talk me down mmkay

[stringy]

Ok so I got bit by a tick the other day - I think I wrote that somewhere.  My doctors office (a nurse) says they don't treat Lyme preventatively unless it was attached for 36 hours + - which I'm pretty positive it wasn't. (though the interwebs say that may not be the most accurate case anyway)

Right before I got off the phone with her I was like oh - BTW I'm breastfeeding - does that change anything (why don't I think to ask this sooner). She stammered and wondered and said, you might want to ask your OB. And that was that.

Well I don't have an OB cuz I hated the office that delivered P. So dr. google gives me mixed answers. Shocking. Kellymom says its fine. Infant risk says its not. I'm guessing that even if I called the OBs office they wouldn't know cuz they never know anything about bf.

I'm overly anxious about this. Our old neighbor had chronic lyme and so did one of her kids and they were just always having trouble.  Also since P is sick right now she pretty much wants to nurse constantly.

Talk me down. I'm over anxious and over thinking this. I hate this so much.

[rugger]

i'm no help, but does your company or local hospital have a lactation consultant you can call? Are you sick or does the tick bite look bad?

[stringy]

no i have no symptoms but they can occur a week to a month later. or years, in rare cases.

maybe i'll take solace on the fact that P is on antibiotics now anyway.

[mathrun]

Try calling P's pediatrician. Otherwise I like the idea of calling a LC at a local hospital.

[milano]

I thought that chronic Lyme was a myth?

I personally wouldn't be concerned unless you have symptoms, or even just one symptom.

[brandiewine11]

OK, a few things:

1. A tick must be attached for 36-48 hours to transmit lyme.
2. The big ticks that you generally see do not transmit lyme. It's the tiny ones you don't see. So If the tick you saw was bigger than say, a pin head, it's probably not a lyme tick or you removed it fast enough to not have much concern.
3. The CDC says there are no reports of lyme transferring through breast milk.

www.cdc.gov/lyme/transmission/

[stringy]

Jun 1, 2017 15:08:35 GMT -6 brandiewine11 said:

OK, a few things:

1. A tick must be attached for 36-48 hours to transmit lyme.
2. The big ticks that you generally see do not transmit lyme. It's the tiny ones you don't see. So If the tick you saw was bigger than say, a pin head, it's probably not a lyme tick or you removed it fast enough to not have much concern.
3. The CDC says there are no reports of lyme transferring through breast milk.

www.cdc.gov/lyme/transmission/

They said the 36 hour thing too but I'd just read somewhere that was proving to be false. It was big enough to see but I know it was a deer tick.

[grumpycakes]

I wouldn't personally be concerned. Chronic Lyme isn't even something to worry about in your case because Lyme is super treatable when caught early. If the tick was flat and in a place on your body that you can see fairly easily, then it's most likely you got it off before Lyme could be transmitted (if the tick that bit you even had Lyme disease). If you do get the rash or other symptoms then you can address it with your doctor immediately and inquire whether P needs any kind of preventative treatment because of BFing. That would be my course of action, anyway.

[acadia]

They don't need to be attached for 36 hours. Both my parents have had Lyme in the past couple years and neither knew they had been bitten and never saw ticks on them (even though they do tick checks after their outdoor chores and hiking), but both got the bullseye rash, fever, tested positive, etc. So the 36 hour thing is baloney.

It is nymphs that usually transmit Lyme, so the tiny little buggers, and they do it in the spring and summer. Is that what you had?

Based on my parents' experiences, the preventative for Lyme is a mega-dose of doxycycline (mom got bit again last week so she got this). Treatment for active Lyme is typically doxycycline 2-3 times a day for 3 weeks. If you've never taken doxy, it's freaking terrible. I took it for 3 days before my HSG and thought I was going to puke every time I took a dose because you have to take it on an empty stomach.

So, yeah, I'm not going to talk you down. I'm going to tell you to find someone to treat you prophylactically. Especially since I think you said you live somewhere that Lyme is endemic.

P will be fine, though I think 3 weeks of doxy might be tough on her (another reason for prophylactic treatment).

[acadia]

Jun 1, 2017 16:50:45 GMT -6 stringy said:

Jun 1, 2017 15:08:35 GMT -6 brandiewine11 said:

OK, a few things:

1. A tick must be attached for 36-48 hours to transmit lyme.
2. The big ticks that you generally see do not transmit lyme. It's the tiny ones you don't see. So If the tick you saw was bigger than say, a pin head, it's probably not a lyme tick or you removed it fast enough to not have much concern.
3. The CDC says there are no reports of lyme transferring through breast milk.

www.cdc.gov/lyme/transmission/

They said the 36 hour thing too but I'd just read somewhere that was proving to be false. It was big enough to see but I know it was a deer tick.

