Tick bite advice

[saleenl]

My DD (14) spent yesterday's beautiful weather hiking and picnicking with a friend in a nature preserve in our town. We live in a lyme-endemic area. After her hike, we found a live tick on our couch after she had been on it and told her to do a tick check which she said she did. I think my husband might have checked her hair, but I'm not sure.

She was fine this morning but has been texting me from school because of a painful spot just behind her ear lobe that she thinks is a tick bite. She sent a picture and it looks like she must have had a tick attached and scratched it off while sleeping - it looks like there might still be some of the tick still attached. It's very red and alarming looking but I don't think there's been enough time for a bullseye rash or symptoms to develop.

I called her pediatrician and they basically said to wait and see, that they don't do antibiotics without a positive test and they don't test without symptoms. I've looked online and there is so much conflicting information, I'm not sure if I should get pushier with her doctor. Of course, my DD has panic attacks when she needs to get vaccinations so I'm not even sure how they'd do a blood draw on her, so I don't know that it's worth it to push for that, especially when it's so soon. I'd appreciate any advice anyone more familiar with tick-borne diseases can offer!

[gatorsmom]

Hopefully Melbel will chime in as she has years of experience with Lyme disease.

In the meantime, if she’s like me or my teens, she will continue to touch it and finger it at school increasing her chances of infection. Can you suggest she go to the school nurse and ask for a bit of neosporin and a bandaid? I wouldn’t have the nurse clean it though just dab the neosporin on it. If she can get the bit of dead bug in a ziploc baggie, this place will analyze it for Lyme and other diseases and let you know if she should start antibiotics: https://www.tickreport.com/?gad_sour...hoCHAgQAvD_BwE

[jacksmomtobe]

Do you still have the tick? If so you can send it off to UMASS and they will test the tick for common tick diseases. It is not cheap however it would give you piece of mind on whether the tick had any transmittable diseases. It will identify the disease in the tick and then you can check for symptoms and learn out what treatment may be needed. With Lyme it would identify it and then you could go back to your pediatrician and request treatment.

https://www.tickreport.com/?gad_sour...RoCBaoQAvD_BwE

[saleenl]

Unfortunately, we can't find the tick that would have been attached to her (searched all over her bed) and the other one we found we flushed. Given where we live (driving distance from UMass), there's a high chance that it is carrying something nasty.

And much to my shock, she had already been to the nurse once she texted me. She didn't tell the nurse she thought it was a tick bite and I don't think the nurse treated it with anything. She has two tests this afternoon and will be home in less than two hours so I guess we'll just wait and take care of it when she gets home.

[ezcc]

I live in an area with lots of Lyme (and 3 out of 5 have us have had it) and lots of ticks. I would do as your pediatrician says and watch and see- for my husband and son the biggest symptom they had was severe headache- only my son had a rash and I had a terrible fever. I would keep a close eye on things for 2-3 weeks as it can take a while for symptoms to develop. But don't be too alarmed either, not every tick bite leads to Lyme fortunately! And if it does develop, the antibiotics definitely work- none of us have any lingering issues.

[MSWR0319]

My DD (14) spent yesterday's beautiful weather hiking and picnicking with a friend in a nature preserve in our town. We live in a lyme-endemic area. After her hike, we found a live tick on our couch after she had been on it and told her to do a tick check which she said she did. I think my husband might have checked her hair, but I'm not sure.

She was fine this morning but has been texting me from school because of a painful spot just behind her ear lobe that she thinks is a tick bite. She sent a picture and it looks like she must have had a tick attached and scratched it off while sleeping - it looks like there might still be some of the tick still attached. It's very red and alarming looking but I don't think there's been enough time for a bullseye rash or symptoms to develop.

I called her pediatrician and they basically said to wait and see, that they don't do antibiotics without a positive test and they don't test without symptoms. I've looked online and there is so much conflicting information, I'm not sure if I should get pushier with her doctor. Of course, my DD has panic attacks when she needs to get vaccinations so I'm not even sure how they'd do a blood draw on her, so I don't know that it's worth it to push for that, especially when it's so soon. I'd appreciate any advice anyone more familiar with tick-borne diseases can offer!

I had Lyme about 11 years ago. A test is not going to come back positive right away. I had a bullseye rash, achy knees, and just felt kinda run down and flu like. My test came back negative because it was too soon. I do not live in an area known to be full of Lyme (I could hear the nurses laughing at me in the hall while I was waiting for the doctor because they though I was crazy for telling them I thought I had Lyme), but once she saw the rash she game me an antibiotic right away. We do live in an area full of deer and I'm sure I picked the tick up in the yard or woods because they were always in our yard. The fact that your dr won't give an antibiotic without a positive test is concerning, but it's also a step ahead and maybe you won't even get to that point. Our pediatrician gave my son an antibiotic once when he had a weird almost bullseye looking rash on his stomach just in case, because she knew I had had Lyme before and she lived right around the corner from us and knew about the deer that were always in our yards. She said she'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm super thankful for her because everyone thought I was nuts because "no one here gets Lyme." So I hope that if symptoms develop you would be able to get an antibiotic.

I think I would keep a close on an any new symptoms - achy, headache, joint pain, fever, rash, etc and then get pushy with the dr if something comes up. I literally just thought my knees hurt and I was run down because I had a brand new baby that I was walking around with a lot and was exhausted from no sleep. It wasn't till I looked at my back in the mirror for some unknown reason that I saw the giant bullseye. If I had been watching for symptoms, it would have been easy to notice.

[Melbel]

Sometimes clarity can be a blessing, and it is clear your daughter's pediatrician is misinformed. If you wait for a potential Lyme test to be positive, which can take over a month for antibodies to develop, the infection would be disseminated and potentially much harder to treat. If there appears to be parts of a tick still attached, it is important to remove it properly and promptly, using fine tip tweezers as close to the skin as possible. If necessary, you may need to have a dermatologist or doctor remove the mouth parts.

https://lymediseasechallenge.org/prevention/

https://projectlyme.org/resource/found-a-tick-bite/

See section on prophylaxis here: https://projectlyme.org/resource/tre...h-antibiotics/

Improper removal of a tick (i.e. scratching it off) increases risk of disease transmission.

in addition to Lyme, ticks can transmit a cocktail of other infections. It is better to consult with a knowledgeable provider especially if symptoms arise. Project Lyme has a provider search.

Edited to add: We (four family members) did not see a tick bite or rash and ended up with late stage disseminated infections that have required YEARS of treatment and hospitalization (me) for heart failure. One child missed most of 6th grade due to severe illness. We also had co-infections (Bartonella, Babesia, viruses, etc.) and immune deficiencies that made things worse (Lyme can suppress the immune system). Even when promptly treated, there is a significant percentage of patients (10-20%) that continue to suffer from symptoms after treatment, particularly if there are co-infections. I have served as an admin of a large parents group for 10+ years now and have seen kids and young adults die due to severe symptoms. It is not worth the risk.

[saleenl]

Thanks, we weren't able to talk to our pediatrician yesterday - just a nurse that talked to a different doctor in the practice. I'm going to try to talk to our ped today since she is in on Tuesdays. Hopefully we make some progress.

[hillview]

if it was me I would fight the doc hard for antibiotics -- we are a family that never asks for antibiotics but when DS had a tick on him we basically forced the issue and got it. sorry it is stressful.