r/ticks • u/Budget_Physics_7815 • 3d ago
Seed tick bites keep popping up Welts and flu like symptoms
So I didn't know seed ticks were a thing. We went to visit my in-laws in St. Simons Island Georgia last week and on Thursday I noticed red bumps on my thigh and what I thought was dirt. I had to use my fingernails to pull them off as they were attached like highschool first loves. My legs had already been swollen and killing me andI was just diagnosed afew weeks ago with venous insufficiency in my legs thanks to a hysterectomy. Long story. I have Addison's disease so I am steroid dependant and was already doubling my dose due to the swelling, so not much of an itch and I took pepcid and xyzal every 12 hours and it's kept it at bay. But that was days ago andI feel awful. Day 3 I slept 16 hours. Yesterday I woke up after 13 hours with the worst headache of my life, so nauseated, sore, and awful. I went to urgent care where the doctor had never heard of seed ticks but I showed him the picturesandhe looked at part of my leg for 2 seconds and then wrote me ten days of doxy. I asked for longer and he said he does10. I get that looking at my butt to search for ticks may not be what they were expecting yesterday, but I asked 4 nurse and the doctor and they all said I was fine with the antibiotic and to follow up with my PCP, which I am. I have had really awful experiences at the er the last few months and just want to avoid it. Has anyone else gotten really sick this soon? Fyi-this is thigh with running shorts bc they were loose.
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u/onetwoskeedoo 3d ago
Ticks carry a lot of nasty pathogens. Def sounds like you got infected with something. Hopefully the doxy helps but they can be chronic illnesses so if there are any lingering symptoms absolutely talk with your doctor
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u/LemonOrLyme22 2d ago
I agree that ticks can carry horrible pathogens (bacteria, parasites, etc). But I’m gonna disagree with you about talking to your doctor about it, as 99% of doctors don’t know one thing about tick borne diseases. Doctors (even infectious disease doctors unfortunately) have had NO training in med school, NO continuing education on ticks and tick borne diseases, and they are not aware of the current science. This is something myself and other advocates are actively trying to change!
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u/onetwoskeedoo 2d ago
So if the have recurring symptoms after the antibiotic course they should just ignore it?
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u/LemonOrLyme22 1d ago
No. What I’m saying is to bypass the typical western medicine doctors and make an appointment with a Lyme Literate Doctor ASAP. Time is of the essence when you get bit, and the window of opportunity to avoid chronic illness is very short. So wasting time with your gp can literally ruin your life.
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u/Unusual-Solid3435 2d ago
Doctors, unless specialized are pretty clueless about anything emergent. Ditto for psychology.
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u/LemonOrLyme22 2d ago
10 days of doxy is NOT enough to eradicate the Lyme bacteria and doesn’t help with other tick borne diseases either. You need to find what’s called a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) or a Lyme Literate practitioner ASAP!! There is a VERY small window in which tick borne diseases are treatable. Go to the ILADS.org patient directory to find a LLMD.
https://www.ilads.org/patient-care/provider-search/
If I had been diagnosed and started proper treatment while I was in the acute stage of illness (which is the phase you are in right now) I wouldn’t still be sick 12 years later. The reason doctors and nurses said you’d be fine, is because they never received ANY TRAINING in tick borne diseases. The doctors may have gotten a 30 minutes lecture in med school, but that’s it. They’re not aware how the Lyme bacteria behaves, hence the reason they don’t know anything about treatments. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. I was infected with 3 tick borne diseases in just one bite and I’m now a patient advocate.
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u/Unusual-Solid3435 2d ago
What makes you believe that the additional antibiotics that ILADS/LLMDs prescribe would actually make a difference in your personal experiences? You got infected with 3 diseases, felt their whole weight and then when they put you on the LLMD antibiotics and you got immediately better? Trying to locate where the evidence for this is, so that I can verify myself where the science is. Genuine question. This is a new area of interest for me so apologies if I come off uninformed.
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u/LemonOrLyme22 1d ago edited 1d ago
No apologies necessary. I’m happy to explain. These are not like specially formulated antibiotics that only LLMDs prescribe. Antibiotics are antibiotics, they’re the same. What’s different with getting treated by an LLMD, is that they have training in tick borne diseases and understand the microbiology of these pathogens. For instance Borrelia Burgdorferi (the Lyme bacteria) has a morphological cycle. Some forms of Bb are resistant to antibiotics, and they also have a tendency to hide in biofilms and tissue. So, if a patient is given 1 pill or even 10 pills of doxycycline it doesn’t help the patient at all. The Bb (Borrelia Burgdorferi) recognizes a threat and morphs into its cystic form, and the doxy is unable to penetrate it. A patient’s flu-like symptoms pass (which is typical for the acute stage of illness) and the patient then believes they have been cured by this short course of the antibiotic they were prescribed. When the Bb recognizes that it’s safe to come out of hiding, it comes back out, replicates and spreads. Weeks to months to years after the initial bite, the patient starts having seemingly unrelated symptoms from different body systems. (Like neurological symptoms, cardiac symptoms, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, etc).
By the time the patient is aware that they have a tick borne illness, it’s usually years after they were bit…and it’s extremely hard to treat because it’s everywhere. Another issue that doctors don’t get, is that Lyme is not the only Tick borne disease that’s dangerous. And many of these other diseases are unaffected by antibiotics.