Nymphs are about 2mm, so visible.

[grumpycakes]

Jun 1, 2017 17:46:51 GMT -6 acadia said:

They don't need to be attached for 36 hours. Both my parents have had Lyme in the past couple years and neither knew they had been bitten and never saw ticks on them (even though they do tick checks after their outdoor chores and hiking), but both got the bullseye rash, fever, tested positive, etc. So the 36 hour thing is baloney.

It is nymphs that usually transmit Lyme, so the tiny little buggers, and they do it in the spring and summer. Is that what you had?

Based on my parents' experiences, the preventative for Lyme is a mega-dose of doxycycline (mom got bit again last week so she got this). Treatment for active Lyme is typically doxycycline 2-3 times a day for 3 weeks. If you've never taken doxy, it's freaking terrible. I took it for 3 days before my HSG and thought I was going to puke every time I took a dose because you have to take it on an empty stomach.

So, yeah, I'm not going to talk you down. I'm going to tell you to find someone to treat you prophylactically. Especially since I think you said you live somewhere that Lyme is endemic.

P will be fine, though I think 3 weeks of doxy might be tough on her (another reason for prophylactic treatment).

But why is the 36 hour thing baloney if they didn't know they had been bitten? It would be very easy for a tick to go unnoticed for days, depending on where they are on your body.

[briarrose]

Jun 1, 2017 17:46:51 GMT -6 acadia said:

They don't need to be attached for 36 hours. Both my parents have had Lyme in the past couple years and neither knew they had been bitten and never saw ticks on them (even though they do tick checks after their outdoor chores and hiking), but both got the bullseye rash, fever, tested positive, etc. So the 36 hour thing is baloney.

It is nymphs that usually transmit Lyme, so the tiny little buggers, and they do it in the spring and summer. Is that what you had?

Based on my parents' experiences, the preventative for Lyme is a mega-dose of doxycycline (mom got bit again last week so she got this). Treatment for active Lyme is typically doxycycline 2-3 times a day for 3 weeks. If you've never taken doxy, it's freaking terrible. I took it for 3 days before my HSG and thought I was going to puke every time I took a dose because you have to take it on an empty stomach.

So, yeah, I'm not going to talk you down. I'm going to tell you to find someone to treat you prophylactically. Especially since I think you said you live somewhere that Lyme is endemic.

P will be fine, though I think 3 weeks of doxy might be tough on her (another reason for prophylactic treatment).

All of this. I am touchy about Lyme. We are not sure if my moms ALS was brought on by her Lyme disease or not, and we will never know, but I personally do not mess around with Lyme, and at the risk of sounding like a nutcase, I don't follow the CDC's stance because it is too conservative. Chronic Lyme is very real. 

Did you keep the tick? You can send it to have it tested. DS got bit when he was a baby and I sent the tick in. I was devastated he was bit at such a young age.

[tj]

I'm on team grumpy. If you start to develop symptoms, then you can FTFO, get yourself treated, and call every pediatrician in the surrounding 13 states to find out a consensus on recommendations regarding P. But until then, take a deep breath, and take care of yourself.

[stringy]

Thanks guys. I'm trying to let it go but I clearly lean more towards briarrose and acacias POVs regarding this. I did keep it. The place I saw said it's 50 bucks to send it in and have it tested. Which isn't that bad I just expected it to be free for some reason.

And like with P. Well I'm already feeding her so if I get symptoms in a month it could be too late. Maybe. No one knows.

I also booked a place to come spray our yard with what I'm sure are toxic chemicals next week. Outside is my happy place and even thinking of my day home with the kids tomorrow and not being outside makes me depressed.

[briarrose]

Jun 1, 2017 19:45:27 GMT -6 stringy said:

Thanks guys. I'm trying to let it go but I clearly lean more towards briarrose and acacias POVs regarding this. I did keep it. The place I saw said it's 50 bucks to send it in and have it tested. Which isn't that bad I just expected it to be free for some reason.

And like with P. Well I'm already feeding her so if I get symptoms in a month it could be too late. Maybe. No one knows.

