Lyme disease....

So, I live in CT where Lyme is quite common. While out climbing i actually got a tick somehow on my hip right under the harness. the thing was pretty embedded, and even my doctor couldn't get it's angry head out of there (i took care of separating the head from the body). within 24 hrs i have a bulls-eye rash that is worthy of a medical text book.

what i'm curious about from fellow climbers is your experience with various antibiotics. my script was written for augmentin, but i can't find this supported in medical lit as the primary medication.

have you found any joint discomfort with the other antibiotics?

did you keep climbing or take a few weeks off?

thanks for any insight...

I'm pretty sure most people take Doxycycline to prevent Lyme disease from tick bites. I know for sure that all dogs we see in the vet clinic get a round of Doxy for 2-3 days as long as the bite was recent.

I've never had noticeable joint discomfort from Doxy (or any other antibiotic) myself, but people's responses to antibiotics can vary immensely. If you're on something like Doxy you will not want to be out in direct sunlight, but you could probably climb fine indoors.

Being from the birthplace of Lyme disease I'm sure you've heard this, but not all bulls-eye rashes lead to Lyme disease, in fact most don't. Here's to hoping you're Lyme-free!!

I worked on Lyme disease molecular epidemiology in grad school. I did a quick search on the CDC and they referenced this article for treatment options. DFrench is right that the standard is still doxy. There's a 2008 review article that says amoxicillin (Augmentin is a variant) may also be used as a secondary choice treatment in adults or for children 9 and under. Note that joint pain is a symptom of Lyme disease.

I have taken doxy for malaria prophylaxis. It made me consistently nauseous so I discontinued its use.

good luck

I too live in CT, and have had a couple problem ticks. I generally pick up on them quick, and normally if you do get rid of it within 24 hours there is very little risk of getting lymes, which apparently may not have been the case for you. But when I have gotten a mark, once a rash, once a bulls eye, I have just been prescribed like one or two doses of a common antibiotic (I can't recall which now) and it completely took care of it. Really a non-issue, it was as simple as popping a pill or two and forgeting about it. I felt no side effects, but like DFrench said, it varies person to person. Best of luck!

i got lymes before I was a climber, and it kicked my ass. like, out of service for a month kicked my ass. hope you handle it better!

DFrench wrote: not all bulls-eye rashes lead to Lyme disease, in fact most don't...

I'm pretty sure the opposite of this is true.
I was under the impression that the bulls-eye rash only presents in 15% of Lyme cases. If you have the rash, you have Lymes disease.

I have had it 3 separate times, and never had the rash.

As long as you get on antibiotics pretty quick, you'll be fine.

I'm no doctor, but I remember seeing a thread on here about certain antibiotics that weaken tendons?? Can't remember any details, but maybe you shouldn't climb super hard till they are out of your system...

Mark Roth wrote: I'm pretty sure the opposite of this is true. I was under the impression that the bulls-eye rash only presents in 15% of Lyme cases.

While not an expert, I'm a reader/grader for an entomology class at the University of Wisconsin. We do a few weeks on vectors and transmittable diseases and I would have to agree with what he is saying on this. This is actually the truth about Lyme and the rash. Sorry man, best of luck. Doxy should help though, substantially. Don't know about amoxicillin. I'm actually allergic so if thats the new treatment, and it does end up doing wonders, I'll be kind of sad.

On a sort of side note, doxycycline, used to treat Lyme and Malaria (pre-trip treatment) can cause severe hallucinations. While I've never experienced them myself, a professor on campus who takes kids to India often has them start their Doxy a few weeks ahead of time so they can catch any adverse reactions. Just be aware of this. Sleep walking and hard core trips (usually pretty bad trips, so don't go out taking Doxy to have your rest-day fun, guys) happen rarely, but enough that I know of a handful of cases myself. Oh, and watch for facial palsy in some occasions. Don't worry, it'll go away when you stop taking it.

Taking Samento extract along with strong antibiotics is becoming more common place. There are other diseases you can get from tick as well, I don't know about CT but my neighbor here in CO has lyme and two other tick borne pathogens. She's been sick for 8 years and has tried every treatment, western, eastern and martian and can't kick em fully. But some people do, so don't be too scared. Lyme is a spirokete, a tough little f^(ker that hides in a cyst, you will need to take prolonged courses of treatment to make sure you hit it when it's out and vulnerable, but it can be done.

I don't believe Augmentin is the primary antibiotic for treating lyme disease. I used to take it all the time for ear infections but have never heard of it for this. The primary is usually something like doxycycline or cipro. Not sure about joint pain from these but I'll tell you they can certainly make you feel like crap, they're both strong stuff. Anyway I would just climb easy for a bit and try and rest as much as possible. Feel better!
-Nick

Med student here, so take this with a grain of salt. Did a quick literature search and found the following:

1) Amoxicillin (which is part of augmentin) is as effective as doxycycline for the treatment of lyme disease.
2) The augmentin formulation contains amoxicillin and an additional drug which helps it kill bugs which may have developed a resistance to the penicillin class of drugs.
3) The red, expanding ring-target rash appears within 7-14 days of tick bite in approximately 90% of cases of lyme disease.
4) The tick itself doesn't cause the disease, in fact it is infection by an organism carried by the tick which causes the symptoms of lyme disease.
5) If treated early, prognosis is generally excellent.
6) Didn't find anything on either amoxicillin or doxycycline causing joint/tendon weakness.

