URGENT--I need tick help!!

[ravinlunachick]

We went camping this weekend, and despite my extreme heavy-handedness with the Deep Woods OFF!, the kids and I have all been bitten by ticks. :(

 

I found mine this morning at the campsite, on my middle back. DH was able to remove it, but we did not save it. I carefully inspected all the kids, and they were clean. This evening, just as we were getting ready for bedtime, my youngest dd began screaming that something was on her shoulder. Pulled back her shirt, and there was a tick (just like "mine") embedded. DH tried and tried to remove it, to no avail, and I was *just* about to walk out the door with her to Urgent Care, when he tried once more with a hot match.

 

He got it out, intact, and we saved it. It's brown with a single white spot on its back. We double-checked all the kids again, and found a teeny tiny baby tick embedded on ds's upper inner thigh.

 

Let me tell you----holding down a very strong for his age, naked autistic kid who doesn't understand what's going on, and going awfully close to the jewels with a pair of tweezers is NOT my idea of fun!!! Thankfully, finally, we got the tick out and also saved it.

 

 

 

I'm waiting on a call back from our ped. What should I expect? I don't know anything about treating tick bites other than to look for a bullseye rash or something. :confused:

 

 

Our dog was also with us, btw, but she has been regularly treated with Frontline Plus. I will check her as well. I'm afraid that the ticks may have hitchhiked back in the van, either on the camping gear or on the dog and jumped off. How can I be sure the van and all the carseats are safe?

 

 

 

ETA: We are in SC, btw. Still waiting on the ped's nurse to call me back.

Edited May 28, 2012 by ravinlunachick

[jewellsmommy]

We went camping this weekend, and despite my extreme heavy-handedness with the Deep Woods OFF!, the kids and I have all been bitten by ticks. :(

 

I found mine this morning at the campsite, on my middle back. DH was able to remove it, but we did not save it. I carefully inspected all the kids, and they were clean. This evening, just as we were getting ready for bedtime, my youngest dd began screaming that something was on her shoulder. Pulled back her shirt, and there was a tick (just like "mine") embedded. DH tried and tried to remove it, to no avail, and I was *just* about to walk out the door with her to Urgent Care, when he tried once more with a hot match.

 

He got it out, intact, and we saved it. It's brown with a single white spot on its back. We double-checked all the kids again, and found a teeny tiny baby tick embedded on ds's upper inner thigh.

 

Let me tell you----holding down a very strong for his age, naked autistic kid who doesn't understand what's going on, and going awfully close to the jewels with a pair of tweezers is NOT my idea of fun!!! Thankfully, finally, we got the tick out and also saved it.

 

 

 

I'm waiting on a call back from our ped. What should I expect? I don't know anything about treating tick bites other than to look for a bullseye rash or something. :confused:

 

 

Our dog was also with us, btw, but she has been regularly treated with Frontline Plus. I will check her as well. I'm afraid that the ticks may have hitchhiked back in the van, either on the camping gear or on the dog and jumped off. How can I be sure the van and all the carseats are safe?

 

 

 

ETA: We are in SC, btw. Still waiting on the ped's nurse to call me back.

 

 

This happened to us. Dh brought home a nymph deer tick of all things!

 

:grouphug: I hope all is well.

 

 

ETA: out of curiosity I looked it up and it sounds like what you describe is a lone star tick.

Edited May 28, 2012 by jewellsmommy

[my2boysteacher]

Do you think it is a deer tick, as opposed to a wood tick? You can google it to see side by side comparisons to see which you are dealing with. If it is a wood tick, definitely take it into the doctor with you. Before you head back I would shower every one, scrub heads well, and shake out all clothes, gear, etc.

Hope everyone is okay!

[ravinlunachick]

It's a Lone Star Tick, most definitely. I am fairly certain that we all had the same type, although the one on ds was much smaller than the ones on dd and myself.

[Spryte]

Many will say that you could wait and see, but having lived with undiagnosed, then misdiagnosed Lyme Disease and co-infections for years - and ending up with life-long ramifications - I am in the don't-wait-for-symptoms camp.

