A No Bull(‘s Eye) Answer

Do I really have to wear this? Well, you wouln't eat the peanut butter.

*

After two long and painful months, I might finally have an answer to what happened to me. Northerners will be nodding their heads in “Wasn’t it so obvious?” gestures while southerners will shrug their shoulders at what we’re talking about. Evidently I am a textbook case of Lyme’s disease.

Lyme’s disease is a stupid disease carried by stupid ticks that travel on stupid deer that for some reason we are not allowed to slaughter when they come waltzing into our yards. I haven’t been to any exotic locations or hiked in the deep woods. I am mainly in the yard and walking along the road in this neighborhood. Somehow while pulling weeds or playing ball with my puppy, a stupid tick bit me and gave me this stinking disease.

These blasted things can be pretty small when they climb up on you.

I was completely unaware of the bite, and I never had the tell-tale bull’s eye rash we are warned about. It turns out that the Luchadora red rash with purple splotches I had is actually more typical of the disease than the bull’s eye.

I wasn’t the only one to get a tick borne disease in the yard. When Toby had his physical in April, we found out he has anaplasmosis. Toby got lucky. Although he has antibodies, he didn’t show symptoms. Mommy on the other paw…all the symptoms.

I told you I was special.

*

While northern dogs are now routinely vaccinated for Lyme’s disease, there is no vaccine for humans. When I asked the vet about this several years ago, she said that so far human vaccines just aren’t very effective. Treatment for Lyme’s is a course of antibiotics. I guess it is just easier to treat humans than to try to prevent them from getting sick in the first place.

Part of me is pissed at the way things went. If I had been able to see a doctor right away, I wouldn’t have had to go through months of misery (and exorbitant medical bills). I had a friend say something encouraging, though. She pointed out how much I learned from this experience that I wouldn’t otherwise know. That is true. I learned a lot of medical things, and I learned how to be annoying enough that people pay attention to you.

Nyah! Nyah! You can’t touch us!

******************

If you would like to help finance Toby’s and my campaign to rid our neighborhoods of Venison-on-the-Hoof, then pick up a copy of Dream Our World! At least part of the proceeds will go toward pressuring lawmakers into letting us sending these game vermin to deer-y Valhalla.

Dream Our World

Come with Bitey and Toby to the Museum of the Imagination in Dream Our World where they view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun! Dream Our World (and other fine gifts) are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

25 Comments

  1. ssnowdrops's avatar

    HUGSSSSSSSS
    AN ANSWER AT LAST AT LEAST !!

    OH YES TICKS. WE ARE OVER RUN WITH THEM HERE LOTS OF WOODLAND… PLENTY OF TH DEAD WOOD THEY LOVE.. AND THEY ALSO PARA-SAIL !!! . HEY GO FROM THE TINY PINHEAD SIZE UP THROUGH ALL SIZES TO THE DEER TICK SIZE !! . I AM ALWAYS BEING BITTEN !! I AM PARANOID ABOUT TICK BITES !!

    HEAL AND GET WELL SWEET LADY ! SENDING BIG HUGSS

  3. doesitevenmatter3's avatar

    Oh, gosh! UGHS on what you’ve gone through! But YAYS for an answer, finally! I actually have joy-tears in my eyes reading about all of this! Hope hope hoping the treatment/meds works quickly and you are well soon! ❤️
    Yes, you learned some good things. And a great way to look at it all. We live. We learn. 😉
    Oh, YES, Toby you ARE special in so so SO many ways!!! ❤️
    (((HUGS))) 🙂
    PS…Ha! on Human-Beans wearing Tea and Flick collars…Oopy…I meant Flea and Tick! 😉 😛

  5. Anony-mouse's avatar

    I recall roughly a year ago or so that you blogged about pulling a tick off yourself and not being too concerned since you didn’t think it was attached long enough to transmit the virus. Well, now you know. I have a policy of testing the ticks…, I think I may have mentioned that as well. Send the tick off to a lab and get the answer at the source. No human medical office will do this since it’s not covered by insurance. I’m fortunate enough to live in a state that offers free tick testing for resident as a part of public health/safety control.

    Regarding a Lymes vaccine for people…, the reason for this not getting to market by big pharma is because the side effects/“events” is too high. I rather imagine our canine friends experience side effects of joint stiffness/arthritic type pain as well after the vaccine, but are unable to voice their discomfort, so none such ill-effects are documents. For non-verbal animals side effects are monitored via blood labs. You can bet your last dollar that once there is a human vaccine for Lymes that it will be on the market. (Then there will be ads for lawyers if you or a loved one suffered a damaging side effects -HA!) This disease, in all its incarnations, is a tremendous public health threat.

    So now that you know the answer at least you can soldier ahead about getting better! I had lymes disease with the typical bullseyes rash 18-19 years ago and my PCP prescribed doxycycline for 21 days. She skipped the testing first telling me that getting treatment fast was imperative as she could recognize it on site and because the longer that little lymes spirochete corkscrews through your body the harder it is to get a good outcome. They better offer you some real solutions now.

    I gotta say I’m surprised that you’re not naturally a bigger pain in the fanny/assertive when it comes to getting stuff done. I used to be like that until it didn’t work anymore and I realized being shy just resulted in me being overlooked, plus I got old (mid 50s) and wasn’t sure who I was trying to impress, so learned to be more direct and forthright. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that…
    But if you’re younger and if you’re more of the taciturn sort, take your friend as an advocate or one of your parents. Time to get this dog ‘n pony show on the road to getting you to feel better!

