Acrawl

footfootfoot • Apr 13, 2013 9:30 pm
I was on the shoulder of the road today photographing the bike race.

The shoulder of the fucking road. I get back into the car and I am covered with huge brown dog ticks, which means, I am sure, that I must be covered in invisible deer ticks. Fine, whatever.

But ever since this afternoon I have the sensation of little critters crawling all over me, everywhere.

Thank god I'm not tripping.

I haven't found one yet, but I know they are here.
orthodoc • Apr 13, 2013 9:51 pm
Get 'em off within 72 hours and you won't have to take a dose of doxy. Once you get the tweezers on one, just pull slooowly so the head stays on. Probably not how you were planning to spend Saturday night. :(
zippyt • Apr 13, 2013 10:39 pm
Ughh Feetz Deet is yer friend ,
Aliantha • Apr 14, 2013 2:15 am
Yuckety yuck! I hate tics!

eta: actually, it should read, Ickety Ick! I hate a tic!
Sundae • Apr 14, 2013 5:23 am
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
I'll raise a glass of coconut water to your health. Can't do any more from this distance.
footfootfoot • Apr 14, 2013 7:15 am
Thankfully, tic free but still acrawl. Going out again today, with DEET and pyrethrin.

I've got one of those awesome tick scoops.
Griff • Apr 14, 2013 12:34 pm
Will ticks respect deet?
xoxoxoBruce • Apr 14, 2013 12:54 pm
No, ticks only respect brute force. Carry a big hammer and when you see one on you smash it. :bonk:

Well OK, DEET and Permethrins help some, but physical barriers are best. Like tucking pants into socks.
footfootfoot • Apr 14, 2013 3:56 pm
Permethrin! That's the fellow, not that other one.
ZenGum • Apr 14, 2013 7:46 pm
xoxoxoBruce;860694 wrote:
No, ticks only respect brute force. Carry a big hammer and when you see one on you smash it. :bonk:



If *I* had followed that advice...


OWWWWWW!!!!

:lol:

Maybe if you pull the tick off your balls first, then smash it with a hammer...
orthodoc • Apr 14, 2013 8:08 pm
ZenGum;860719 wrote:
... pull the tick off your balls first, then smash it with a hammer...


Good advice! :thumb:
nowhereman • May 10, 2013 11:22 am
First tick of the season yesterday, and it looks to be a deer tick :mad2:
Got it out, but may head to the docs to be sure. It was just far enough around my side that I can't quite see if it's all gone. Definitely caught the crawlies ...
glatt • May 10, 2013 11:36 am
If you get it out within the first 24 hours, you won't get lyme, even if it was a carrier.
Ocean's Edge • May 10, 2013 11:42 am
so far I've been lucky and with great diligence haven't found one bit into the skin.... bad enough that I'm pulling 4, 5 6, off my clothes when I come in - dogs have flea and tick prevention on, but with a big black dog its still hard to tell if they're riding around on him - gotta do a comb out and spray with cider vinegar this afternoon - not looking forward to it...

creepy crawly feeling keeping me awake at night
glatt • May 10, 2013 11:57 am
Very good article about why the tick population is exploding and what we might be able to do about it.
Ocean's Edge • May 10, 2013 12:28 pm
well now that article was enough to almost make me agoraphobic
ZenGum • May 10, 2013 7:57 pm
glatt;864596 wrote:
If you get it out within the first 24 hours, you won't get lyme, even if it was a carrier.


Based on no evidence whatsoever, I think that sounds a lot like "you can't get pregnant the first time you have sex".

are you sure?
glatt • May 10, 2013 8:17 pm
I'm no expert, but that's what the article says. It has to do with the length of time it takes the bacteria to leave the tick's stomach and work its way to the tick's mouth and into you.
Sundae • May 11, 2013 7:51 am
glatt;864600 wrote:
Very good article about why the tick population is exploding and what we might be able to do about it.

Shurely if it's exploding, problem solved?
nowhereman • May 11, 2013 8:59 am
Very good article. I'm about 20 miles from Lyme so well within the ground-zero area for the little darlings. Saw the PA, looks like I had gotten the bugger out. One-time double dose of Doxy, and watch for symptoms (probably nothing).
xoxoxoBruce • May 13, 2013 1:15 am
glatt;864596 wrote:
If you get it out within the first 24 hours, you won't get lyme, even if it was a carrier.
That's the way it works naturally, but it depends on how you remove the tick. Smothering will make it puke, which is bad, and excess squeezing may also upset natures plan.
busterb • May 16, 2013 3:19 pm
Blood work yesterday. See lung Dr. next week.
classicman • May 20, 2013 12:12 am
Got tested for Lyme and a million other things two weeks ago.
Avoiding getting the answers I already know I don't want.
Meh ... maybe I'll call them back this week.
footfootfoot • May 20, 2013 11:44 am
Lyme's no big deal. two weeks of Doxycycline. The problems is when the doctor believes a false negative, which are fairly common. There are a lot of people who believe they have "chronic Lyme." Recent research has shown that they are merely being re-infected by different ticks. (DNA sequencing the Lyme bacteria)

But, feel better anyway, don't worry.
Ocean's Edge • May 20, 2013 12:35 pm
I'll probably go get tested soon as Him gets home this week ...

I'm always a bit paranoid about these things, and even if the list of symptoms can be explained by other things (joint pain? you're kidding right - been arthritic since I was 29, I live with an almost permanent headache, and chills? Well the temps did drop to 5°C this week, that neck pain? I could have slept on it wrong, and tired? I haven't slept properly since he left...)

There's just been so many of them - I can't walk across the yard without coming back to at least one if not 2 or 3 on me. And while I have been careful I have found them after stripping down on bare flesh. And early on there was a bite - didn't see any tick - didn't think anything of it at the time, I thought it was a black fly bite, but 3 weeks and it's still there and it does have that red ring around a white centre......

Yeah I'm being paranoid - I know that - BUT a test doesn't cost anything and MAY save me a world of grief down the line.
footfootfoot • May 20, 2013 2:30 pm
red ring around a white center = lyme. That's the only sure diagnosis.

The sooner you are treated the better. Just go to your doc, show him/her the bullseye rash, get the scrip, feel better.
Ocean's Edge • May 20, 2013 3:35 pm
not that sort of bullseye rash
Image

small, about the size of a dime, looks like a mosquito bite (I tend to be very reactive to those) that hasn't faded...
3 weeks in it's not getting larger, and I never did see a tick at that location.


all that said - err on the side of caution ... I will go and get tested later in the week