lyme disease bummer!

[mike!]

aye, after walking for 7 days with flu-like symptoms i got to boiling springs, went to the hospital, and it turns out i've got lyme disease... so i went home... thought i'd be really excited to be home.. but i miss the trail already. i just took my first dose of the antibodic today, and i was just curious being that lyme is a pretty popular disease amongst the hiking community, what has been everyone's experiance? do you think i can be back on the trail in 2 weeks? can i start excersising soon? im just curious what i should be expecting.
thanks!
mike!
(oh yeah i got a trail name now... beershake!)

[Appalachian Tater]

No reason for you to be off the trail if you feel like hiking. Just complete your entire antibiotic course as directed by the prescriber. The only problem I had on the trail was throwing up the antibiotics once or twice.

[Marta]

While I was going SOBO last year, I met a number of NOBOs who'd had Lyme disease. They took their medicine and hiked on. Some were very sick; some not so sick.

Good luck!

Marta/Five-Leaf

[mike!]

thanks guys, ya marta, i think i fall into the other half, really messed up at the moment.. but hoping this medicene kicks in soon :D
mike (beershake)

[gravityman]

Just be super careful in the sun. Several antibiotics make you extremely and I mean EXTREMELY sensitive to the sun. So once you start to feel better and get back out there, make sure to apply sun screen and keep reapplying it. Danger learned this the hard way in 2001 while on antibiotics. Terrible sunburn in about 15 minutes of sun exposure...

It'll say it right on the bottle if its an issue...

Gravity

[Appalachian Tater]

Doxycycline is by far the most frequently prescribed drug for Lyme disease and it does make your skin sensitive. People don't think of their pharmacists as sources of information but a good pharmacist knows more about the medications than most physicians.

[orangebug]

A good pharmacist has more time to discuss doxycycline than most physicians.