 

Not everyone gets a bullseye, not everyone shows obvious symptoms right away, and testing is not known to be reliable.

 

Treating Lyme is a fairly simple thing, if it's caught quickly and treated adequately. Treating Lyme that was undiagnosed for a longer length of time... Not simple, not quick, and not cheap, either.

 

I would ask for a minimum of 30 days antibiotics for each person bitten, at an adequate dose to be bactericidal. 6 weeks would be better. The longer treatment time is to cover the entire lifespan of the spirochete.

 

And even after treatment, I would watch like a hawk for symptoms. Not only Lyme symptoms, but symptoms of co-infections that may not have been caught by the initial round of abx, because not all co-infections will be covered by abx.

 

Just my thoughts. If you go another route, that's okay, too. :)

 

ETA: a great trick you might try (to kill any hitchhikers on clothes/gear) ... toss your stuff in the dryer on high for a half hour to an hour.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Spryte

[besroma]

I'm not sure what the ped will say, but these are some things I would do:

 

Make sure everyone showers and washes their hair to wash away any nymphs.

 

Check everyone again in the morning.

 

Put all clothing in the washer, even if you do not wash tonight (none on the floor or on the beds).

 

Vacuum the car well and throw out the vacuum bag.

 

Wash all car seat covers.

 

Wash all clothes that were in the tent, even if they were not worn.

 

Try not to worry. Ticks must feed for 24-36 hours to transmit Lyme disease, from what I have read.

[ravinlunachick]

Spryte, I'm afraid prophylactic abx might be difficult to obtain. Our ped is very conservative with abx prescriptions.

 

Googling for images has me even more squicked out than seeing them and removing them.

 

my2boys, we were already home, but all our gear is in the laundry basket, ready to be washed tomorrow. All of us are scrubbed and inspected as well.

[ravinlunachick]

I'm not sure what the ped will say, but these are some things I would do:

 

Make sure everyone showers and washes their hair to wash away any nymphs.

 

Check everyone again in the morning.

 

Put all clothing in the washer, even if you do not wash tonight (none on the floor or on the beds).

 

Vacuum the car well and throw out the vacuum bag.

 

Wash all car seat covers.

 

Wash all clothes that were in the tent, even if they were not worn.

 

Try not to worry. Ticks must feed for 24-36 hours to transmit Lyme disease, from what I have read.

 

That is very comforting to read. I certainly hope that's true! :001_smile:

 

I like having a plan of attack, too.

[jewellsmommy]

It's a Lone Star Tick, most definitely. I am fairly certain that we all had the same type, although the one on ds was much smaller than the ones on dd and myself.

 

 

What I just read says that the lonestars do not carry lyme but do carry other bacteria that lead to flu like symptoms. I would still be concerned about the smaller ticks though, if you can't identify them.

[LostSurprise]

A good way to save ticks is to smother them by putting them in a square of clear tape. Make sure each side is firmly stuck together. We toss ours on the fridge for a week and then throw them away.

 

Dryers on high are great for bedding, clothing, etc.

 

Whenever you go through tall grass check your legs immediately after you come out. Often you can catch them quickly that way.

 

People get bit by ticks all the time. Most do not carry disease. I know where I live if you had no symptoms the doctors would laugh you out of the clinic for trying to get treatment.

[regentrude]

I would ask for a minimum of 30 days antibiotics for each person bitten, at an adequate dose to be bactericidal. 6 weeks would be better. The longer treatment time is to cover the entire lifespan of the spirochete.

 

 

I understand where you are coming from, but would you really advocate this? It would mean that anybody who regularly is in the woods would be on antibiotics for six months out of the year if they do that for every tick bite - because despite all caution, ticks can not really be avoided.

Surely that can not be healthy either, and can lead to resistances?

[Kathryn]

No advice, but since you mentioned you're in SC, I'll mention that DH has told me several times that ticks are supposed to be really bad this year. I've never even seen one in my life and we went for a walk in the woods and all came out with them a few weeks ago.

[ravinlunachick]

Our neighbors found a deer tick on their dd yesterday. To get it off, they smoothered the tick with Dawn dish detergent and it let go of their dd when it died. That may be worth trying in the future before digging with tweezers.

