The "Ticks Can Do You In!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article in the Health & Fitness section of my Sunday News about living with a tick-borne disease.  Seems like ailments such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Alpha-gal syndrome are increasing throughout the United States.  And, you might have one of these diseases and not realize it.  The article began by telling the story of a little girl who was 13 years old when she became plagued by a mysterious combination of symptoms: rashes, brain fog, and fatigue.  Her exhaustion was so extreme that walking up stairs would leave her winded, and she had to quit her high school tennis team and could hardly keep up with her schoolwork.  Her family doctor diagnosed her with allergies and eczema and prescribed steroids and antihistamines.  Nothing seemed to help.  One symptom led to another with nothing helping her.  When she reached the age of 27 her vision began to deteriorate and the pieces finally began to click into place.  An eye doctor diagnosed her with uveitis which is an inflammation inside the eye.  She was sent to an rheumatologist who ordered multiple blood panels; the one for Lyme disease came back positive.  She had grown up in an area that was a hotbed for ticks.  The rheumatologist wrote her a prescription for the antibiotic doxycycline which is used to treat various tick borne diseases.  She got somewhat better, but not anywhere near where she wanted to be in terms of quality of life.  Tick-borne diseases are becoming increasingly common due to expanding tick territories thanks to migrating deer and mice populations.  Seems that tick-borne diseases are most everywhere in the United States.  Lyme is by far the most common tick-born disease, afflicting an estimated 300,000 people each year.  It is transmitted by the black-legged, or deer tick, which is most prevalent in the North-east and Upper Midwest, but is spreading south.  The ticks are most active between spring and fall, and Lyme cases tend to peak during June and July.  Initial symptoms of Lyme disease are fever, chills, fatigue, headaches and achiness. A round, reddish rash appears in roughly 70% of cases.  When doctors see patients in the summer with general flu-like symptoms, but no sore throat or runny nose they should presume the patient has a tick-borne disease and prescribe doxycycline.  Tickborne diseases that occur in the United States are: Lyme disease, Tickborne relapsing fever, Hard tick relapsing fever, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Rocy Mountain Spotted Fever, Rickettsia Parker Rickettsiosis, Tularemia, Babesiosis, Heartland and Bourbon Virus Diseases, Colorado Tick Fever and Powassan Virus Disease.  If you or a family member or friend have any of the above symptoms that are listed, make an appointment with your family doctor and have a checkup.  Don't be afraid to suggest a disease that may be spread by ticks to your doctor.  Best of luck if you do have a tickborne disease.  Hope you get the medical help you deserve before it progresses too far in your body.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.