Last month I was diagnosed with Lymes Desease.
I never get ticks on me so was really surprised to find one . I had taken a shower after working in the garden. Later I had to run outside and threw on the hoodie that I had been wearing in the garden.
The next morning my shoulder was itching and I pulled off my pajamas to find a tick embedded on the front of my shoulder. I pulled it off and then put it in a water filled cup. Sure enough it was a female and the bitten area was raised ,red and swollen. I put peroxide on it and went about my business. About an hour later I checked the bite and I had two red streaks under my armpit and across my breast. I immediately put the tick in a baggie and went into the clinic. By this time the bite had a red ring around it about the size of a nickel. They did a blood test for Lymes, but said probally nothing would show up for ten days. Ten minutes later the Doctor came in with a shocked look on his face and said " It tested positive. He couldn't believe it. I was put on ten days of meds . The next morning my hands arm and elbow was swollen. This happens alot now, but it decreases after a couple of hours. I do notice when I dig alot my fingers swell faster. Since my bite ,the clinic tests immediately for Lymes whenever they have a tick bite instead of waiting .
This past weekend I was Up North hunting . I sprayed with Deet and Deep Woods and headed into the woods.
Within a half an hour , I was crawling with ticks.
I got out to the road and literally stripped my clothes off , trying to get the ticks off me. I counted fifty two of them. They were everywhere.I don't know what happened. As I said earlier...I never get ticks on me nor do I get bit. I am wondering now ,if the Lymes attracts them.
The Doc said that from here on out ,whenever I get tested for Lymes ,I will always test positive. So that blows my getting tested every summer as had been my precaution before.
The deal with Lymnes is ,that it can come back and get you years down the road.....you can have nothing and then Wham.
I think I am going to follow Monty's advice with the Wintergreen except I am going to try and make a lotion to put on before I go out.
Did you know that Ticks can crawl up ,but not down? They were having the Annual Oxbow Tick race up North....I should have sold them for five dollars a pop .
I guess I am a Tick magnet now
