How has Lyme Disease affected your life? What inspires you?
My yearly PSA: Tick** season is back (technically it never leaves) which means your risk of contracting Lyme is back. My 10yo daughter has contracted Lyme TWICE in a state where the vast majority of medical specialists won’t even acknowledge that it’s here, as if ticks care about state lines.🙄 She is cured because I fought like a motha to get her the full 30-45 day course of Doxy or Amoxicillin (in our case it was one for each diagnosis). Don’t settle for less time, don’t settle for a different med, don’t think you can cure it with essential oils (though there are several that ease symptoms).
Estimates show only about 20-40% of people present with the bullseye rash, so you need to watch for “summer cold/flu” symptoms following a bite. The symptoms can include neurological issues like changes in talking and walking. It can affect your sleeping and eating patterns. If you get labs drawn send them only to IGeneX lab. No where else is as comprehensive. Save ticks you pull off and consider sending them for testing to that same lab, especially if anyone in your family presents with symptoms.
Prevention: you can spray clothing with permethrin which lasts for about 10 washes. We use deet if we are going into deep woods or high grass because I’m much more worried about Lyme and other tick illnesses than I am of using deet from time to time. If we are just out playing then we’ll stick natural/eo based repellents. Best wishes for a healthy spring and summer!!! (Ps, **ticks aren’t the only carriers. Fillies, mosquitoes, lice, and fleas can carry it too**)