A tick bite kept me out of surgery

[Wyatt Burp]

Last week I found a tick burrowed in my thigh. I cleaned it out then soon after my jaw and neck started hurting to the point it was hard to swallow or open my mouth. I went to urgent care and got meds for the bite and x ray for my jaw. My jaw got so bad I went to Emergency at 3;00AM, incorrectly associating the tick with my jaw. Turns out I had an abscess in my throat and it was the unrelated tick that scared me into the hospital just in time where no surgery, just antibiotics, cured me. Blood tests excellent, unless the tick causes trouble later. Still on meds for both issues.

 

[bamabiker]

I hate ticks!!!
Glad you got one problem taken care of and good luck with the other.

 

[kamloops67]

Glad you avoided the knife
are you getting ticks already ?
I keep expecting to see them up here with the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been getting
Hate those creepy things crawling on me

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Glad you avoided the knife
are you getting ticks already ?
I keep expecting to see them up here with the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been getting
Hate those creepy things crawling on me

I found it in my leg a day after spending two days in the Sierra foothills. I had never dealt with ticks before, but I knew those were little legs sticking out of there. Then the bright red little circle developed around it with slight aching and the area developed a kind of hard lump under it.

 

[Bald1]

Did they give you Doxycycline for tick bite?

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Did they give you Doxycycline for tick bite?

I'm pretty sure that that is what most MDs on the Cape use, and rather frequently. I've had it twice.

 

[woodsltc]

I hate ticks with a burning passion......but, I guess some good can from 'em. Glad to hear that #%$* tick saved you from surgery .

Don

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Be extra careful down South in the muddy stagnant water.
You can wound up with the Tick’s Big Brother - the Leech!

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Did they give you Doxycycline for tick bite?

Yes. I’m taking them now having been prescribed sixty of them. in four weeks when the pills run out I’m to get another blood test. We just switched from Kaiser to Anthem and they have been great.

 

[Bald1]

About 18 months ago I thought I was being a responsible pet owner and got the Lyme vaccine for my dog. A few months later he was sick. Yep , you guessed it. Lyme disease from the vaccine. Now every 6-7 months he does a round of Doxycycline when symptoms start. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

 

[dave1918a2]

Just think, if it had been the right kind of tick You could have ended up a 'Sup****ro'. As luck would have it........ Glad You're all right.

 

[twodog max]

Ticks are nasty little disease ridden pests. In the south they are just another part of outdoors. We deal with them almost year around. I know a woman with alpha gal allergy. That is a truly terrible tick disease not than any are good. Be careful and get permithrin

 

[wood714]

Ticks are nasty little disease ridden pests. In the south they are just another part of outdoors. We deal with them almost year around. I know a woman with alpha gal allergy. That is a truly terrible tick disease not than any are good. Be careful and get permithrin

A good friend of mine got alpha gal from a lone star tic. He was an avid hunter here in Florida. He had a freezer full of deer, and hog meat he harvested.

Most with alpha gal can't eat red meat, but he also has problems with chicken too. If he orders fish in a restaurant that had meat cooked on the cook top he gets sick.


Alpha-gal syndrome: Foods to Avoid - Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH

 

[LVSteve]

Food allergies can lead to a lot of eating in. Friend here has a pretty bad shellfish allergy but can eat regular fish. Trouble is when eating out in a place that also serves shellfish, you cannot be certain that the cooking oil and implements for regular fish are kept separate.

 

[Narragansett]

Last week I found a tick burrowed in my thigh. I cleaned it out then soon after my jaw and neck started hurting to the point it was hard to swallow or open my mouth. I went to urgent care and got meds for the bite and x ray for my jaw. My jaw got so bad I went to Emergency at 3;00AM, incorrectly associating the tick with my jaw. Turns out I had an abscess in my throat and it was the unrelated tick that scared me into the hospital just in time where no surgery, just antibiotics, cured me. Blood tests excellent, unless the tick causes trouble later. Still on meds for both issues.

I remember my father having an issue like that in about 1960. He had one burrow into his side, and got a golf ball size infection. Had to go to the hospital and get drains put in it

 

[CalifEd]

Did they give you Doxycycline for tick bite?

FYI, Doxy and some other types of medicines can cause sensitivity to the sun. My father had what looked like 3rd degree burns on his face and head while taking Tetracycline and working outside without a hat.
Some of these are antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline, trimethoprim)
A caution should be on the bottle but check with the pharmacist to be sure.

 

[NYlakesider]

Last week I found a tick burrowed in my thigh. I cleaned it out then soon after my jaw and neck started hurting to the point it was hard to swallow or open my mouth. I went to urgent care and got meds for the bite and x ray for my jaw. My jaw got so bad I went to Emergency at 3;00AM, incorrectly associating the tick with my jaw. Turns out I had an abscess in my throat and it was the unrelated tick that scared me into the hospital just in time where no surgery, just antibiotics, cured me. Blood tests excellent, unless the tick causes trouble later. Still on meds for both issues.

OP I have heard of people getting ticked off before, but you certainly put a new spin on it!-

 

[S42N8]

A tick referral? Ewww. What’s the copay?

And as the Pilgrim noted, beware the second opinion leech

 

[Greyman50]

We used to wrap tic and flea collars for hounds around out ankles over our socks and some put them around their wrist over cloth gloves. Never got a tic. This was in S.E. Va. near the Great Dismal Swamp.

 

[WR Moore]

I managed to live over 40 years in PA without ever seeing a tick despite reading about them. Then I chased employment south. OMG! I've become a firm believer in Coulston's Duranon to treat the pants. First time I tried it after a bit I looked down and saw a tick climbing up by my front pants pocket and thought the stuff was worthless. Then the tick stopped, shook like a wet dog and dropped off dead. Haven't been without the stuff since.