After hiking the AT I got a Lyme test and was positive. My energy was not good, but not that bad. I’ll be on antibiotic for a few weeks. I met several on the trail with Lyme, who hiked during the treatment. What are other’s experiences with lyme?
graybeard
Seen it in action, neighbor had it, known other hikers with it. It sucks. Rest, do ALL your meds. It’s not a bug to mess with unless you like wheel chairs for sitting in.
As far as avoiding the tick, we washed up every night on trail, did body checks after every grassy trail patch. Oddly enough we were bitten on the arms…each of us three times north of Va. Critters were on the ends of tree leaves at waist height. We felt the bite and saw them soon enough that they didn’t have a chance to feed. Keeping clean is big help. Being all mud and crud covered makes it hard to see them.
Once more, just so everyone knows; Lyme is now country wide, all states. Here in Ohio the CDC said last year it had just a few tens of cases.
BW
I had some serious fatigue issues on my thru-hike this year and was diagnosed with ehrlichiosis in Hanover. It’s transmitted by ticks just as Lyme disease is, but the victim usually doesn’t exhibit the bullseye rash seen with Lyme.
I was prescribed an antibiotic (doxycycline) and a pain reliever (hydrocordone) even before the results came back, since my symptoms were so debilitating. I felt much better after 2-3 days, and was back to normal after a week or so. It was frustrating not to have been at 100% through the Whites, but I’m glad that I sought treatment so that it didn’t completely derail my hike.
I never wore long sleeves or pants in areas where ticks were known to be a problem and only rarely used DEET. I never noticed any ticks when I checked my skin at night, which is why I hesitated to seek treatment at first. I don’t think I’d change my approach, though, despite how sick I got; it’s just a risk I’m willing to take.
Pacer
I have been lucky enough to have lyme disease twice in 13 months. I caught it in Vermont last year and this year on Cumberland Island. I had the bulls eye tick bite ring this year and a tick in my hair last year. I was given antibiotics which really helped in a few days. Lyme disease really takes all the energy out of your body, it seems that every joint and organ in your body hurts. I still have about 7 days of antibiotics to take. My suggestion to anyone that suspects lyme disease get to a doctor and get tested because this disease can cause serious long term damage to your body.
Life is good on the trail… Swamp Dawg
George Lowry
Does anyone know about a vaccine for Lyme Disease?? I had heard of one some time ago, and is it not true, to get lyme disease, a tick has to be embeded in your skin for at least 12 hours???
Patriot
I came down with Lyme this summer and never saw a bullseye. But tests confirmed Lyme. 2-3 days of meds and I began to feel better. By end of 30 days, no symptoms existed and haven"t returned. Get tested early and take all meds. Good Luck
Wrongway Johnnie
Vaccines (for humans) are no longer on the market, due to safety concerns…there is more information here.
According to the CDC, “if a tick is attached for less than 24 hours, your chance of getting Lyme disease is extremely small.”
Pacer
According to this article, “you can apply repellents containing deet to hair and skin, but keep them away from eyes, mouth, and wounds.”
Pacer
My doctor tells me the test for Lyme is not as accurate as one might wish. False negatives for sure, but I don’t know about false positives. The “bullseye” rash is certainly there for some people, but not everyone who winds up with Lyme Disease gets the bullseye. Also that some have it but don’t get the really bad symptoms right away. In other words, Lyme can have a mind of its own sometimes.
Our routine is this: If I don’t exhibit symptoms that really get me down (only have twice–and one of those times tested positive for Lyme), I get a round of doxycyclin every Fall “just in case.” He says as much time as I spend in the woods it would be only a stroke of luck if I did NOT get tick bites every year, and one only has so much luck available to him that some of those bites won’t result in Lyme Disease.
Coincidentally, just started my '05 round of doxy yesterday.
Skyline