by JTracyII » Thu Jul 12, 2018 8:33 am
So, it appears I may have a tickborne illness. I found a tick on me June 28th that had likely been there for a couple of days, and the day after I had swollen lymphnodes in my neck. I thought about going to doc then, but I have seen that happen before with no ill effects in the long run. Plus, I was packing for a trip and decided to not go to doc and monitor the situation. I read up on tickborne illnesses to educate myself, in case. Anyway, yesterday, 13 days or so after the tick was pulled off, I felt very tired going to work. I took 3 naps yesterday between clients. I noticed feeling slightly chilled as well, but had no fever at the time. My throat also felt a bit swollen and it was kind of hard to drink water yesterday morning when I woke. Needless to so I got myself to the doc ASAP after work. They drew blood and sent off to determine if I have a tickborne illness, which I am guessing I do. They also put me on Doxicycline, 14 days (2 X's/day). I am posting this here because I live in OK where few doctors really even know much about Lyme and I know many on this forum live in the NE and other places where it is much more prevalent. Some doctors and vets here will tell you it does not exist here. I had one client with it who lived in OK and by looking at the stats sent out by MissK over 400 dogs have been diagnosed with Lymes in OK, so I know it is here. Anyway, what should I look out for? What do you know? Is 14 days of meds enough? I read that with only 14 days relapse rate is 40 percent and that 20 days is better. I think I caught it early enough I'll be fine and I am not too worried at this point, but I know that some of these tickborne illness are life changing if not caught early and treated properly. Thanks for your input and help, JT