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I know that there have been lots of discussions on here about lyme disease, but I wanted to start a new thread.
My family and I will be moving to southern New Hampshire next month from the lower midwest. Bought the house and made the arrangements, and then started hearing about lyme disease. I know they say that lyme is in all 50 states, but I've never lived anywhere that it's been an issue. Like a lot of people, I didn't know anything at all about it. Like really nothing. I actually thought it was something you could really only get if you spent a lot of time in the deep woods or handling deer/deer carcasses.
So we bought the house in southern NH and it's in a fairly wooded area. And our buyers agent casually mentioned something to us at the inspection about making sure to keep the grassy area next to us mowed (it's considered a "community" area, but our property is the only one adjoining it.) to keep the ticks down. And a few days later I started researching lyme disease.
With 2 kids, 6 and 8, a lot of the reason we wanted to move was to have an area that they could go out and play in. Having a wooded area next door was the main reason we bought the place! Now after a few days of reading up on Lyme, I'm freaking the eff out, to put it lightly. There seems to be no consensus about it at all. People seem to fall into the "it's no big deal, just mow your yard and throw a little off on" camp, or they fall into the "Lyme disease has ruined the lives of everyone in my family and everyone we know, we all wish we could die" one.
The other frustrating thing seems to be the lack of consensus about treatment in the medical community. Do I need to take my kids into the doctor for a round of antibiotics every time I pull a tick off of them? That was the advice of that same buyers agent. I keep reading that many people with a clinical diagnosis don't even remember having a tick bite and many don't ever exhibit the bullseye rash. That scares me more than anything.
Can anyone recommend a good doctor/pediatrician in the Salem area that is knowledgeable about Lyme and is willing to treat it aggressively as opposed to the wait and see approach that a lot of people complain about?
I'm trying to be rational about it, and I know that people will point out the fact that I'm more likely to be killed on my commute to work than to get lyme, and that may be true, but it doesn't change my feelings about it. What about in 5 years or 10? The thought occurs to me that it might be difficult to sell our house then if this continues unchecked. Waaay after the thought about what if my kids get it?
What is anyone doing to stop the almost exponential spread of lyme? I know it's explosion is relatively recent and there are many theories about why, but what's happening to knock the ticks down? Any programs on the state or federal level?
Does anyone have any personal experiences about lyme or how to prevent it? Please keep it rational and factual. There seems to be a lot of hystrionics about the disease and that just clouds the thoughts about it.
FWIW - I am not a person who spends a tremendous amount of time outdoors, but I do like to go hiking with my husband occasionally. I have lived in the Northeast my whole life and have never had a tick on me (knock wood I never will).
I hear a lot of people that say "I grew up there and I was fine", but they haven't lived there for 10 or 20 years. And my understanding, especially after looking at the cdc's epidemiological graphics from 2001 to 2013, is that it was almost nonexistent then.
I hear a lot of people that say "I grew up there and I was fine", but they haven't lived there for 10 or 20 years. And my understanding, especially after looking at the cdc's epidemiological graphics from 2001 to 2013, is that it was almost nonexistent then.
I'm not at all denying the alarming trend of lyme disease.
I lived in the same area my whole life and nobody in my extended family has ever had a deer tick or Lyme disease. I found a tick on me once a few years ago but it wasn't a deer tic. I personally know of two families who have had struggles with Lyme. Another friend sprays the perimeter of his yard that borders the woods and has never seen a tic. I work at a hospital for kids where we let them play outside. Occasionally we find a tick on one of them. If the tick is actually embedded for at least 24 hours, we give them one dose of antibiotic and monitor for 30 days. I believe that is the recommended cdc protocol.
FWIW I just sold my house and found out during inspection that we have high radon in the lower level which is where the bedrooms are. My family has slept there for 25 years without ill effects.
Let me know if you need any info on Salem, I know it well!
Last year I visited NH and one day went for a walk in a field and along some roads with my brother and his two dogs. After more than an hour outside at least one of the dogs had a tick but none on my brother or I.
I was born and raised in Massachusetts but never got a tick in over 20 years. About a month ago I read a piece on Slate.com I think it was describing the rising tick menace and the dozens of diseases they can carry.
I dunno. Really hard to say. It's as random as rain.
I appreciate that people are aware of Lyme Disease, and are having a discussion about it. My family and I just moved out of New Hampshire last year, but we do all have Lyme Disease. I have traced my symptoms back 18 years, and I only started treating in the last couple years when I was diagnosed by a good doc there.
I have a blog, and built a resource page that I hope will help anyone that has Lyme, suspects Lyme, or has a loved one with Lyme. I advocate and help people with support and knowledge as much as I can, and welcome anyone to send me a private message if they need help.