 

That's good to know! We'll definitely try that first next time.

 

No advice, but since you mentioned you're in SC, I'll mention that DH has told me several times that ticks are supposed to be really bad this year. I've never even seen one in my life and we went for a walk in the woods and all came out with them a few weeks ago.

 

We were in the Midlands, in a pine forest. Asking for trouble, I know. :tongue_smilie:

[Mrs. H]

I'm just a lurker passing through, but I'm in SC as well, and ds got a bullseye rash the first year we moved here (about three years ago) so I ended up doing a bit of research at the time. It seems that Lyme is pretty rare in our state- so y'all are probably okay. (And ds's rash appears to have been from a spider).

[Kathryn]

That's good to know! We'll definitely try that first next time.

 

 

 

We were in the Midlands, in a pine forest. Asking for trouble, I know. :tongue_smilie:

 

That's where we got ours. We were in Harbison State Forest.

[catz]

I understand where you are coming from, but would you really advocate this? It would mean that anybody who regularly is in the woods would be on antibiotics for six months out of the year if they do that for every tick bite - because despite all caution, ticks can not really be avoided.

Surely that can not be healthy either, and can lead to resistances?

:iagree: Everyone I know would be on antibiotics right now. Tics are really prevalent in our area this year. I visited a friend that lives in the north woods today. She literally removes tics from her kids daily. The ones that are hard to find are the problematic ones.

[my2boysteacher]

Our neighbors found a deer tick on their dd yesterday. To get it off, they smoothered the tick with Dawn dish detergent and it let go of their dd when it died. That may be worth trying in the future before digging with tweezers.

 

This is not the recommended procedure for removing ticks. Tweezers are best.

Read here.

[Remudamom]

Spryte is right. Get on antibiotics, get on them fast and get on them long. The d@mn things aren't going to hurt you and the tick bites will.

 

For pete's sake. Why do people fuss so about antibiotics, doctors included? Lyme is horrible. You do not want to go there. I keep them on hand and we take them whenever we're bit, which is often.

[bnrmom]

While I can't say I advocate going on antibiotics every time you are bit by a tick (ds7 would have been on antibiotics 3 times in the last year alone), we did give antibiotics once. We took ds7 to the urgent care (weekend of Thanksgiving) because he had a tick in his head and a swollen, painful red circle rash around it. It was definitely a deer tick. The doctor said that the type of antiobitic that is most effective for lyme disease is not recommended for children under the age of 8 (it can permanently discolor their teeth), but we did end up giving him one dose, rather than the 30 day course.

 

Apparently this has been found to be just as effective as the longer dose as long as it is given soon, like 24-48 hours, after the bite. I looked up the study the doctor cited, which I unfortunately can't remember now, but it was from Harvard or some other such reputable institution. This was 7 months ago, and so far so good.

[Catwoman]

Well, besides the very real problem of antibiotic resistance we now have from over use of antibiotics, there are some extremely nasty (and increasingly common) side effects from antibiotic use. I spent 5 months of last year fighting to recover from a severe antibiotic-induced illness, and wouldn't wish that on anyone else. Unfortunately, my experience wasn't a rare, freak thing.

 

Well, if it's a choice between Lyme Disease and the possible side effect of an antibiotic, I'm going to take the antibiotic every time.

 

I definitely understand what you're saying, and I'm very sorry you got so ill, but I had Lyme Disease for several years, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, either. If I hear that someone had a tick on them that didn't just pop right off when they tried to remove it, I recommend that they get a course of doxycyclene and take every last dose. Lyme is generally very easily treated if you catch it before symptoms arise, so although I'm not a fan of taking 6 weeks worth of medication, it's a whole lot better than facing years of treatment down the road because a tick bite wasn't taken seriously.

 

Again, I don't think it's a great idea to over-medicate for every little thing, but when the potential illness is very bad, I think it's worth risking the potential side effects of the medicine in order to avoid a potentially lifelong and life-altering disease.

