TICKS ARE HERE. YUCK!

I freaked out this morning about 4 a.m. when I got up to go to the bathroom and found a deer tick on my face. I thought I felt something crawling and when I rubbed it I knew immediately it was a deer tick. I had a terrible time trying to kill it since it was so small and my arthritic fingers are all crooked and it is difficult to actually get what you go after. LOL. I got him, smashed the heck out of him and checked the dog, bed and by that time I was wide awake and ready to get up. Now I feel like a zombie. Darn ticks. I hate them with a passion. Had Lyme years ago and it really took a toll on me. Had no signs

I guess I need to put a tick collar on Charle. I will not use frontline since that is what helped cause my JRs health issues.

I too have been terribly plagued by deer ticks this year. Almost a ticj per hour for any time spent outside.

Have over 20 bites I'm watching, no bulls eyes yet, but they are so itchy. Removed most via magnifying glass and tweezers but never sure wether the heads came along with the body,

These deer ticks ARE FAST! Feel something crawling, roll up pant, shirt, sleeve find nothing and a minute later do the same thing Hard to spot and catch unless they have bitten in, and ihey will bite several times before settling on one spot.

Seems most start at ground or foot level and aren't cimbing up weeds or plants and bushes to better catch a ride. Considering some sort of sticky band around my calves just above my socks to ensnare them as they climb to bare flesh, just so I can work outside a bit.

Here there are several deer that travel through and I feed several feral cats, also a raccoon or two to bring these ticks into the yard. I don't go where the deer do but cats and coons do.

Heaven help me when I find one by feel in a place I can't reach or see on myself! Wayne has chronic Lyme already and I sure don't want that.

Maybe I should get a flock of chickens and set them out daily on tick patrol! But I think loose birds scratching and pecking around my yard would just be too much for the cats to resist even if they are well fed, they are still hunters. Gets to be like that old riddle about how to get a rabbit, a fox, and a head of cabbage across the river one at a time!

Doing some more research on my repel/prevent Lyme options.

JBerger -- what happened with the Frontline? We use it....

When Barney was about a year old they came out with Frontline. I got some from the vet and we put it on him. Not long after that his stomach started giving him trouble and it only got worse as he got older.We stopped that first since it was after that he got sick but the damage was done by the time we stopped. We could not figure out what it was but it was nothing we could put our fingers on other than Frontline. He lived to be nearly 14 but he was on a special diet 12 of those years. His liver enzymes went sky high and all we could do was keep testing. We just gave up after awhile and eliminated everything one at a time. He must have been allergic to the Frontline.

The vet immediately had me stop it and after that I never used anything but the Lyme shots. My first JR died at 9 y.o. from Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever here in NJ. Ticks at my other farm were horrible. I had lyme in 1995 and get tested yearly for it just in case.

I've had 4 bites here. No bulls eyes either, thankfully.

Wow, you be careful.

I have had some bites. If you save the tick I believe they can test it. At least I paid to have a Tick checked last year. It was $20 with my insurance. Not bad for peace of mind.

I spray almost every time I go out and wear long pants. The mosquitoes are another problem, I need to spray to keep them away from my sweet meat or stinky feet. Hahaha

I have some clothing spray I keep meaning to use, to repel bugs. Maybe I'll use it this year....

I have a problem with the way the doctors are now treating tick bites. When I had mine, I never had any sign of a problem. No lump, bullet, redness, nothing. I turned up a few weeks later so weak I could barely move and after me saying test my blood.....they did it and it was Lyme. Darn Doctors.

The way the doctors were treating bites at my drs office was to the minute you had a bite or a sign, put you on the antibiotics. Of course that was not good I guess so now they say they will not give you any medication unless you have redness, bullet, etc. Well, as I told you in the previous paragraph, I had nothing.....so are you guys to wait until you are so sick you can not move to treat them? Some of those little buggers are so tiny, they bite you and fall off. I think that is what happened to me because i can feel them crawling and I did not. I keep asking them to check for Lyme when I get my CBC each year.

I hope you are all o.k. That is such a nasty disease and can be serious if not treated.

Good point, JB. I am really loathe to take antibiotics now. I guess the trick is to really watch how you are feeling during tick season. Good advice to reg regular Lyme disease tests, for those of us who are outside a lot.