One of the big contributing factors of tick prevalence in the woods is the RAPID DECLINE of the bat population due to white nose syndrome over the last 5-10 years. Some areas have lost 95% of the bat population that would have eaten large numbers of ticks and other insects, keeping populations down. Why this isn't being discussed more I have no idea.
As identified, Lyme disease is not well understood by the medical community and it's treatment is often inconsistent at best. My wife is suffering from what we believe to be Lyme disease and is currently out of work on short term disability. She recently started working with an infectious disease doctor who specializes in Lyme, but prior to this most doctors kept telling her she has Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), despite the fact her lab work did not show any of the RA factors. Their only response was to push the use of all the auto-immune drugs, which have significantly bad side effects and their reasoning is…… “That’s how we treat people with your symptoms.”
We believe this all started for her in the early 90’s when she removed a tick from her neck. At the time she was in her early 30’s and did not have any initial reactions or marks at the location and believed that was the end of it. Two weeks later she awoke with flu like symptoms and using her word “felt like I was hit by a truck.” She immediately went to her doctor and since we live in southern CT (10 miles from Lyme, CT) he was well aware of the disease and started her on antibiotics even before he received the results of her Lyme testing. The testing came back positive and it took over three separate treatments of anti-biotics (14 days each) and several months before she was back to normal.
Everything appeared to be OK for several years then in the mid-2000’s she started with random swellings in her face, hands and feet. The swelling would last between 24 to 48 hours and was sometimes scary because occasionally it would occur in her mouth and throat. As a result of this she now carries an Epi-Pen (Epinephrine Auto-injector) should it start to affect her breathing. The doctors could not explain the cause and kept believing it was some form of food allergy. After a series of allergy testing and food elimination diets, nothing could isolate the cause of this random swelling. In addition to this, a few years later she developed an abnormal heart rhythm. After seeing several heart specialists she eventually found a wonderful doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who performed an ElectroPhysiological Study (EP Study) and with a single ablation was able to correct the abnormal heart rhythm. Great, that problem solved, but the swellings continues. Then approximately four years ago she started with inflammation in one wrist and then the other, both with 24/7 intense pain. None of the testing performed could isolate the cause so most of the doctors defaulted to RA. When we question why RA, since her lab work did not reveal that in her system, the answer was still “that’s how we treat your symptoms.” We don’t want to treat the symptoms, we want to treat the problem and since they cannot determine the cause she is hesitant to start using the auto-immune drugs they prescribe for RA. Since that time the swelling has started to impact one of her ankles so walking has now become a chore. Currently she is working with an infectious disease doctor who specializes in Lyme related diseases. This doctor is convinced her problem is associated with Lyme and has been successful treating patients with a high dose of anti-biotics and also changing the specific antibiotic periodically. Interesting enough, although it is still too early to determine if the inflammation is decreasing, she has not had any recurrence of the random swellings since she started the anti-biotic treatments. The swelling and heart issues may have nothing to do with the Lyme, but none of this or RA is in her family history so we still question whether or not they are related.
On a related note, we were sitting with our financial planner earlier this year when he noted the swelling in my wife’s wrist. She explained what was happening and he stated he was in a similar situation 6 years earlier. His problem was in his knees and back to the point he could barely walk and I’m guessing he is in his early 40’s. He never found a tick or had any indications that he was bitten. His doctors could not explain the cause and concluded that he had RA, despite the fact the testing did not support it. They prescribed the same treatment of auto-immune drugs, which he did not want to take because of the side effects. He then found an infectious disease doctor who believed it was Lyme related and after a year of rotating high doses of different anti-biotics his issues totally subsided. Currently he is off all meds and has been symptom free for 5 years. Hopefully my wife will find the same results.
The reason for my lengthy post is not to incite panic or imply living in the area is bad for your health. In fact, we are moving from CT to NH because we believe the quality of life is worth it and Lyme is not limited to New England. The reason for my post is to inform others to question everything you are told, especially when it comes to Lyme disease. If my wife had not spent the last four years with doctors telling her she had RA, we believe this might not be an issue for her today. Time will tell. In any case, it is clearly not understood or fully recognized in the medical profession so if you feel you may be infected I recommend you seek out an infectious disease doctor who specializes in Lyme. Since the doctors we are dealing with are in CT and southern MA, I cannot provide any recommendations in the NH. The bottom line is you need to be your own advocate when it comes to your health because quite often the doctors are limited in what they can do based on hospital/insurance policies and their field of expertise. Hopefully this will help someone else with a similar problem.
Lou
Last edited by sailor_lou; 06-28-2015 at 01:41 PM..
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