[kadesmom]

We went camping last week and I found one on my lower abdomen a few days later...don't know how it was still there. It was not embedded when I found it so it was easy to get off but I'm still a little worried about later symptoms.

[houseofkids&pets]

My neighbor bought me one of these since we are both having tick issues with our dogs. http://www.tickkey.com

 

It works so much better than the tweezer technique I had been doing. I have always been able to remove the whole tick with the "key". With tweezers, it sometimes left the head embedded.

[Mynyel]

According to the CDC Lone Star ticks do *NOT* carry Lyme. Antibiotics are not necessary. It is, however, a carrier of southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI).

 

Antibiotics may be needed, but I believe they will only be prescribed if the rash shows up.

[NotSoObvious]

If we went on antibiotics every time one of us got bit, we'd be on them all the time.

As long as you got them quickly, you should be fine.

[mlktwins]

Our neighbors found a deer tick on their dd yesterday. To get it off, they smoothered the tick with Dawn dish detergent and it let go of their dd when it died. That may be worth trying in the future before digging with tweezers.

 

 

Dr. Oz had a summer survival espisode on this past Thursday. The bug expert said NOT to smother the ticks or burn them off the skin (along with a few other things NOT to do). Apparently it makes the tick regurgitate its contents into the body where removing the tick with tweezers does not.

[regentrude]

For pete's sake. Why do people fuss so about antibiotics, doctors included?

 

Because an overuse of antibiotics has caused the emergence of resistant bacteria strains which do no longer respond to most antibiotics. MRSA is a prime example.

[Remudamom]

Because an overuse of antibiotics has caused the emergence of resistant bacteria strains which do no longer respond to most antibiotics. MRSA is a prime example.

 

I'll take antibiotics and the side effects any day over Lyme. Any. Day.

[Trish]

In terms of tick prevention, I've heard of wearing long pants and sleeves, tucking pants into socks, and using the Deep Woods Off on your clothes. How do you keep the ticks off your head?

[chepyl]

Because an overuse of antibiotics has caused the emergence of resistant bacteria strains which do no longer respond to most antibiotics. MRSA is a prime example.

 

We battled mrsa for the first two years of dd's life and I have friend whose husband died from a mrsa infection. I am very cautious of antibiotics. I would not advocate taking them everytime you are bit.

[kwickimom]

My dh gets bit all the time...he's a land surveyor. He would be on antibiotics his entire life if he took them every time he got bit. My kids have gotten bit and we have never taken antibiotics as a preventative.

[intp4yhwh]

If we were to take antibiotics every time one of us had a tick bite, we'd all be on antibiotics all summer long, every year. That would be silly. We've lived in the Ozarks for 12 yrs. now - everybody gets tick bites every summer - no problems at all. And no, it's not just luck.

 

Like the other poster said, the tick needs to be on you, actively biting, for at least 36 hours before the disease can be transmitted. So just check for ticks every day. Everywhere. They like tight areas best along with the hairline around the neck and ears, but can decide to latch on anywhere.

 

Tweezers aren't a very good thing to remove ticks with. You're more likely to squeeze the tick body when you try and remove it - that's bad - you can squeeze fluids from the tick into your body. It took us a few months of removing ticks to get used to it, but it's really very simple. Grab the tick gently and get your fingernail past the body and right next to your skin. Then give a quick pull in the direction of the tick's body - always in the direction of the tick's body. It'll come right off.

 

Frankly, the diseases mosquitoes carry bother me more.

[Guest submarines]

In terms of tick prevention, I've heard of wearing long pants and sleeves, tucking pants into socks, and using the Deep Woods Off on your clothes. How do you keep the ticks off your head?

 

Wide brimmed hat.

[Jeannie in NJ]

last year someone here suggested the tick twister. I bought it from amazon and it is great. It gets the tick off easily and all of the tick including legs come off. We don't get ticks but my cats get ticks almost every day. Get the tick twister, it is well worth it and I don't recall it being very expensive at all.

