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Brilliant. On top of everything else I now have an expanding red lump on my shin/calf. Which within 24hrs seems to be getting a bullseye around it. Very itchy/warm. red centre is about the size on my little finger nail.
Never noticed the tick, and I check for them after having a couple in past years.
I really don’t want to be bothering the GP at the moment.
If you have a bullseye rash does it definitely mean lymes and antibiotics?
I do feel a bit headachy and rubbish but just put that down to stress it’s fairly common
It’s not a certain but ring you GP they’re doing phone consultations at most surgeries.
Here you go:
https://caudwelllyme.com/info/
If you have the bullseye then you've been bitten. You need to bother your GP and please please please ensure you get the right dosage of antibiotics at the right strength for the right period of time.
Can you post a pic? Some here:
https://caudwelllyme.com/symptoms/
The sooner you treat then the better chance you have of making a complete recovery.
Bother your GP. That is what they are there for.
Do not **** about with Lyme disease. Get it checked.
+1 get it sorted promptly with your GP and make sure you get antibiotics.
Hereafter - use some repellent- Smidge or similar.
I'd be up the GP's on the lively.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/
I’d suggest you get the NICE guidance on your screen in advance of the GP phone consultation. Some GPs are knowledgeable about Lyme, some less so. If you tell the GP the NICE guidance ref it’ll help them locate it and help you get the right antibiotics. Do it in a polite way though!
Then get ready to queue for ages at the pharmacy 🙂
My daughter had to call the Dr about her child and they had a video call consultation, emailed prescription and drugs delivered to the house.
Better service than the normal visit to the DR she felt.
So what did the Dr say?
You have contacted them haven't you?
I am not worried about you obviously but it would be selfish to get more sick than you need to right now. 🙂
I read the website and from what I can tell the mark isn't big enough to match the bullseye description - its about the size of thumb nail. I drew a line round the outside last night to see if it was getting bigger and it has shrunk a couple of mm. So now I'm thinking it might have just been a nasty midgy rather than a tick.
So I haven't bothered the gp yet. Given the stress everyone is under I don't want to be whinging on about a bite.
I'll see if I can post a picture...
Check further around the bite site for any reddening away from the centre.
Anyhow, it doesn't always manifest as a bullseye rash.
https://www.bayarealyme.org/blog/lyme-disease-bullseye-rash/
My son got one on his balls when he was 3 after visiting a local kangaroo park. That was a fun time trying to carefully remove that!
So I haven’t bothered the gp yet. Given the stress everyone is under I don’t want to be whinging on about a bite.
You'll be revisiting that view if you do get Lyme. Get to the GP and get started on the antibiotics quick sharp.
You probably don't even need to go there. Send an email with a picture and ask for their advice. Better than a picture is probably a video so you can show how it reacts when you poke it. Does the colour rush back, come back slowly etc. Also see it from various angles.
Think of it as a lock down project - post it on YouTube and it might go viral 🙂
You’ll be revisiting that view if you do get Lyme. Get to the GP and get started on the antibiotics quick sharp.
It’s important that we use Antibiotics wisely to avoid resistance.
The OP has no recollection of a tic. He checks himself regularly because he is aware of the risk. He has a “bite mark” which was a small area of redness that is contracting and appeared within 24hrs (not sure what t=0 is if you don’t have a known tick, perhaps the time of the likely ride).
Now contrast to Lyme: an expanding bullseye (although not always present) observed 3+ days after the bite, and persisting for several days thereafter. Lyme risk reduces the earlier the tick is removed; and they don’t normally voluntarily detach until gorged (several days).
It seems unlikely to me that someone who is tic aware, got a tic didn’t notice, it stayed attached long enough to infect, it had now disappeared, it has resulted in a small red zone which is contracting rather than expanding, and is no longer being described as bullseye like.
There are plenty of other bites, or thorn injuries which can become infected and form red lumps. Most will be self limiting but some may need antibiotics - not necessarily the same drugs or doses as Lyme.
Of course the advise to discuss with GP is perfectly valid, but don’t go saying it’s Lyme and you need the NICE drugs because he’s spent years studying medicine and you’ve spend an hour on the Internet. It’s one thing to get assertive If you are sure you have an infected tick bite and don’t get the treatment you might expect, it’s quite another if you don’t think it was a tick, and the rest of the symptoms don’t match properly either!