JB--

The tic that causes Lyme Disease is a tic-on-a-tick. The host is the deer tick.
The minute tic on that tic is what bites you--it is like a pin head.

Hope my memory is true on this........If not--I know i will stand corrected.
Gita

OK..............that is information I never heard of but I really never gave it a thought. I know the small tics are the ones that carry the disease and the dog tics do not. The dog ticks are the bigger ones, there is a difference that can be seen by the naked eye I am sure. The teeny ones are the bad deer ticks. Now, You are saying that the little tics are hooked on to a already small dear tick? I really think I am too old to figure that out. Whatever, tick bites are not something to take lightly. Thanks for confusing me even further Gita.

Just pulled one off my leg. Very very small andhe was dug in. Funny iisn't it? What are the odds.

Last night I found #5. Jeff had to remove it.

My mother just got diagnosed with Lyme disease. She got the classic bull's eye mark and is now on antibiotics.

Be careful out there, everyone.

Deer ticks are not only teeny tiny, but they are very fast.

Paul---
You are NOT supposed to pull ticks out by hand!!!
Many times the heads break off, if you pull them, and stay inside your skin....

trying to remember the better ways..............hmmmmm........

--holding a blown out match head to it--it will back out--and you may get a burn....:-o
--putting some kind of oily stuff over it (Vaseline?)--suffocates it--and they back out

If you MUST pull--I think it is recommended that you use tweezers and try to grab the tick by it's head.

Any other bright ideas???? G.

I get crazy when I have one on me and I just do what comes naturally. Pull the sucker out. You are right...the heads will come off. Not good. A tweezers is good but you must be sure that head does not come off. I wonder if peroxide would work to make them back out???I get itchy just thinking about them. Yuck!

This is what the American Lyme Disease Foundation recommends for removing ticks. I have had three this summer and will confess I didn't use the tweezers. So far I seem to be clear but I have had it once before. Ticks seems very prevalent this summer. Here us a link to the Lyme Disease Foundation and a short quote from the site. This may clear up a few misconceptions on how to remove them:

http://www.aldf.com/lyme.shtml

To remove a tick, follow these steps:

Using a pair of pointed precision* tweezers, grasp the tick by the head or mouthparts right where they enter the skin. DO NOT grasp the tick by the body.
Without jerking, pull firmly and steadily directly outward. DO NOT twist the tick out or apply petroleum jelly, a hot match, alcohol or any other irritant to the tick in an attempt to get it to back out.
Place the tick in a vial or jar of alcohol to kill it.
Clean the bite wound with disinfectant.

*Keep in mind that certain types of fine-pointed tweezers, especially those that are etched, or rasped, at the tips, may not be effective in removing nymphal deer ticks. Choose unrasped fine-pointed tweezers whose tips align tightly when pressed firmly together.


This message was edited Jun 8, 2013 7:21 PM

Revlon has a great pointed tweezer I have had for years and that is what I use. Great advice. Thanks.

thanks for the discussion. I've taken about ten - 12 various ticks off me this spring so far. Nymphs or deer ticks ( the tiny ones) and lone star- the ones with a white dot? Why do I not spray myself? Despite what I read, I hate chemicals and have never had Lyme so I am going totally irrational in this decision. DEET has been used for many years and in strong concentrations and seems to be safe for people, safer than Lyme disease anyway.

Wash hands after touching tick.

Also I place piece transparent tape over tick and keep on piece of paper with date. Just in case start feeling bad. Docs like date range and also tick is safe and sound and easily located for testing. Not all transmitted Lyme has the bulls eye. If you feel unwell after a tick bite head to the doc anyway - rash or not. Mid Atlantic region is risky for Lyme. Not so much here in SE - but we do have significant issues with Rocky Mt Spotted fever - dog tick host. I guess good thing is that the tick has to be attached for quite a long while to transmit Lyme dz. I think the sticky tape idea is great! I started doing something that works well - I hated the spray ( brrrr cold) and I felt it was over kill with so much spray. So now, I get a paper towel. Run hot water over it and wring out water REAL well. Spray the towel with the tick / mosquito preparation ( Deep Woods OFF and Cutters won some test). and then use the warm sprayed towel to apply. When I am done, I tuck damp towel down my shirt . Be sure to get between toes because even tho you may have socks on..the wee tick can hide out and travel near and far once you are not as well clothed. Happy places : toes, behind knee, crotch, sideburns. I have found ticks attached to my scalp AND this is after hot hot shower, shampoo scrub, AND A RED HOT blow dryer with brush attachment - not just distance blowing. Devils are tough.