 

I just went to amazon and they don't have the pack of 2 twisters (one for large ticks and one for small, the small is what we use all the time). So I went to ticktwister.com and remembered that is where I bought it from and it came quick. It is 4.95 plus 3.95 shipping. I went ahead and just ordered a couple fo more in case the one I have ever gets lost.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Jeannie in NJ

[ravinlunachick]

In terms of tick prevention, I've heard of wearing long pants and sleeves, tucking pants into socks, and using the Deep Woods Off on your clothes. How do you keep the ticks off your head?

 

I did all those things, and still wound up with a tick on my lower middle back. Persistent little suckers. :glare:

 

I will look into getting one of those tick keys or twisters. What a great idea!

 

Today, we all have red marks where the bites were. No rings or rashes, thankfully.

 

Oh, and the ped never called me back. Grr.

[Jennifer3141]

Well, besides the very real problem of antibiotic resistance we now have from over use of antibiotics, there are some extremely nasty (and increasingly common) side effects from antibiotic use. I spent 5 months of last year fighting to recover from a severe antibiotic-induced illness, and wouldn't wish that on anyone else. Unfortunately, my experience wasn't a rare, freak thing.

 

:iagree:

 

Uh, because antibiotic resistant bacteria are the THIRD leading cause of death in the US? And they cost the healthcare system $20 billion a YEAR?

 

And if we keep abusing antibiotics, they won't work for things like LYME DISEASE. :glare:

 

We have one confirmed death from Lyme Disease in the US and actually, the death was attributable to antibiotic complications...

[regentrude]

I'll take antibiotics and the side effects any day over Lyme. Any. Day.

 

I am not talking about side effects. I am talking about bacteria strains that are unstoppable, because they are resistant to almost all antibiotics.

Around 18,000 people die each year from MRSA in the US. More than from AIDS.

I do consider this a concern.

[PeacefulChaos]

Spryte, I'm afraid prophylactic abx might be difficult to obtain. Our ped is very conservative with abx prescriptions.

 

Googling for images has me even more squicked out than seeing them and removing them.

 

my2boys, we were already home, but all our gear is in the laundry basket, ready to be washed tomorrow. All of us are scrubbed and inspected as well.

 

Ok, I haven't read any farther than this post - but I just wanted to say, we get ticks all the time. They are usually not a big deal, so don't get too worked up over it. (In fact, some of the responses have me :001_huh: ) Actually, we've never had any problem with ticks at all - we just get them off whoever they're on, and go about our day. The boys shower every night after they've been outside and know how to check themselves for ticks.

Anyway, I just wanted to be a little voice of calm so you don't feel like you need to freak out. :)

[Carrie12345]

Ticks are a part of life for our family.

We check/have the kids check every night, pull off any hangers on, and pretty much go about our lives. I do mark the kid/bite location on my calendar just in case. We tried saving ticks, but I was winding up with a windowsill full of ziplock baggies.

 

My kids get bitten multiple times in any 6-week period, so they would be on abx non-stop every May to October, minimum. We've already lived here for 7 years. If I let them spend half their lives on abx, what in the world would their bodies do if they ever DID contract lymes? There's no way the drugs their bodies adapted to could fight it!

[Candid]

You also need to be aware of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever which is common in SC.

 

Here's a page at the CDC on ticks:

http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html

 

And a page on symptoms:

http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html

 

Look carefully as dog ticks are also pretty common in your area. My dad picks blackberries and often has ticks on him. At 85 he has never had any tick born disease so I think the possibility of infection might not be super high. (The CDC site doesn't really tell you and I guess it might be hard to know since they only know about cases of illness compared to how many people at any given time had contact with a tick.) The important thing is to remember that you had an encounter with a tick if anyone does show signs of illness.

[Walking-Iris]

I wouldn't necessarily go on abx every time you get a tick bite, but I do worry about them. We recently went camping and we all got a tick bite despite precautions. All three of my kids had the larger ticks with the one white spot. After easy removal there was no mark where it was remaining. My dh and I however got a different type of tick bite and we're watching them carefully. The ticks were super tiny and i have no way of knowing how long they were there. I'm talking super tiny. Mine was difficult to remove. My dh's bite is fading but mine is still slightly itchy but has reduced in size and color. I'm really sensitive to skin issues. Poison ivy, a bruise, a scratch, a mosquito bite, anything and the mark will leave a discoloration for a long time. But I have actually contemplated getting it looked at mainly because if anyone is going to get sick it would be my luck it would be me. :glare:

[Whereneverever]

I am not talking about side effects. I am talking about bacteria strains that are unstoppable, because they are resistant to almost all antibiotics.

