Tick bites and the immunosuppressed

jamieA
jamieA Member Posts: 841
in Living with arthritis

In all my years of walking dogs I've never had a tick bite - until yesterday. I found it as I was about to have a shower first thing so it had obviously been munching away for a while. It was in my side just at my belt line so I couldn't get to it so my wife got it out for me. We have tick extractors for the dog so it was done correctly - though painfully.

I called my pharmacy first but they said as I was immunocompromised I needed to see a GP. I called the GP and they wanted to see me yesterday afternoon. The doctor was knowledgable on ticks as she had grown up on the west coast of Scotland. She said there was a large increase of reporting this year and the guess is it's due to warmer, wetter winters not killing off so many.

The GP said that as I was immunocompromised due to MTX and adalimumab I'd need a single dose of 200mgs of doxycycline and as a precaution have a blood test next week to be sure there is no lasting problems.

Comments

  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764

    A timely reminder, @jamieA . But even those who are not immunosuppressed need to be aware of ticks and their bites, We have, in my time on here, had more than one person who was being treated for OA when actually it turned out, eventually, they had Lyme disease from a tick bite. Nasty little things. I hope the doxycycline sorts you out asap.

    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • JenHB
    JenHB Member Posts: 147

    thanks for the info - I've had (and removed) several ticks in the past but this was prior to my immunosuppressed days!

  • jamieA
    jamieA Member Posts: 841

    Hi @stickywicket and @JenHB

    I agree that everyone should be aware of the damage tick bites can do. My neighbour was bitten on the arm and within a couple of days her arm turned red and blue. She had to have an extended course of antibiotics. My doctor said the approach for those immunocompromised was to treat them the way anyone reporting a tick bite in a high Lyme disease area is treated. Apparently there are maps of the UK showing where Lyme disease is prevalent due to the disease in the local ticks. The treatment is a quick blast of antibiotics but for me she wanted a follow up blood test just to be sure.

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