<p>I was wondering if anyone has experience with deer tick bites? Despite my Nickname, we have moved to the a wooded New England area for past 5 years. Last winter, a family of deers congregated near our front porch. Now my wife and I get constant bites from ticks even sitting at home. Our feet and hands are full of bite marks. Then I caught one and put in alcohol and examined it, it was tiny as a peck of ground black pepper and was a deer tick. So far except for the rash which came and subsided, and neither of us have develop any flu, fever or paralysis symptoms but it’s only been 2 weeks.</p>
<p>Some obvious questions:</p>
<li><p>Lyme disease, how likely ? High percent gets this disease when biten ?</p></li>
<li><p>Anti-biotics - if one has the disease and takes antibiotic, does one
become immuned to further tick bites since I hear they have a 2 year life
cycle</p></li>
<li><p>How to exterminate them ?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>From what I have read, it is unusual to get tick bites from sitting on a porch. Are there heavy plantings around the porch? Usually people are warned about walking through underbrush, etc. </p>
<p>What is the prevalence of Lyme disease in your area?</p>
<p>That seems unusual to me, too. I live in a wooded area with deer, and though we see ticks sometimes and have to protect our dog, we’re not even close to being “constantly biten.” Ticks, as far as I know, don’t actually bite. They attach themselves and basically live on you. The ticks where I live tend to be a little smaller than a bead, but certainly bigger than a spot of pepper. Are you sure that these are ticks? The mark of deer ticks and lyme disease is a bulls-eye like mark: is that the rash you got? If so, you should see a doctor, I think.</p>
<p>As stated in the other posts, the ticks adhere to your skin and swell up, even the small deer ticks. We have both varieties in our area, and I pull them off our cat frequently, (despite using Frontline, or whatever it is). The deer ticks are so small, that I had to use a loupe once to identify one. What concerns me is your mention of a rash. Indeed Google “Lyme disease” and you should find an image of the classic bulls eye rash that often (but not always) occurs with Lyme. The earlier in the disease that you are treated with antibiotics, the better your outcome. It can be a debilitating disease- so if in doubt- get tested right away. Good luck!</p>
<p>wow, calif dad, your porch is either sitting in “tick central” or you are being bitten by something else.</p>
<p>Ticks will be found along a woodline or in heavy grass near a woodline and wait for you to wander by before they jump on you and start snackin. They usually latch on for several hours and if they were on your legs you would usually see them. I don’t think you can get lymes unless they have been latched on for about a day.</p>
<p>However if you have gotten a rash, any rash, but especially a bulls eye then get to the Dr. for a blood test. Sometimes it takes a few blood tests before it comes up positive (many false readings).</p>
<p>Anyway as stated above Lyme can be devastating if not caught and treated early. Learn all you can and take all the precautions when spending any time in/near the woods.</p>
<p>Getting a doctor to give a diagnosis of Lyme disease without the bull’s eye rash (or the tick in hand) is very difficult. You can have symptoms galore and still get consistant false negatives from the standard blood test. We had a good friend with varying symptoms for years and the doctors dismissed the possibility of his having Lyme disease until he collapsed. Fortunately, after multiple heart procedures he seems to FINALLY be better. </p>
<p>Even in an area where Lyme has been documented, doctors hesitate to make a Lyme diagnosis and the tests are not definitive. I am not totally blaming the docs - long, term antibiotic intervention has it’s issues and this is a condition that is difficult to diagnose. The problem is that the signature rash often does not develop. </p>
<p>Haven’t read all the replies and do not know the current status on Lymes Disease. But if things are as they were a few years back, SEE A DOCTOR ASAP!!!</p>
<p>There are a high amount of Lyme Disease cases in New England, I live there and have gotten Lyme disease before. If you have the bulls-eye around the tick bite, you should probably go to the doctor. Even if you don’t have it, you might want to go anyways, or just wait and ask at your next checkup.</p>
<p>I had lyme disease when I was in elementry school. I came home from my uncle’s lakehouse with a tick, and my parents had to burn the stupid thing off my upper back (yup, it parked itself right above my shoulder blade). It took about a day for the rash to develop, but I never felt immediately “sick”. My parent’s took me, and what was left of my little friend (he was now an alocholic tick with a very bad sunburn, and in about 3 pieces), to the doc at the end of the week and he sent me to another doc for testing. A week later after I got home from the lake, I found out I had Lyme disease. It was around then that I really started feeling “sick”, but my symptoms were limited to nausea and tiredness and overall discomfort. </p>
<p>So, here’s some advice:
go to your doctor. There’s two tests for Lyme disease that between the two, they can rule it in or out. One test is designed to see the antibodies (for which someone like me will always test positive) but the other looks for the actual bacteria. Both have false reports sometimes, but that’s true of all tests.
