It's Tick Time

 

It’s Spring in Wisconsin, and that means it’s another reason to get outside and get active!  It also means that my least favorite critters are out again.  Ticks.

This time of year I also thoroughly enjoy Geocaching with my kids, as it’s easy to find some of the geocaches that haven’t been ‘hidden’ by foliage and ground cover, nor are they buried in snow.  That means that my kids are checked thoroughly for ticks as well.  Having experienced Lyme Disease first hand, and having worked with a lot of people who suffer from Chronic Lyme Disease, I urge you all to check yourself thoroughly, and have a Tick Test Kit available as well (more on that later)!

The month of May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and here in Wisconsin, we ALL need to become much more vigilant about this disease.  It continues to be on a dramatic rise, and it is not anything you want to take lightly.  Having experienced Lyme Disease personally, and having seen it multiple times in the office in the last several years, I can attest that it is a terrible condition.  You need to do all you can to protect yourself, your pets, and most especially…your children.

In June of 2008, while I was working in Plymouth, I attended a nutrition seminar in Stevens Point.  (Oddly enough, it was at this seminar that Dr. Mike Schleicher first asked me if I was interested in taking over the chiropractic office he owned in Kiel!) Being an avid trail runner, I stopped just outside of Waupaca to go running on a segment of the Ice Age Trail. 

That trail was not very well-kept and was very overgrown.  For most of the run, I had to duck under tree branches and my legs were constantly brushing up against the long grass along the sides of the trail.  The ‘trail’ was barely a trail.

After about a 2 hour run, I was back at my car and continuing my drive to Stevens Point.  Upon arrival at my friend’s house, where I was staying, I took a shower.  In the shower I found 4 wood ticks on me.  By the end of the day, I had found 3 more.  It was absolutely disgusting.

That night, I was sitting on my bed and texting Ellie about my day.  While doing that, I noticed a little black bug crawling along my thumb.  This one wasn’t a wood tick.  It was a deer tick, which is much smaller, but much more likely to carry Lyme Disease.

Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night.  I had a nonstop sensation of bugs crawling on me.  Imagine that!

Fast forward 3 weeks, and I was feeling really run down.  I remember finishing up a normal Friday at work and being exhausted.  I had a headache that made my face hurt when I would move my head in any direction.  Although I rarely get headaches, I just assumed it was no big deal, and went out for dinner that night.  During dinner with my parents at an Irish restaurant, the headache subsided with a pint of Guinness.

Saturday morning I woke up with the same headache. And a low back ache. I'm a chiropractor, and was only 27 years old at the time.  I had never experienced low back pain until then! Unfortunately, things continued to go downhill, and my temp continued to climb, all the way to 102 at one point.   The worst part? 

In bed Saturday night I alternated between sweating fevers in only my underwear and shivering chills in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Three times during the night I woke up and changed clothes again.

Sunday morning, same old story. Headache. Stiff neck. Sore low back. No energy. Swollen and painful lymph node in my right armpit.  Something's not right. Then, it ‘clicked.’  It’s probably Lyme Disease, but its hallmark symptom is erythema migrans, or a bulls-eye rash, which I didn't have. Nonetheless, I knew I needed blood work and scheduled an appointment with a doctor for Monday afternoon.

Sunday night I drenched the sheets in sweat. I was an absolute mess, and this was the sickest I have ever been in my life. 

Monday morning I still felt like crap. Headache. Stiff back. Chills. But the icing on the cake was provided by a glance in the mirror as I dried myself off from the shower.  There, right over my left shoulder blade, was a big old “Bullseye Rash”. 

The last part of the diagnosis was now present. By the afternoon the rash had become even more distinct, to the point that the doctor told me he could take a picture of it for a textbook.

Because I try to be healthy, my immune system reacted very strongly to the infection, and that allowed me to be able to identify that something was seriously wrong very quickly.  That made treatment much more likely to work quickly.  I was in early "Stage One" which is best described in all the symptoms I had for those three days. Stage Two is when it gets more serious and can start affecting one’s heart, liver, and nervous system.  I was very fortunate to be able to “tell” that something was wrong.  Lyme Disease is known as the “Great Imitator” because the symptoms can mimic other illnesses and can vary in severity.  That’s why it’s important to stay vigilant and aware!

As I mentioned, that was the sickest I’ve ever been.  It was terrible. I’m thankful to be better and not have to manage the terrible symptoms of chronic  Lymes.  I want to do everything I can to make sure YOU or your kids don’t have to deal with it either, so remember these common ‘first symptoms:

•         “bulls-eye” or erythema migrans (EM) rash. The rash may appear on any area of the body and does not always take on the typical bulls-eye form.

•         fever

•         chills

•         muscle and joint aches

•         tiredness

•         headache

•         swollen lymph nodes

 

Also, when it comes to my kids, after showering, I encourage them to perform a “full body scan.”  They’re used to it.  They check themselves over everywhere, and I try to remind them every shower time, but am especially vigilant if they’ve been out in the woods or if we’ve been camping, etc.  I can tell you every birth mark they have…as those little ticks can sometimes look a lot like a little mole.

In addition, I highly recommend that you have one or two "Tick Testing Kits" available.  Our office carries them.  They test the tick and return a 99.9% accurate identification as to whether the tick was carrying Lyme Disease or not.  It is safe and easy to use, and determines if the tick that you found was carrying Lyme Disease long BEFORE any symptoms appear.  As my story shows, time is of the essence!  The entire kit is $29.99.  I cannot recommend these tests enough.  In fact, I sold two of them this morning at the office.  Don’t play wait-and-see…get the tick checked if you find one on you.

As you probably know, I’m a very big proponent of getting outside…even when it seems Spring is not going to arrive until it’s already summer (6 weeks to the Summer Solstice!).  It’s unhealthy to be inside constantly, and we can’t live in fear. Not of Ticks or the coronavirus.

I used to joke that God created Ticks so that we realized mosquito bites weren’t that bad after all.  Perhaps we now have COVID and experienced lockdowns to get us outside more, and to realize that if we are vigilant about checking for ticks, we can learn to be outside more often and appreciate nature.

 Just be aware—May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month—and be vigilant for the tick not just this month, but year-round.  Those little things are most prevalent from May to August, but I've seen them every month of the year here in Wisconsin.  For more information and photos, see www.lymedisease.org.