View Full Version : Tarp = lyme disease?
wildernessman
02-22-2007, 19:43
I am considering ditching the tent and taking a tarp on my thru hike but I am worried about deer ticks. I frequently use a tarp or sleep under the stars to winter camp in the Grand Canyon but there are no worries here like that. The snakes and scorpions arent out yet! Is there anyone that carried a tarp and wished they had a tent instead? Hey thanks for the feedback
mountain squid
02-22-2007, 19:53
I'd be more worried about the incessant buzzing and dive bomb attacks of mosquitoes. They are relentless.
You will likely see your share of ticks as you progress North, regardless of shelter selection (say that 5 times fast). Check yourself daily and make sure you have some tweezers for easy extraction.
See you on the trail,
mt squid
Jim Adams
02-22-2007, 20:08
18 years of tarping, two AT thrus, years of canoe camping--no problem yet. Check for ticks, use Deet for skeeters.
geek
You won't get ticks from camping. Usually. They brush off on you from trailside vegetation. Unless you camp right on a deer run, you are not likely to have a problem in camp. If you camp on a deer run, they will get you when you are outside the tent. I haven't used a tent in years. I had one deer tick implant itself (in Texas of all places - during the day) in maybe the last 10 years. Found three of four still crawling around looking for real estate while I was on the AT. Again, they nabbed be during the day while I was hiking. Sleeping on the ground you will encounter beetles, hunting spiders and other such innocuous critters. I don't worry about it, myself.
soulrebel
02-22-2007, 21:29
No problems with overnight ticks. More of a problem during the hiking day. It's not a bad idea to check every hour or so...
A torso length net that hangs from the clothesline is a nice addition or at least carry a headnet and use a windjacket for the summer. But damn they tore up my hands a couple of nights--even with deet--oh well. you're gonna get bit no matter what you do...
hopefulhiker
02-23-2007, 08:49
The deer ticks are almost microscopic anyway. Not like normal size ticks...
oldfivetango
02-23-2007, 09:21
One of my hunter friends spent three days in a partial
coma due to a tick bite 2 years ago.He still has probelms from
the experience.I was lucky as my
own "bullsyeye" bite was treated in time with antibiotics
and no serious injury occured.Also know an urbanite young
lady who has had serious ill effects in the joints and overall
health due to a tick bite she got while working in the yard.
However,I have noticed that since I started wearing knee high
boots and/or gaitors which I treat with Permanone(for good measure)
then I am not bothered by them on the lower leg anymore.Ticks love
to get brushed onto you like others have said from vegetation.They
really love to find a tight spot in your clothing,like around the waist
area.They can embed on you anywhere;including the hairy areas where
they are hard to spot.I personally prefer to apply the Deet to my clothing
more so than my skin;including,but not limited to,the pant legs,sleeves,
collars,hat,ankles.I have to be in deep mosquito areas before it goes on
my skin;but thats just me.HYOH.Dont try to get fancy on the removal-
careful use of tweezer is the recommended method so MR TICK wont
regurgitate into your bloodstream with his cooties.Also,some say garlic
and sulfur based supplements make you less attractive to insects.If the
bite looks like a red bullseye target-Seek immediate medical assistance.
Cheers,
Oldfivetango
The place to worry about ticks is when walking in grassy areas. On the AT in southern new England, they won't let you forget about the ticks -- there are huge warning signs at every other road crossing. Lyme disease is not a joke. It can be dealt with early on with antibiotics, but in its advanced stages, it is truly awful. The ticks that carry Lyme disease are the really tiny ones.
handlebar
02-23-2007, 09:33
Even if there is no bullseye--there isn't in as much as 40% of cases--you should suspect Lyme if you experience flu-like symptoms in summer. Mine were malaise and a very slight fever. I went from doing 20 mile days and feeling exhilerated afterward to less than 10 miles and feeling totally exhausted. I remembered a couple regular ticks, but hadn't seen any deer ticks, though I'm a hairy guy and have lots of places for them to hide in my "base layer". I'm glad I got to a doc and got tested (though the test gives a lot of false positives and negatives, too). Standard treatment is a course of doxycycline a very inexpensive antibiotic. Given the serious side effects, you need to be prepared to be assertive with the medical folks if you have any of these symptoms and insist on the antibiotic, even if its only a "just in case" treatment.
Docs don't like to prescribe antibiotics unless they have proof they're needed, so be prepared to insist. Failure to treat this disease in its early phase when the antibiotics are effective, can lead to advance lyme with truly horrible results.
The medical establishment is not very familiar with this disease. To give an example, Teddy of the E-woks hitched to a clinic from Upper Goose Pond and was seen by a physicians assistant. Took all day to get there and back. As it turns out, the characteristic rash appeared that evening along with high fever and she was evacuated by ambulance. If you think you've got it, insist on the doxycycline. Having a good relationship with your personal physician and discussing this in advance, perhaps in a pre-hike physical, may get you the prescription called in from your doc at home.
Don't take these symptoms lightly!
The medical establishment is not very familiar with this disease. To give an example, Teddy of the E-woks hitched to a clinic from Upper Goose Pond and was seen by a physicians assistant. Took all day to get there and back. As it turns out, the characteristic rash appeared that evening along with high fever and she was evacuated by ambulance. If you think you've got it, insist on the doxycycline. Having a good relationship with your personal physician and discussing this in advance, perhaps in a pre-hike physical, may get you the prescription called in from your doc at home.
Don't take these symptoms lightly!
Not from personal experience -- but this account is 100% corroborated by Jordan Smith in his book Sierra Noir (http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Noir-Rangers-Patrol-Sierra/dp/0618224165/sr=8-3/qid=1172238045/ref=sr_1_3/102-9383446-0672928?ie=UTF8&s=books). Smith was a park ranger at a state park on the American River in California, who ended up with an advanced case of Lyme -- because his local doc discounted the possibility. Smith had removed the tick and presented it the doc for analysis -- but the doc wasn't ready to deal with it. Aside from that episode, it's a great book, by the way.
Information on Lyme Disease. Provided by the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Lyme disease (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/)
Lyme Disease Treatment and Prognosis (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_humandisease_treatment.htm)
Old Grouse
02-23-2007, 11:16
These posts are right on. The deer tick is really miniscule and hard to spot, and given time, will get into an area that's hard to examine. A small mirror or a friend are very helpful here. There are places you might be bitten where you would never see the bullseye rash even if there is one. For this reason it's especially important to be aware of the symptoms and if you find yourself suffering from them, be prepared to argue strongly for starting the antibiotic treatment. There are still lots of health professionals outside the original Maryland-to-Massachusetts Lyme Disease corridor who don't think of Lyme when diagnosing you, or who are reluctant to start you on antibiotics. But an early start is what prevents Lyme from becoming a years-long chronic health problem for you.
It's amazing that there are still those who aren't up on Lyme. A friend's sister-in-law drove down here to CT from Hanover NH to go to a local walk-in clinic because she couldn't get anyone that far north to start her on the antibiotic. And yes, subsequent tests showed positive for Lyme so she did the right thing.
Sorry - I'm not usually so long-winded.
TurkeyBacon
02-23-2007, 11:35
Tarps do not equall lymes disease, ticks=lymes desease. You would have to sleep on top of a tick nest to get a tick on you in the middle of the night. Doing regular tick checks including the privates is the best preventions. In my life time I've probably gotten hundreds of ticks on me (millions if you include a couple run in with seed tick nests). They are there, don't deny it, but don't let it stop you either.
TB