    Tell Toby that his mama is on her way to being back in business again! 🐕

    Anony-mouse and the Terrier

    • Bitey Dog's avatar

      The doctor told me that I was likely bitten by the infected tick in May of this year. My mind flashed back to that other bite too.

      Since I was ignored for so long, I am wondering how much worse this illness is going to be. On the plus side, since the Acyclovir the hospital gave me was the wrong medication for Lymes, any improvement I showed after that visit was my own immune system working.

      What was it like for you with Lyme’s years ago? Did you have a lot of symptoms, or did the antibiotics get things under control right away? Have you had any other issues over the years?

      I think what kept me from being a squeakier wheel was feeling so lousy. I need to practice squeaking with a fever. 😆

      • Anony-mouse's avatar

        Thinking here… I may be off some years. I got the Lyme tick bite when in Tennessee for my niece’s high school graduation. She now has a Ph.D. and is a professor, so it’s been some years; she 37 now.
        The graduation was in May before Memorial Day, it was a quick drive, 11-12 hours and then arrived back home on Sunday. Noticed this absolutely minuscule, pin dot behind my left knee. As it happens the spring nymph ticks are teeny-tiny. From Sunday to (Memorial Day) Monday it more than doubled in size and got the tell-tale red bullseyes. Monday morning I was in the doctors office with a script called into the pharmacy for pick-up. It was caught fast, no doubt. The doxycycline was awful 2x/day, but the nausea was worth it, I suppose to avoid long term effects. There were no long term effects; my understanding is that the fatigue , if it’s long lasting , is similar to chronic fatigue syndrome and it is very debilitating.

        I do know once the virus sets in for some people that it’s hard to beat and more holistic approaches need to be used. That’s more of the chiropractor approach of mind,body, supplements, etc. I do know of one person who once they got Lymes that it was a long haul to feeling better and being back up to their previous levels of energy.

        Now that certain tick bites are making it so an allergy to red meat is created there will be heck to pay! Surely a vaccine won’t be far behind now.

        I wanted to add that feeling crummy and run down makes it hard to navigate anything, so complete understanding to you for this. And finding a faithful, loyal advocate isn’t as easy as it sounds. In this day and age, children won’t necessarily be there for parents, neither spouse for spouse, nor siblings. The medical industry is insanely complex and bureaucracy run amok. And money (cha-ching and 💰)makes the world go round. Maybe whatever physician landed the diagnosis correctly, then stick with him/her. Then off-shoot from there to specialist and other medical support (chiropractor, masseuse, nutritionist, etc.).
        You have been experiencing an array of symptoms long before May, so I’m not completely convinced that you aren’t a long-term Lymes. There’s still a lot more to tease apart, and I doubt a pill will be the fix alone.

        I really do hope things look up and that your own immune system is up and running! It seems like it is… from the drug they gave you for Herpes Zoster (shingles)…. Sheesh. (I had that too in my early 30s). If you’re thinking I must have one heck of a stressed out life, you’d be right! Enjoy the smooth sailing, it only gets harder the older you get!

        Anony-mouse and the Terrier
        🐭 🐶

        • Bitey Dog's avatar

          The Acyclovir thing was very confusing to me. In researching Bell’s palsy I learned that it often occurs when a virus (herpes) is reactivated. I was shocked to read that because I’ve never had an active herpes virus. Not even chickenpox. It turns out that both herpes and Lyme’s can cause Bell’s palsy.

          I’ve been tested for Lyme’s often in the past both because of where I live and my health complaints. I never had a positive result until now. To me it’s funny that doctors thought of Lyme’s with the symptoms I described to them because actual Lyme’s feels nothing like what I’ve been going through. Yet another mystery that I’ll probably have to wait until I’m on The Other Side to understand. 🙄

    • Bitey Dog's avatar

      Yikes. I knew my experience wasn’t bad, but I am frustrated along with others that we go un or misdiagnosed so often. My illness was thought to be a viral infection also, and it set me back nearly a month.

      My blood pressure is much higher now. I know the heart can be affected by the infection. I hope your friend continues to feel better as time goes by. If I had a wonderful new little family member like she does, I would work hard to get well too!

  8. Anony-mouse's avatar

    Hi again,
    Copied and pasted from online tick testing lab newsletter I just received a few days ago.

    Re: red meat allergy caused by tick bite/infection.

    ********************************

    August 9th, 2023

    Practicing tick prevention is key to avoiding a red meat allergy caused by a tick bite!

    Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) is caused by the bite of a lone star tick. The lone star tick transmits a sugar molecule called alpha gal into the person’s body. For some people, this can trigger an immune response producing mild to severe allergic reactions from the consumption of red meat or products made from mammals.

    AGS is a growing public health and clinical concern. Since 2010, the CDC estimated over 450,000 people have been impacted by AGS. More importantly, from 2017 to 2021 the CDC estimates the number of AGS cases has been increasing by 15,000 annually. Cases of AGS are more common in central US states such as Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Missouri, however; in Pennsylvania the CDC estimates between 11-87 cases per 1 million population. AGS symptoms may include itchy rash, vomiting, heartburn, cough, hives, nausea, diarrhea, or shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include decreasing blood pressure, dizziness, faintness, severe stomach pain, and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or eye lids.

    Alpha-gal can be found in:
    Beef
    Pork
    Lamb
    Rabbit
    Products from mammals such as cow’s milk, gelatine, and milk products.

    AGS is diagnosed by an allergist or your healthcare provider through detailed patient history, physical examination, and a blood test that looks for specific alpha-gal antibodies (proteins made by your immune system). Unfortunately, there’s no treatment other than removing red meat and other products made from mammals out of your diet. Tick preventions steps by avoiding tick bites are helpful in preventing AGS.

Leave a comment