Around 18,000 people die each year from MRSA in the US. More than from AIDS.

I do consider this a concern.

 

:iagree: I'm always baffled when people don't get the real dangers of antibiotic overuse.

[Catwoman]

Oh, absolutely. I would use the antibiotic myself or for one of my kids if we met the criteria that put us at risk of Lyme's. I was just answering the question about why people fuss about antibiotics and the statement that they won't hurt you.

 

Oops. Sorry about that. :blush:

 

When I was taking long term medication for my Lyme disease, I used to worry about over-use of the antibiotic, so I understand what you meant. I'd done a lot of reading about it at the time, and wished I didn't need the medicine, but I was stuck.

[Rivka]

I understand where you are coming from, but would you really advocate this? It would mean that anybody who regularly is in the woods would be on antibiotics for six months out of the year if they do that for every tick bite - because despite all caution, ticks can not really be avoided.

Surely that can not be healthy either, and can lead to resistances?

 

Ok, I haven't read any farther than this post - but I just wanted to say, we get ticks all the time. They are usually not a big deal, so don't get too worked up over it. (In fact, some of the responses have me :001_huh: ) Actually, we've never had any problem with ticks at all - we just get them off whoever they're on, and go about our day.

 

Agreed with both of these.

 

If I found a tick that I knew had probably been embedded for more than 24 hours, I would probably discuss the possibility of prophylactic antibiotics with my doctor. But seriously, they need to be attached for a looong time to transmit disease. Regular, careful checks and careful removal keep most people healthy.

 

Oops. Sorry about that. :blush:

 

When I was taking long term medication for my Lyme disease, I used to worry about over-use of the antibiotic, so I understand what you meant. I'd done a lot of reading about it at the time, and wished I didn't need the medicine, but I was stuck.

 

Medically indicated long-term use is not the same thing as over-use, though. It's the same with tuberculosis - long-term, intensive treatment is simply the right and safe thing to do. You actually do more damage if you stop a course like that early, because any remaining organisms can then develop resistance.

[woolybear]

Just stumbled across this thread searching for something else. Wondering if the OP can give us an update? Everyone well, I'm hoping. :grouphug:

[woolybear]

Agreed with both of these.

 

If I found a tick that I knew had probably been embedded for more than 24 hours, I would probably discuss the possibility of prophylactic antibiotics with my doctor. But seriously, they need to be attached for a looong time to transmit disease. Regular, careful checks and careful removal keep most people healthy.

 

 

 

Actually, I have been told by a Lyme doctor that they just need to be attached for several hours to transmit disease. We've dealt with quite a bit of Lyme here. I can't say how long ticks were attached, but I'm just saying what the doctor told me.

[KnitWit]

Actually, I have been told by a Lyme doctor that they just need to be attached for several hours to transmit disease. We've dealt with quite a bit of Lyme here. I can't say how long ticks were attached, but I'm just saying what the doctor told me.

 

Agree with this. My bil nearly died from Rocky Mtn. Spotted Tick Fever. He didn't ever have a tick *attached*. He only killed one he found on his lawnchair BEFORE sitting. The infectious disease doc told him all you have to do is TOUCH an infected tick.

[ravinlunachick]

Just stumbled across this thread searching for something else. Wondering if the OP can give us an update? Everyone well, I'm hoping. :grouphug:

 

Thank you for asking. Yes, we're all well. I kept a close eye on the little ones. We all itched at the site for a few days, but no rashes or anything developed, thank goodness! :001_smile:

[KnitWit]

Thank you for asking. Yes, we're all well. I kept a close eye on the little ones. We all itched at the site for a few days, but no rashes or anything developed, thank goodness! :001_smile:

 

good news :)

[besroma]

Thanks for updating!

[woolybear]

Glad to hear you are all well!