Found a tick on my back this morning, off to doctor, doxycycline. Aaaargh!
… are you saying you get a full dose of antibiotics every time you find a tick on you? Most ticks don’t even carry Lyme.
No they just gave me a single dose and are testing the tick.
Have you had lyme disease in the past? That seems like overkill for most people in places where ticks are common.
In places where Lyme is endemic, it’s very widely accepted to prescribe a prophylactic dose of doxy when a deer tick is found attached.
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/tick-bite-prophylaxis.html
“In areas that are highly endemic for Lyme disease, a single prophylactic dose of doxycycline (200 mg for adults or 4.4 mg/kg for children of any age weighing less than 45 kg) may be used to reduce the risk of acquiring Lyme disease after the bite of a high risk tick bite.”
That’s a normal course of action. Most doctors and urgent cares don’t even blink if you ask. I’d never skip prophylaxis with a deer tick bite–the risk of actually getting lyme around here is just way too large.
HP, glad you went to the doc!
@Simkie thank you, that is exactly what happened. And they called me today saying they could not get a result on the tick specimen so I have to go for a titer blood draw in six weeks. But no bullseye rash…
I’ve had lyme twice with no bullseye and never saw the tick They are SO small!
Hopefully you are fine! I was shocked at just how bad I felt the first time.
Interesting. A single dose, especially if it was a deer tick, sounds like it makes sense. A full course of Doxy for a single tick bite as a preventative worried me so I’m glad that’s not what OP meant.
I grew up in PA and if I got antibiotics for every tick bite I would have been on them for probably 12 years straight. I had tick bites all the time as a kid. I did eventually get Lyme and don’t get me wrong that’s no joke, but neither is antibiotic resistance.