by Evelyn J. Mocbeichel
For me the topic of ticks is personal, since I’ve had Lymes twice and have since feared the notorious tick season. It is even more dangerous with a host of other diseases that are carried by different ticks. The year I was bitten and became very sick, I had found several ticks on my leg and arm. What is strange about this is that I am not a gardener, nor do I go hiking in the woods. It was from merely walking to the clothes line to hang up some laundry or to walk across the grass to our shed to take out a lawn chair. The grass was not high as my husband mows regularly. Often I will see people taking a break from hiking or cycling and sitting on the side of the road in semi high grass while taking a drink from their water bottle. If there were a line of cars behind me, I feel as if I should stop and warn them about ticks in the grass. Normally vacationers or tourists that might live in a city environment made not be aware of the possibility of diseases carried by ticks.
Five days after the ticks were found on my leg and arm I began to feel ill. (People can get sick from 1-2 weeks after being bitten by a tick.) It started with a low grade fever and feeling extremely tired, that I had to nap. Since I had Lymes about four years ago, I remembered the symptoms and went to the doctor. I was immediately put on an antibiotic, and the doctor took a blood test to confirm Lymes. The first line treatment for adults and children of all ages is doxycycline.
My blood test came back and the doctor said, “Something else is going on besides regular Lymes, which you do have, too.” My doctor told me my liver levels were not right, nor was my red blood cell count. She requested another blood test and named a few of the possibilities of what I may have. Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis or Anaplasmosis were the three possibilities that I might have besides the “traditional” more common Lymes disease. I had never heard of any of these and the news was a bit frightening, hearing what they could cause if untreated. Both Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis are bacterial diseases. Sure enough when the second blood test came back another tick borne disease, Babesiosis, was discovered and this is worse than normal Lymes.
Babesiosis is an infection caused by a malaria-like parasite, also called a “piroplasm” that infects red blood cells. To be rid of the Babesiosis I was put on two other medications and had to eat fatty foods, along with the medication, to get my liver back to normal functions. This was extremely hard to do since I had little appetite to eat even plain toast. Fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and a rash are common ailments of any of these diseases. Fortunately, this time around I did not have a rash or joint or muscle aches. Bed rest was needed for almost two weeks as I was too tired, lacked an appetite and ran a fever on and off.
It was an experience I never want to happen again! Now I wear high socks while hanging wash or walking around any grassy area, then remove them before entering the house. My husband also applies a tick repellent application on our lawn during the highest level of tick season, as an added preventative.
The Center for Disease Control has valuable websites with information. Most doctors’ offices also have literature about ticks that offer full descriptions about tick removal and other aspects of the disease. Visit the CDC websites at: http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/babesiosis/, http://www.cdc.gov/ehrlichiosis/ and http://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/
