globecanvas

PM sent. I've had Lyme 3x, my wife has had it 5x including an ER visit. It's part of life if you live in the Hudson Valley and are active outdoors. If you have those symptoms and any evidence of a tick bite you should get on doxycyclne asap. With no evidence of a bite it a doc will be more reluctant to prescribe unless you are in a hot spot area for Lyme. My wife is at the point where she just calls the doc and he phones the prescription in.

echappist

Thanks for the prompt response!

It's good to know that one can still compete successfully even after contracting it. 3x? Holy crap, it's like the thousands of variations of the common cold except more deadly...

globecanvas

The key is prompt intervention. The horror stories are from people who have had it subclinically for years. And as you probably know there are a lot of conflicting points of view with respect to chronic Lyme, which are in a direct lineage from the history of chronic fatigue syndrome and related maladies.

globecanvas

And as I say, it's part of life. I know many, many people in my area who have had Lyme. When you see a friend in long sleeves and a sun hat you just nod and say "doxy?" I know that in parts of the country where it's less common, there can be almost a panic about it. My stepmom got a deer tick bite in Oklahoma, no Lyme symptoms, and went straight to the ER. I pull deer ticks off my kids all the time in the summer.

topflightpro

Congratulations.

From what I know about racing in this area, your biggest challenge to becoming a Cat 2 will likely be finding fields large enough to get any points. In many cases, your fields won't have the minimum five riders needed to earn upgrade points, though USAC and the CCA may be a bit lenient on that rule.

canuckbelle

They're (CCA) up front about being understanding and accommodating. E.g., sometimes they'll offer 4,3,2,1 upgrade points to a field of 4. I know other upgrade coordinators (e.g., Georgia) are also good about seeing someone and just asking if they want an upgrade (e.g., I was asked immediately after a crit win, but since I'm CCA, it didn't mean anything). I think most coordinators know that women's racing has issues with generating field sizes.

Enthalpic

Did you and your wife get the characteristic bulls eye rash?

Homebrew01

I don't think any of us have had the bullseye rash. That seems to be an overused cliche at this point, and should barely be part of the checklist since it's pretty rare (it seems to me)

Enthalpic

^ Exactly. I was wondering what fraction of infections actually got the rash.

Homebrew01

Even if you get the rash, it might be on the back of your leg where you don't see it.

JohnKScott

Sorry to hear about the seizures. Mine little girl is 15 now as well. I know that would disrupt her life a lot.

*Knock knock knock* "FLOWERS"

JohnKScott

ConCatUpLations!

island rider

Lyme... I'll show you Lyme.

I had bullseye rash, arthritis, bell's palsy (1/2 my face was paralyzed) and an irregular heartbeat in addition to all the normal crap. I was in the hospital for a week or so and on IV antibiotics at home for a while longer. I forget the details. This was about 23 years ago and for weeks nobody knew what the hell was wrong with me. I was working full time as a landscaper (as well as two other part time jobs) at the time. It got so bad that I was routinely almost passing out at work.

After treatment, no lingering effect that I or anyone can identify. When I hear about all the nonsense around chronic lyme now I just laugh.

globecanvas

Of the 8 cases we have had between us, I think we have had 4 bullseyes. When you get the bullseye it is a no-doubter, you're like, hey that is a bullseye and it ****ing hurts. In only one case was there no known tick bite, and that's the one where my wife had to go to the ER with classic symptoms of acute Lyme, which are basically the same symptoms as meningitis (head, neck, joint pain, and overall awful I'm-going-to-die feeling). The admitting nurse took one glance at her and the nurse and my wife and I all said "Lyme" at the same time.

Ygduf

I'm not arguing with you, but I find it a little weird that here you are with your symptoms of a severe lyme reaction, relating to others who have had different experiences, and yet when you hear of others that have a different reaction than yours, you laugh about "nonsense".

globecanvas

Although I wouldn't go so far as to call it "nonsense," I hear what island rider is saying about chronic Lyme. All of our cases have been acute and quickly diagnosed. It seems like there is always some background level of undiagnosable maladies that make some people fatigued and generally not right, and there are trends in what that gets blamed on: gluten intolerance, chronic Lyme, etc.

I'm no expert in any of that stuff and wouldn't dismiss anything, really, as a possible source of widespread not-rightness, but I do think the actual incidence of chronic Lyme is probably less than the perception.

globecanvas

Not to talk about Lyme forever here (it's not even the Northeast Racing thread after all), but I have never heard of an unnoticed bullseye rash. The rash is typically hot and inflamed and it really hurts.

Enthalpic

All those evil vaccinations

Ygduf

I don't have any idea if chronic lyme is a thing or not, was just an observation about "here's my experience which was xyz but I don't believe experiences which are abc at all".

Anyway, humans evolved living outdoors, gathering and striving for survival. modern life looks nothing like what our brains spent millennia evolving to prefer, so I'm not at all surprised that there are people out there (especially combined with diet, activity, stress, etc...) who just feel terrible all the time and want to attribute it to -something-.

ever just be outside, staring at a fire for hours and making conversation? it's relaxing and weirdly satisfying, given the low level of stimulation, at least in my experience.

Homebrew01

Well, there was a Lyme vaccine years ago, but the anti-vaccine crowd got it squashed .... gee thanks .... but they still use it on dogs. Maybe the vet will administer it to people ?

island rider

You're right. I'm being needlessly flippant. It stems from recent experiences with chronic lyme claims in a much different context. Happy to discuss in a different forum.

I've actually done a significant amount of research on the topic for several reasons, and I don't believe the science supports recent (although it seems to have died down a bit) fervor over the concept of chronic lyme. There are people who have been misdiagnosed for years and as a result have neurological difficulties stemming from the disease in their bodies for so long, that's different and backed by the science. Then there is the different idea that because you lyme it once it never goes away and will continue to cause systemic distress as a chronic condition. That is unsupported by the science as far I have been able to tell.

The problem with the discussions surrounding it now are that it leads to fears which are unsubstantiated as far as I can tell. Specifically that if I get this I will have long term trouble. Get diagnosed, take your meds, rest up a bit and you will be fine, is the medically supported reality as far as I can tell.

So, I guess to rephrase, I would say that, in my experience and understanding, a lyme diagnosis will likely not even disrupt this season too much for Echappist, let alone next season.

Now, if you want to talk about a disease that can screw with you later, let's talk chicken pox and shingles. Wow.

MDcatV

fortunately, the MDcatV clan is pasty so even the little deer ticks are very noticeable.

revchuck 

Way to go, CB!

MDcatV

one of my teammates had lyme disease 2 years ago, it wrecked his performance on the bike for a season and a half.

Ygduf

I tried to single-handedly start a rumor that Roy Hibbert had lyme disease when he fell off the face of the earth for the Pacers year before last.