getting people in with Ticks and are fast and efficient with regards to removing them. Our taxes pay their wages for the most part so why not use them.

 

Cheers,

Ryan

Edited April 29, 2013 by The Urban Fisherman