Can any Doctor's on here give me some insight into Lyme Disease?

[Mooreisbetter27]

So I went to CT with my girlfriend about two weeks ago. I was going to the bathroom and looked down at my leg and saw a black something on my leg. Thinking it was a scab, I leaned in closer and it was a bug (tick). I was pretty appalled.

After a few tries I pulled him out... though I'm not 100% sure I got his head. I think I did, but I'm not sure.

Anyways... the spot where he was (pretty sure it's the spot.. I have a few red marks on my legs from working) it seems like it's raised a little and gotten redder.

I looked up symptoms but I don't seem to be experiencing any yet. I looked up pictures of what it would look like (bullseye?) and I haven't gotten that.

The red spot kinda looks like a mosquito bite honestly, and it's a little itchy.

Can a doctor tell me what the likelihood of this being Lyme disease? Do you need more information? Anything would be appreciated because my Mom put the idea of Lyme disease in my head and now I feel like I'm jumping at shadows.

Thanks.

[OrangeJerseys]

I'm not a MD, but when I was a land surveyor I used to get ticks a lot and being a firefighter I'm in the woods all summer long. I'm covered up pretty good so I haven't had an actual bite in years.

They can seem like mosquito bites, but a red ring or bullseye is indicative of Lyme's disease which can appear after a few days or up to a few weeks after the bite. They also only transmit the bacteria after being imbedded for several hours.

[McLovin]

Not all ticks transmit the disease. Google some pictures for the kind that do - deer ticks being the most common. If it looked like what you see, go see your doctor. A doctor can put you on anti-biotics that may kill the disease before it can get a foothold. At least that's what my Dr. told me...

[Catch 8]

http://www.pediatricdoc.com/newsletter.cfm?nid=625

This site warns that many other websites that share "information" about Lyme Disease are inaccurate. Pretty fascinating, too.

Edit: And now I just realize that the last post in this thread was made in mid-June. Oh well.

[square634]

So I went to CT with my girlfriend about two weeks ago. I was going to the bathroom and looked down at my leg and saw a black something on my leg. Thinking it was a scab, I leaned in closer and it was a bug (tick). I was pretty appalled.

After a few tries I pulled him out... though I'm not 100% sure I got his head. I think I did, but I'm not sure.

Anyways... the spot where he was (pretty sure it's the spot.. I have a few red marks on my legs from working) it seems like it's raised a little and gotten redder.

I looked up symptoms but I don't seem to be experiencing any yet. I looked up pictures of what it would look like (bullseye?) and I haven't gotten that.

The red spot kinda looks like a mosquito bite honestly, and it's a little itchy.

Can a doctor tell me what the likelihood of this being Lyme disease? Do you need more information? Anything would be appreciated because my Mom put the idea of Lyme disease in my head and now I feel like I'm jumping at shadows.

Thanks.

I am not an MD, but I spent two of the last three summers assisting with Lyme disease clinical research. For one thing, the fact that you actually found the tick and removed it makes it much less likely that you have Lyme disease because it takes a fair bit of time transmit. Secondly, you only have to be worried if it is a deer tick, and most ticks are not deer ticks. Even if it is a deer tick, only a minority of them actually carry the B. Burgdorferi bacteria.

What I would do is draw a circle around the red area to mark its size. If it's a normal tick bite reaction, it should stay the same size and then shrink. If it's Lyme disease, it should grow outward in a circle. The "bullseye" mark is actually kind of a misnomer because only about 15% of Lyme disease rashes are bullseyes. Most of the ones I have seen are just large, circular, uniformly red areas that are slightly warm but usually not very itchy. If the rash grows to larger than about 5 cm in diameter, I would go to your doctor, tell him your history, and try to get treated with doxycycline, whether or not you are feeling symptoms yet. Similarly, if you get a fever or start feeling really bad fatigue or muscular/joint pain, treatment is probably indicated. As McLovin said, you could try to get a prophylactic dose of antibiotic to cover your bases (I believe there is one study which suggests that it is helpful, although there is conflicting evidence IIRC), but I'm not sure it's necessary or that your doctor would give it to you.

I would say that you shouldn't worry too much and that it's not exceedingly likely that you have Lyme disease. And even if you do, you'll definitely catch it early, and your prognosis would be excellent (despite what the internet rumor mill/scare factory might say).

Edit: Did you find the tick two weeks ago? If that's the case, and you have no symptoms and the tick bite reaction has not grown, there's almost no chance you have Lyme disease IMO.