Lime's Disease? - Orchid Board

kg5 · #1 02-16-2018, 03:27 AM

Can anyone give me information about Lyme Disease?

Very interested if anyone has battled with it or cared for someone with this condition.

All I basically know is it is carried by ticks.

edit: correct spelling Lyme Disease.

Orchid Whisperer · #2 02-16-2018, 04:22 AM

AFAIK, this is only a problem in North America and Europe. Only certain ticks in those areas spread the disease. You can ask your doctor if it is ever a problem down under.

Wikipedia has a page on Lyme Disease. Check there for information.

Added later:
BTW, you might get it if you were exposed to ticks while travelling to North America or Europe. Ticks have to bite and stay attached for a a day or two.

It is treatable if you go to a doctor (bacterial, so it responds to antibiotics). If it is not treated, you can end up with permanent severe arthritis-like symptoms (a friend of mine has these symptoms). If you have good reason to think you or a family member/friend might be affected seek medical attention ASAP.

Mountaineer370 · #3 02-16-2018, 07:57 AM

OW made note of this in his post above, but I just want to reiterate the correct spelling, which is Lyme disease. That will be helpful in searching for information online. Good luck to you.

estación seca · #4 02-16-2018, 09:44 PM

Yes, Lyme disease, named after the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut. It is a bacterial disease transmitted by a few different species of tick.

It often, but not always, begins with a reddish bull's-eye zone around the tick bite. Many people don't realize they had a tick bite and don't notice anything until they get a fever or arthritis.

In some people a bad illness develops. They feel very sick, have a fever, may have a rash. In others they are just slightly ill, and may think they have a cold.

The arthritis and other long-term problems develop months to years later.

It is readily detected by a blood test in the US - the question would be how many laboratories in Australia have the reagents. But somebody with illness who has been in a Lyme area (about 2/3 of the US and southern Canada) should bring it up with their physician.

It affects other mammals, as well.

Subrosa · #5 02-16-2018, 11:41 PM

I developed Lyme after being bitten by a tick while herping in the NJ pine barrens in the early 90s. I was away on a job, and woke up one morning feeling like I did a belly flop into an empty pool. I took a hot shower and while toweling off noticed the tell tale bullseye rash where I had pulled a tick out a couple weeks prior. Because I caught it early, a month of antibiotics took care of it and I've never had problems since.

Laticauda · #6 02-16-2018, 11:53 PM

Subrosa,
Are you only a field herper or do you keep herps? I was going to post somewhere on the board that I put my struggling seedlings in plant ICU (my herp room with a heater and humidifier) but wasn't sure if anyone would know what a herp room was.

A veterinary parasitologist told me that the types of ticks here in Oklahoma that carry Lyme are the kind that prey on herps and not mammals but I'm not sure if that's actually the case. He was definitely a vet but his status as a "parasitologist" was his word and i did not verify his credentials.

Subrosa · #7 02-17-2018, 06:57 AM

At the time I maintained herps, but now I just enjoy them in the field. To my knowledge it's the deer tick that carries Lyme, but that's here on the east coast.

Ray · #8 02-17-2018, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subrosa

At the time I maintained herps, but now I just enjoy them in the field. To my knowledge it's the deer tick that carries Lyme, but that's here on the east coast.

Yes, on the east coast it is a deer tick, with intermediate hosts of white tailed deer and white footed mice.

camille1585 · #9 02-17-2018, 08:53 AM

A PhD student colleague of mine caught Lyme disease in the Netherlands... while doing his thesis on Lyme prevalence in tick and rodent populations to study the disease dynamics in nature here. A course of antibiotics cleared it up, but he was out of work for at least a month.

I had a friend in primary school (in Virginia) who had Lyme and it wasn't caught early (not sure if it was tested for as easily, back in the 90s). I remember that she was in a wheelchair for a long time due to terrible symptoms and pain. I think it took her years to fully recover.

Subrosa · #10 02-17-2018, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

A PhD student colleague of mine caught Lyme disease in the Netherlands... while doing his thesis on Lyme prevalence in tick and rodent populations to study the disease dynamics in nature here. A course of antibiotics cleared it up, but he was out of work for at least a month.

I had a friend in primary school (in Virginia) who had Lyme and it wasn't caught early (not sure if it was tested for as easily, back in the 90s). I remember that she was in a wheelchair for a long time due to terrible symptoms and pain. I think it took her years to fully recover.

Your friend is lucky she was able to make a decent recovery after having the disease progress that far. A friend's brother in law is practically a quadriplegic after a years long struggle with an unknown ailment that was finally diagnosed as Lyme.