I’m done with the woods. Time to move to the desert (shhhh, don’t tell me about scorpions please).
https://www.wired.com/story/lone-star-tick-that-gives-people-meat-allergies-may-be-spreading/
One of our friends became a vegan in New Mexico because meat makes her physically ill. 
Fortunately, she studied nutrition and dietetics in college for her masters so can stay healthy and balance her amino acids.
That would definitely be a lifestyle change for us omnivores and carnivores!
A cousin in Virginia got this. Lives on seafood now.
About the only thing worse for me would be getting a tick-borne allergy to Coca-Cola. If I got both … well, there’s pretty much no point left to living (I’m only half-joking!).
Anyway, my BIL in VA caught Lyme disease from a tick bite.
My kids have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It MAY have been caused by a tick bite or something else the enterovirus or chronic mono or who knows? It has been an over-a-decade-long struggle and counting.
DH had this 30 plus years ago before they knew it existed. 4 hours after eating red meats his throat would swell, he’d get hives, have difficulty breathing etc. The doctors said, “It’s not an allergy - if it was an allergy you would react right away.” He carried an epi-pen and we thought he had beef food sensitivities. It was validating to finally read that they now recognized this as a real phenomenon! DH is Texan and had received many tick bites growing up. The GOOD NEWS is that, after 20 yeras of not eating meat, gradually that allergy faded, and we realized he could eat pepperoni, then small bits of meat, and finally brisket and all the good stuff without any reaction.
My daughter asked me tonight what the purpose was for ticks. Well, maybe they have been tasked with culling the herd. Nasty little buggers…
@anxiousmom, it nice to know that a mere 20 years of not eating meat cases the allergy to fade. Wow!
@anxiousmom I’m allergic to coconut milk/coconut butter and there is about a 4 hour delay for my reactions. I haven’t had a reaction in years, but I’ve been careful. (And I don’t miss it, so haven’t tried.) Seems like if it causes hives and an Epi-pen works, then it’s probably an allergy.
(I don’t think it was tick related, though I was in Texas when I first had reactions.)
Technically, infectious disease (ID) docs have definitions if allergies that might be different from what most of us consider allergic reactions. One if the factors they do consider is how immediate and severe the reaction is.
For S, eating one green bean immediately causes him to start wheezing. With SisIL, eating one artificially flavored mint candy for 3 seconds causes her to start wheezing. Those are CLEAR classic allergic reactions.
When there is a time delay, the ID docs say if us NOT a classic allergic reaction and perhaps n adverse reaction to x, y, or z instead of a TRUE allergy.
It can be scary and painful but probably wouldn’t instantly kill you, which a true allergy could. You have at least time to get treatment.
At least the above is what I’ve gleaned from consulting with 3 IDs and 3 allergists and 6 lung docs about delayed adverse reactions I’ve had to medications that we were trying to decide whether or not they were allergies.
Let’s all buy guinea hens.
“My daughter asked me tonight what the purpose was for ticks. Well, maybe they have been tasked with culling the herd”
My first thought was, Mother Nature is trying to protect herself. I’ll admit I’m a carnivore but cutting down on meat consumption, especially beef, in this country would be a good thing for the environment.
The purpose for mammals is to provide life support systems for ticks.
Has forced abstinence from red meat led to different health outcomes (in terms of heart disease, cancer, etc.) for those who got bitten?
I wouldn’t trust a comparison involving people who had a tick bite. Who knows what else it did to them?
My daughter and her meat loving bf had just gone hiking a day or two before and had found 3 or 4 of the lone star ticks on their dog. They are not happy!
Oh man, that would be torture to live in TX and not be able to eat bbq! A Texas-size torture, in fact!
As long as it doesn’t cause an allergy to pork… 
ETA: Oh no! Pork too!!!
BTW, free range chickens eat ticks also. And you get eggs! I’m down to six hens at the moment, but I got 15 fertilized hatching eggs, purebred Silver Ameracauna, for my broody Buff Orpington to sit on. Hatch day is on or about July 6th. Keeping my fingers crossed that the chicks will be mostly girls!
Now the dog is demanding quinoa and tofu?
Here is info on making a “tick kit” - just so you can get to everything quickly and get rid of whatever it is.
http://www.scarymommy.com/create-tick-kit-prevent-lyme-disease/?utm_source=FB