Tick borne illness in Shenandoah

[FL Grandma]

I became ill after 9 days hiking the AT in Shenandoah: fever 103.5, headache, chills, lethargy. Doc started Doxy (antibiotic) immediately, then ordered lots of tests. Most likely a false positive for Lyme, but we agreed to not do more expensive testing since I had been treated for anaplasmosis, Lyme, etc. by taking the antibiotics. I had used permethrin spray, and while I had seen many ticks, did not think I had been bitten. Never had the Lyme rash either. Only thing I could think of was that a tick got into my hair (long). I plan to make a sleeping cap and spray it with the permethrin before my next hike!

[illabelle]

Those ticks are so tiny and easy to miss. We did a section of Pennsylvania a couple years ago and saw exactly one tick. Two days after we got home, I found one on me. Another day or two and I had the bull's eye rash. Never got any worse than that, fortunately. No fever, headache, etc.
Hope you recover fully and quickly.

[bigcranky]

I got Lyme in Shenandoah about ten years ago. It's not hard to miss the rash, but the high fever and massive fatigue are hard to miss. The Doxy should take care of whatever it might be.

Good luck and hope you get better fast.

[dangerdave]

I did a four day hike in Ohio last week and got bit by a deer tick on the back of my calf. I reached down to scratch a little itch and scrapped him off with by fingernail. Little bugger! One got me last year under my right arm after mowing my grass. They must be getting worse. I grew up on a farm next to the woods. We played in the fields and forest all day, every day, and I never saw one until last year.

I'll take bears and snakes over those little mites any day! Hope you get well, soon, Grandma!

[Unitic]

False positives are relatively rare, false negatives are FAR more common. Most tick-borne disease s pecialists recommend a minimum of 4-6 weeks of doxycycline due to the life cycle of the Borrelia bacteria. Sadly the majority of MD's are consistently under treating this infectious epidemic. Lymedisease.org has accurate info.

[chall]

I became ill after 9 days hiking the AT in Shenandoah: fever 103.5, headache, chills, lethargy. Doc started Doxy (antibiotic) immediately, then ordered lots of tests. Most likely a false positive for Lyme, but we agreed to not do more expensive testing since I had been treated for anaplasmosis, Lyme, etc. by taking the antibiotics. I had used permethrin spray, and while I had seen many ticks, did not think I had been bitten. Never had the Lyme rash either. Only thing I could think of was that a tick got into my hair (long). I plan to make a sleeping cap and spray it with the permethrin before my next hike!

I'll be hiking on (mostly) side trails and the AT in the Southern District of Shenandoah next weekend. Thanks for heads up!

[misprof]

Hey, only 30% of Lyme infected people get the rash.

[Demeter]

My dad (whose only hikes in the woods have been with me) has had both Lyme and ehrlichiosis over the last five years. My husband (whose only hikes in the woods have been with me) was infected with Lyme after his FIRST real backpacking trip in years. I had 5 deer ticks on my the same trip. I tested negative. Go figure. I go into the woods every chance I get, and have hundreds of tick bites over the years! It's a total roll of the dice.

[lemon b]

Had a female deer tick pulled off today at my annual physical. She kept it. Seemed more concerned with my BP. Couldn't have been there long. Got a free tick removal tool. Request to come back in a month. Got the impression that she hadn't been on long enough to transmit and also have the feeling the tick is going to be tested.

[johnnybgood]

It goes without saying, the tick is resilient . I think we all questioned their overall vitality after last years extremely cold winter.