I was biten by a deer tick on the ankle about a week ago and noticed the trademark bullseye rash around the bite yesterday. I went to Quad med today to have it looked at and got a doctor who has NEVER delt with lyme disease But "no fear" he studied it on the internet for 5 minutes prior to my appointment. He said, "yea, dat dare looks a bit like da picture on da internet" "But what you doing here if you aint sick yet?" I told him from what I have read, and heard on lymes disease its critical to have early detection for prevention.
His response was, "Ok then, stop by and see me if you get any of the symtoms".
I said, I am already starting to feel some fevor and nausea... He scolded me saying "Lymes disease will make all your joints ache and you will be very sick.. IF THAT HAPPENS COME SEE ME!!!! He then gave me two pills to take that he said might clear the whole thing up... I bet they were placebos
Here is a pic of the bite location.
Here is some info I pulled off the web...
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Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics.
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Sounds to me like the rash, and exposure should of told the doctor to imeadiatly put me on Anti-biotics!!!
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Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded several studies on the treatment of Lyme disease. These studies have shown that most patients can be cured with a few weeks of antibiotics taken by mouth. Antibiotics commonly used for oral treatment include doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime axetil. Patients with certain neurological or cardiac forms of illness may require intravenous treatment with drugs such as ceftriaxone or penicillin.
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Patients treated with antibiotics in the early stages of the infection usually recover rapidly and completely. A few patients, particularly those diagnosed with later stages of disease, may have persistent or recurrent symptoms. These patients may benefit from a second 4-week course of therapy. Longer courses of antibiotic treatment have not been shown to be beneficial and have been linked to serious complications, including death.
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Acording to the medical books I find online, Erythema migrans (the bullseye rash symtom of Lyme) should be sufficiant reason to administer anti-biotics...
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Erythema migrans. Doxycycline (100 mg twice per day), amoxicillin (500 mg 3 times per day), or cefuroxime axetil (500 mg twice per day) for 14 days (range, 10–21 days for doxycycline and 14–21 days for amoxicillin or cefuroxime axetil) is recommended for the treatment of adult patients with early localized or early disseminated Lyme disease associated with erythema migrans, in the absence of specific neurologic manifestations (see Lyme meningitis, below) or advanced atrioventricular heart block (A-I). Each of these antimicrobial agents has been shown to be highly effective for the treatment of erythema migrans and associated symptoms in prospective studies. Doxycycline has the advantage of being effective for treatment of HGA (but not for babesiosis), which may occur simultaneously with early Lyme disease. Doxycycline is relatively contraindicated during pregnancy or lactation and in children <8 years of age. Antibiotics recommended for children are amoxicillin (50 mg/kg per day in 3 divided doses [maximum of 500 mg per dose]), cefuroxime axetil (30 mg/kg per day in 2 divided doses [maximum of 500 mg per dose]), or, if the patient is 8 years of age, doxycycline (4 mg/kg per day in 2 divided doses [maximum of 100 mg per dose]) (A-II).
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