don’t wait. Yes, it’s a trip to the doctors that may be totally pointless. But its better to go now rather than later when it’s too late.
don’t worry about the tick that bit you. The doctor’s throw them away 90% of the time after they look at what’s left. They’re human docs, not bug docs.
since you seem to have a lot around, try catching a few if you can. And if Rocket Mnt Spotted Fever exists where you are (my guess is it is if you’re in NE) try not to touch them with your bare hands, as it can be transmitted that way.</p>
<p>Also, I agree with other posters. This doesn’t sound like ticks if you’re constantly being bitten. Instead, it sounds like fleas, which I know is gross, but I live near woods/deer and I know plenty of people who have flea problems with their dogs/themselves. Your best bet is to call an exterminator while you’re at it, and see if he can help solve the issue. If it is ticks, you should find a way to get rid of them (extermination, setting up a fence around your house so no deer get near, get rid of hanging plants and hanging branches near your house, ect). If it’s fleas, again, get rid of them. But I would see your doc right away to solve your rash issue, and then get on getting rid of the bugs. Good luck!</p>
<p>My family lives just a half hour from Lyme Connecticut and has lots of first hand experience with the disease – more than a dozen confirmed cases and perhaps a dozen more “Well it may be something else but given where you live …” I concur with above posters that the bites you are getting on your porch are unlikely to be tick bites. BUT, Lyme is not a disease to mess with so you should see a doctor ASAP. Lyme disease is so prevalent here that doctors typically treat first and wait to see if the problem disappears. Testing is much more expensive than treatment, and it may require several tests before you get a positive. PLEASE DON’T DELAY. With the rash gone it will undoubtedly be more difficult to convince your doctor. Definitely tell him about the deer nesting in your yard, the pepper-sized “thing” you removed, and the rash that came and went. Good luck.</p>
<p>PS, In our family’s experience the rash shows up a week to ten days after infection and it stays another week to ten days before gradually disappearing. Your results may vary.</p>
<p>I am in the northeast also. 5 years ago I had a deer tick removed from my abdomen, there was a small rash and the doctor insisted I take antibiotics, which I did. And I got tested 4 weeks later and it was negative.</p>
<p>I got a deer tick again last year, I had the doctor remove it as I was concerned about ‘breaking’ it. He gave me a 2-dose of antibiotic. No rash this time.</p>
<p>Deer tick tend to travel a bit before taking the plunge, so to speak. So they are most likely to crawl up your leg, and embed in the upper thigh, abdomen, etc.</p>
<p>I know several people who have had Lyme Disease – and you don’t want to wait until you get to the serious, I-feel-sick stage because the disease can then stay with you for life. </p>
<p>To echo everyone else: ticks bites don’t look like flea bites or no-see-ums bites. You would get a bulls-eye rash and not a series of nips. That said, I know of at least six people who have tested positive for Lyme and only ONE of them had the recognizable rash. They like to hide in arm pits, at hairlines, back, behind your knees, and other, um, unmentionable places where you’re less likely to see them, let alone see a light rash.</p>
<p>If you have found a deer tick anywhere on your body, attached or not, you could have been bitten, perhaps not by the one you found but by another. Some doctors are proactive (if you found a deer tick - not a wood tick - on your, it’s major antibiotics for you) and others are more conservative (“Unless you have the rash . . . .”)</p>
<p>Deer ticks tend to hide in high grass and brush, although you’re more likely to see them minutes, hours, or even days after you pick them up. I suggest you use a reliable tick repellant whenever you go outside if you live in an area where you’re likely to walk through its habitat.</p>
<p>I got bit by a dear tick in Maine. I got it off within a few hours. I got a blood test 3 month later, and I was negative for Lyme. I don’t know the stats on it though.</p>
^^</p>