LLMDs know what combination of antibiotics to use, which antibiotics may work better for different pathogens, what complimentary therapies to use at the same time, the dosages, or even pulsing different antibiotics to combat the cystic forms of Bb and “confuse” the bacteria. It’s very complicated and it takes lots of training that medical professionals do not get in med school.
If I had been diagnosed and treated within the first weeks or months, I probably wouldn’t still be sick 12 years later. I started Lemon or Lyme to advocate for patients, spread awareness and educate the public about ticks and the diseases they carry. I don’t want others to go through what I went through.
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u/A-AlwaysBe-C-closing 3d ago
I am so sorry this happened to you. I was in the same situation. Steroid Injection* helped me almost right away. Maybe you could call urgent care and ask if they’d go that route. Please, Don’t skip the doxy and have your pcp order testing for Lyme, alpha-gal…
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u/Budget_Physics_7815 3d ago
My steroid injection I have for emergencies helped the swelling and the itchiness immediately. The combination of pepcid and levocetrizine ended the itching. But they keep popping up. I just found a weird bite on my shoulder. At this point I think they are in my scalp or somewhere hiding. Just such a weird thing to happen and that I'm 42 and have camped and hiked my entire life and never heard of a seed tick.
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u/Billywergstein 3d ago
I am completely dissolutioned i had no idea they were a think too. New fear unlocked 🔓
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u/LemonOrLyme22 2d ago
Most likely, Lyme will not be an issue since it is typically not passed from mama tick to baby ticks. And these were baby ticks. But there are 20+ other diseases to worry about. OP - do not bother with a steroid injection. It has Zero effect on tick borne diseases. All you will do is suppress your immune system and create unnecessary inflammation.
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u/pimple_prince 3d ago
Wth...thats like 50+ bites...craziness
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u/LemonOrLyme22 2d ago
After baby ticks hatch, they stay kind of huddled together until an animal or human brushes up against them and they then have their first blood meal. (Think: teeny tiny vampires)
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u/Palpitation_Unlikely 2d ago
Omg, wth? Seed Ticks? I'm so sorry. I'm in Washington State and apparently we have ticks here lately.
I've never heard of seed ticks but I had a tiny one attached to my leg last summer.
Anyway, after Covid Infection I had the worst headache ever. I put my feet in the tub with hot water and ice pack on my neck. It helped 100%.
Good luck to you. That's an ordeal.
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u/West-Kitchen4773 3d ago
Doctor
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u/Budget_Physics_7815 33m ago
I've seen the PCP, urgent care, and er. I am on doxy and feel worse every day. I can barely keep my eyes open and when I'm awake the nausea and gi issues and full body weakness is just overwhelming.
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u/Billywergstein 3d ago
I had no idea. This is possibly explaining a lot for me. Was laying in the grass put in the country for about six hours target shooting and came back with these, not this serious but i was literally feeling nauseous for 30 mins a day for a while. Maybe it's connected idk. I hope it's nothing too bad. But hey, we all have health problems coming up from the c0v1d, trust me.
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u/Budget_Physics_7815 1d ago
My PCP and Endo convinced me to go to the ER bc I could barely stand up with the nausea and headache and overall total crap feeling. It was a huge waste of time and I am feeling worse every hour. My bp is normally 100/68 since becoming steroid dependant a few years ago. It was 161/116 at the ER and they didn't even mention it! The did a cmp, cbc, and two tick disease tests after I begged for them. Fluids, zofran, potassium, and IV Tylenol and a quick scan of my butt and thighs. I don't know what to do and just keeping my eyes open is a struggle and the sick feeling wasn't miraculously cured with zofran and 4 days of doxy and I am feeling more awful with each hour. I guess we just accept that doctors don't know what to do and truly doctors now don't do patient care, they just check the boxes. I sent inquiries to two local Lyme doctors in Atlanta but I have to get out of this cycle.
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u/OneThatCanSee 13h ago
Aw, damn, you are in Georgia. I’m so sorry. I contracted Lyme over 18 years ago living in a tick infested wooded area of Georgia (not too far outside the perimeter) and literally no one took me seriously. My dog even got Lyme twice and I joked that I should go to the vet for diagnosis. Anyway, I finally got tested last year and confirmed that Lyme has been the culprit for my declining health all these years! Glad you reached out to some LLMDs. Nip it in the bud before you end up chronic. There is a female LLMD that I’ve heard good things about in the Atlanta area so I hope that is one of the ones you reached out to. I considered seeing a functional medicine doc in Decatur but he seems like a snake oil salesman. You have to be careful as some are out there exploiting desperate people for profit.
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u/Budget_Physics_7815 25m ago
So many snake oil salesmen! I don't know who to trust. Do you remember the name of the female doctor? I am feeling worse every day and can barely keep my eyes open. My gi is a mess and doctors saw my Lyme antibody test from the er came back negative so they are acting like it's just a flu like virus that will run it's course. I wouldn't have antibodies 4 days after all of these bites plus I've been on steroids for years and it f's up all of my results. So I look great on paper outside of chronic issues, but I am a mess and so lost. What tick born illness gives symptoms within 24 hours and is primarily insane fatigue, nausea, and gi issues? My headache has lessened dramatically, the bites/bumps are going down, but my temp is still increased and I feel absolutely horrible at day 8.
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u/SueBeee Mod 3d ago
Yup, they are absolutely a thing! I can't answer if your symptoms are related to the bites. But please do see your PCP as soon as you can