Not from CT and have never seen a case in my life, also only a med student so definitely, definitely take this with a grain of salt. For sure contact your physician if you have any questions.

I got Lyme at the Gunks last year. Took the Doxi and it cleared right up.

Mark Roth wrote:I'm no doctor, but I remember seeing a thread on here about certain antibiotics that weaken tendons??

stephen chiu wrote:6) Didn't find anything on either amoxicillin or doxycycline causing joint/tendon weakness.

That risk is with ciprofloxacin or others in the this class. See here.

Doxycyxline will cause photosensitivity. As posted above, amoxicillin is an acceptable alternate drug. Good luck. I had lyme knee arthritis last summer. It sucked.

Mark Roth wrote: I was under the impression that the bulls-eye rash only presents in 15% of Lyme cases. If you have the rash, you have Lymes disease.

This was not the case for me. I had what appeared to be the classic bulls-eye rash, and came to find out (via doctor) that it was simply a localized infection surrounding the bite location, not Lyme's disease.

So after a little research I want to correct my previous statement about the bulls-eye rash and Lyme. It turns out that what I said applies only to Dogs (which is where all of my health care experience is) and does not apply to Humans.

Dogs can get a bulls-eye ring for a multitude of reasons. Furthermore, dogs often can get Lyme disease with NO presentation of a bulls-eye.

Humans with a bulls-eye ring (around a known tick-bite) is apparently much more indicative of Lyme (as was correctly said above).

Sorry for misinforming. Hopefully you're already on a course of antibiotics and all will be fine.

Just keep this event in mind if in the future you develop mysterious symptoms. I worked with a woman who developed very bizarre symptoms, like incredibly swollen hands and face. The doctors couldn't figure it out for a long time but it ended up being Lyme disease.

Mark Kauz wrote: On a sort of side note, doxycycline, used to treat Lyme and Malaria (pre-trip treatment) can cause severe hallucinations. While I've never experienced them myself, a professor on campus who takes kids to India often has them start their Doxy a few weeks ahead of time so they can catch any adverse reactions. Just be aware of this. Sleep walking and hard core trips (usually pretty bad trips, so don't go out taking Doxy to have your rest-day fun, guys) happen rarely, but enough that I know of a handful of cases myself. Oh, and watch for facial palsy in some occasions. Don't worry, it'll go away when you stop taking it.

I'm probably wrong here, but I was sure that was Larium not Doxy. Larium gives the headfuck and Doxy gets you sunburnt?

Lyme is epidemic in southern RI where I live. I have had it as well as everyone in my family. My doctor prescribed three weeks of amoxicillin. The test is accurate as long as you live in part of the country where they regularly see/test for Lyme and they test it a couple of times to compare titer levels. There are three different types of tests they can do: ElISA, IFA, Western Blot. One test should be right away and then a few weeks after you've been bitten. It is usually not a problem as long as you catch it early like you did. I didn't, which led to my knees swelling up like a cantalope.

Hey,
I live in Leb. NH and came down with Lymes Disease last summer. It was serious. The Doxy had me back on my feet in about a month but I then came down with post lyme disorder which is similar to Lupus. My advice to anyone living in tick country: if you come down with a fever in any other time than classic flu season go right to the doctor and request a antibody test specific for LD. BTW, I never found a tick, if they are in their nypmh stage they can be as small as a pin point. EMS and REI sells repellent that you spray on your cloths which works well and if you shower right after being in the woods it really helps because they have to be attached for 24 hours before they can transmit the disease.

One challenging thing that affects the information, numbers, statistics on Lyme's disease is that not everyone figures out they have the need for medical attention. Thus, the database in incomplete. In addition, the symptoms aren't always the same, and the severity can vary, too. Further, it's not always in the consciousness of different folks based upon the area in which they live or grew up. There are different stages for Lyme's disease that affect the average person's and physicians' understanding of what to look for.

jane-gallwey wrote: I'm probably wrong here, but I was sure that was Larium not Doxy. Larium gives the headfuck and Doxy gets you sunburnt?

Correct - Doxy doesn't give you hallucinations. I've been on it multiple times for other issues b/c it's practically the only antibiotic I'm not allergic to, and it just makes you more light-sensitive, not tripping

this time last year, I was laid way out with lyme disease. Had the bullseye many years before, achy joints many years since - blood test not conclusive, probably had it. Last year test was positive and doxy was taken. Iam 45 and have enjoyed about 30 years of hard outdoor play and work so not real sure if aches are due or due to lyme. By the way, have you heard lyme disease bacteria escaped from a military infectious bio warfare plant near lyme ct?

Blake- on a related note a Lyme specialist in Germany told me that the American "strain" was much more insidious and the patients from the US were generally much harder to treat.

Lyme is no joke. If you got bitten and have any weird symptoms, be persistent. Get both Western Blot and ELISA as both are considered by many to be shaky on reliability. Go to a specialist. Much has been discovered recently, and your average family doctor is not likely to truly be up on the latest information. Feeling "ok" shouldn't be good enough. If you feel like something is still wrong, keep working with varying specialists. Antibiotics don't work for all, especially once the infection becomes a chronic one. This bug can be really tough to get rid of!