I had a tick on me from my friends house good thing it hadn't dug in yet

I had one years ago at the base of my neck that would not come out, the doctor had to surgically remove it and then cauterize it.....gives me the heebie jeebies!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EWWW. Mee too!!!

They are tough buggers!!

I get itchy just reading these stupid posts. I hate those ugly little buggers. JB. Monday I turned my foot on a 2 x 4, misjusdged where I was walking and hit the edge and turned my foot. Messed up my big ligament in my foot. Kept from breaking my ankle by dropping to my knees immediately when I realized what I had done. I was walking with a boot and a bandage until today and I put a shoe on which is much better. I only need a walker when i have no shoes on becasue it is so painful. Like bedtime going to the bathroom. UGH pain and suffering. Anyhow, I am unable to do any of my greenhouse , bird, cats, work outside and I am like a mean old bear. Now I am going to have a glass of wine. I am not on any pain meds so it is o.k. Later gang. Keep on scratchin. JB

dang it, sorry JB!!

I would opt for the pain meds and the booze. Really good and rational excuses are hard to come by. ;0)

Hope you heal quickly. That is a hard spot to work around.

Last year when we went to Central Va, I got bitten in my waist around back oif me where I couldnt reach it by a seed tick which is a baby dog tick. Even my husband or our landlady could not remove it, so she put some neem tree oil on it, a bandaid over it & I had it for a week. I should have gone to a local dr down there. When the tick fell out & we drove home to Pa, I went to my Dr who had me tested for Lyme and Thank Heavens, I was negative for it, That same time, friends of ours who were also camping in Central Va, her husband got bitten by a Lone Star Tick. When they got home, he ate a steak and that beef must have been bitten by a lone star tick cause he started having seizures and ended up in the hospital for a week. After additional seizures, his wife looked into this & took him to an allergy specialist. After being tested, he was diagnosed & now he cannot eat any beef for 3 years until his body forgets about the lone star tick antibodies in his blood. Np seizures, so far so good, My DH Bob & I use Deet 100 on our skin & on our baseball caps we wear. As a matter of fact, I vigorously brush my short hair when I come in from outside to make sure there are no hidden hitchhikers hiding in my hair. Ewwwwww.

Oh my gosh, I never heard of Lone Star Ticks...yikes!!!

Yeah, I haven't either. This thread has been very informative but I might need to eject from it. I'm going to be a hypochondriac.

Now I have to worry about developing a meat allergy. Ugh, that would be miserable. Lol.

I am feeling creepy-crawlies!

How awful for that man! I have never heard of that before. Pretty scary.

I never had, either but she contacted an allergy specialist in desperation and he tested her husband & since he has been off red meat (he can eat chicken, fish & pork), no seizures & he is willing to eliminate beef from his diet for 3 years and be tested. When I googled Lone Star Tick, I found out all the things she told me.

I read about that allergy a few years ago. It was very scary reading. Changes entire lives.

WOW!!

He is living a normal life & is glad to give up beef for 3 years now that the seizures are gone & he feels better.

Wow, what a scary thing.

Today on NPR radio, The Terry Gross show will focus on Lyme disease with an interview with author of
The Lyme Wars a New Yorker article on the latest research on Lyme disease and treatments.

I know I'll be listening!

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/07/01/130701fa_fact_specter

Cool. I can stream it while i make dinner. Then get the NYM article next time i work !

I got the bulls-eye reaction several years back. (Really, more of an expanding spiral effect.) The tick was not tiny and had a red mark on its back. The meds were very, very hard to handle, but worth it. Now, I go with repellents, much as I dislike them, rather than go through all that again

Had a blood test done last week and I had her add Lyme since I had one crawling on me the other night a few weeks ago and I never show signs of bites and they do not always attach themselves, so since I am a Lyme survivor from the 1995s I thought it was a good idea. Friday I will have the results.