Tick Bites & Symptoms of Lyme Disease

We live in an area with a lot of ticks. Even though we do check ourselves regularly for ticks, so how those little things still occasionally attach themselves to one of us. Last week hubby removed a tick from Mr. B’s back. As always, we keep an eye on the bite area to watch for any adverse reactions.

Over the last few days the area around Mr. B’s tick bite became red and a rash developed. We knew that a visit to the Dr. was in order as this is not the usual appearance of a tick bite.

As the Dr. put it, Mr. B had a rash called erythema migrans. The bull’s eye looking rash is one of the hallmark symptoms of Lyme Disease. However, just because he has the rash does not mean for sure he has Lyme Disease.

It is too early to test Mr. B for Lyme Disease so the protocol is to treat him as if he does have it. If caught early, Lyme Disease can be treated rather easily with antibiotics. That is why we went ahead with the antibiotics instead of waiting for testing.

I thought it would be helpful for all of you to know what to look for. If you are bitten by a tick, watch the area for several weeks. Symptoms include:

• Rash– usually a bull’s eye type rash. The rash circle may expand.
• Flu-like symptoms– Fever, chills, fatigue, body aches and a headache may accompany the rash. (This symptom may be hard to distinguish since many diseases start with flu-like symptoms.)
• Joint Pain– As the disease progresses the joints may be affected. Joints may be extremely painful and swollen.

If you get a tick bite, keep the tick in a sealed bag. The tick can be tested for disease if you display unusual symptoms. Unfortunately, we did not do this. We will from now on though!

Disclosure: I am not a physician and I do not play one online! The information above is from our own experience with Lyme Disease. Please contact your health care professional for more information on Lyme Disease.

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.

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