I also booked a place to come spray our yard with what I'm sure are toxic chemicals next week. Outside is my happy place and even thinking of my day home with the kids tomorrow and not being outside makes me depressed.

I really am sorry you are going thru this and sorry I take a tough stance on it. I did the $50 place and I am hoping if I have to do it again I can find some place to do it for free. I live in a tick ridden area, and preventing bites for the rest of our lives is probably not going to happen. I am serious about bug spray this summer and probably will be crazy about it for the rest of my life.

I hate to say it and I hate dealing with it myself, but we do not know the true cause of my mother's passing, and will forever wonder whether it was linked to her Lyme's or not. Until you deal with a serious case of Lyme in your family, it is easy to brush it off as NBD, but for some people it is far from that.

Again, sorry to be alarmist!

[briarrose]

By the way, sending it in did give me some peace of mind, with the caveat that waiting for the results still did suck. But I felt I was doing what I could. I was so, so relieved when it came back negative.
and if I was you, as far as P is concerned, I think her being on antibiotics right now is a blessing in disguise for you, and that would give me peace of mind for her.

[linewifekat]

stringy does your state have a county extension agency or agriculture department? In Texas they test it for free.

[CurlieWhirlie]

Jun 1, 2017 19:45:27 GMT -6 stringy said:

Thanks guys. I'm trying to let it go but I clearly lean more towards briarrose and acacias POVs regarding this. I did keep it. The place I saw said it's 50 bucks to send it in and have it tested. Which isn't that bad I just expected it to be free for some reason.

And like with P. Well I'm already feeding her so if I get symptoms in a month it could be too late. Maybe. No one knows.

I also booked a place to come spray our yard with what I'm sure are toxic chemicals next week. Outside is my happy place and even thinking of my day home with the kids tomorrow and not being outside makes me depressed.

Was it engorged? Or did you catch it right when it bit you? The reason the 36-48 hour benchmark means anything is because Lyme (and other diseases that ticks carry) do not transfer until the tick is fully engorged, and it takes typically that length of time for it to become fully engorged. So that does matter. We had an explosion of ticks in our area a few summers ago so I did allll the research. 

Not discounting those who have had experience with Lyme, it is truly awful. I worked with a woman who had chronic Lyme and it really sucked. I think the term "chronic Lyme" is a misnomer, it's more that if you have Lyme long enough it can damage your body and you can suffer chronic pain afterwards, even once the Lyme has been cured. 

[baymare]

There are a lot of ticks in my area, and I have known several people who have been severely affected by Lyme. What I am finding scary this year, though, is Powassan. It can be transmitted in about an hour, and being a virus, antibiotics do not work. Two people in my state have tested positive this year.

[sak]

The 4 year old has lymes.

[mapleme]

Jun 16, 2017 9:53:48 GMT -6 sak said:

The 4 year old has lymes.

Oh crap. Caught early I hope?

[sak]

Hopefully. We pull ticks off of them all. the. time. but never found a bite on H so we aren't exactly sure when it happened. He's been funky for around 2 weeks.

[milano]

Ahh no sak! That's a bummer. What kind of symptoms did he have?

[sak]

Jun 16, 2017 10:35:59 GMT -6 milano said:

Ahh no sak! That's a bummer. What kind of symptoms did he have?

It started with a fever, but since someone in my house has a fever every other day I didn't think much of it. It wasn't going away though and then his mood started to get weird--super fussy for him, very very lethargic, always hungry but never eating. Then I found a rash on half of his trunk. It was weird and nothing I've seen with lymes before.

[milano]

Jun 16, 2017 10:40:11 GMT -6 sak said:

Jun 16, 2017 10:35:59 GMT -6 milano said:

Ahh no sak! That's a bummer. What kind of symptoms did he have?

It started with a fever, but since someone in my house has a fever every other day I didn't think much of it. It wasn't going away though and then his mood started to get weird--super fussy for him, very very lethargic, always hungry but never eating. Then I found a rash on half of his trunk. It was weird and nothing I've seen with lymes before.

Poor kid!

[snowmoon]

Oh no! sak


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[CurlieWhirlie]

OMG sak, poor kid! I hope the treatment works quickly and he's back to himself soon. I'll be thinking of you guys.

[mathrun]

Oh, I'm sorry sak . Hoping for a speedy recovery for him.

[charlotte]

sak oh no!

[Dramaphile]

Poor little guy! Hope he feels better soon, sak