Rick500

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On weekends, when I'm not brewing I'm likely to be hiking.

Last weekend (the day after I brewed), I did a five-mile hike with my dog.

I didn't know it until I got home, but a Lone Star tick bit me.

When I got home I saw him on my back but couldn't get to him with tweezers well enough to remove him. I went over to a friend's house (where incidentally, a couple of my homebrews are on tap) for a beer or two and had him pull it off me.

Fast forward to yesterday (six days later), and I ended up at the urgent care center to make sure I didn't get Lyme disease.

I had a baseball-diameter red patch around the bite. Lyme disease typically comes with a bullseye-shaped mark, but I didn't want to take any chances.

As it turns out, I am apparently extremely allergic to ticks, or at least that particular one. Not allergic enough to have a systemic (throat swelling, etc.) reaction, but enough the local skin reaction was really something.

So I ended up on a seven-day course of antibiotic, in case the bite was infected, some heavy duty hydrocortisone cream, and Benadryl in addition to my normal every day allergy medication.

Moral of the story: Brew on Saturdays and Sundays to keep ticks at bay.

Worst that ever happened to me while I was brewing was getting stung by a wasp. I'm not allergic to those.

Wade E

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Bummer to hear about that! My daughter has been diagnosed with Lyme a few years back but we caught it early enough that nothing has come from it and hopefully nothing will. Ive heard that it is with you for life, is that true?

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Rick500

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Yes, I think that's true. Fortunately, I found the little bugger when he had only been on me for about three hours. There's an almost zero chance of getting Lyme from a tick when it's attached for less than 24-36 hours.

The doc also said that Lyme is very, very rare here in Kentucky.

david_42

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I hate blood-suckers. One of the pluses of the dual-mode weather around here. No problems with ticks, fleas or mosquitoes.

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IrregularPulse

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I had 3 on my pants leg after playing some DG a couple weekends ago at a new course. I was able to flick them off. Good thing about ticks......Having your wife check you for them and then returning the favor

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I should have stuck to four fingers in Vegas. :o - marubozo

gratus fermentatio

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Ticks suck.

Apollo

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Reminds me of when I picked up my second dog a few years ago. He was completely infested! I spent weeks picking ticks off of him and the first dog. Thankfully those ticks stayed to the dogs and left my wife and I alone. The ticks were mostly little black ones but also had some nasty big brown ones.

Kickass

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I just had a tick removed from my back yesterday. A Saturday of paintball in the woods and i find the tiny little thing on my back mid-way through Monday. The doc said Lyme is not very common here in south central Kansas.

nostalgia

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Ick. I just had my first spider bite. Big, painful lump on my forearm. I waited a few days to see what would happen and it got big enough that I went to the doc.

Doc explains that it's not the venom that's the problem, but the infection caused by the bite. "See those red lines creeping up to your elbow? If they get past your elbow, you're in a lot of trouble."

A week of the biggest damn pills I've ever seen - not to mention the most expensive - cleared up the infection. Well over a month later I've still got a lump.

Damn spiders.

-Joe

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springer

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anytime you have swelling and are red lining get to a Dr ASAP . Infection is spreading threw your body .

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