Lyme disease.

 How to avoid or recover from Lyme disease.

I have been diagnosed with Lyme disease three times, Lyme extremely common along the northeast. Here in Maine over 61% of people have been diagnosed with this illness.

Deer tick

But what is Lyme Disease: Lyme is a tick born illness that is spread to humans by black legged dear tick bites. after they have been attached for 24 hours. The first symptom of Lyme is a bullseye like rash.

   Spending summers in on an Island in Maine my brothers and I can often come home with four or five ticks every day. There is so many deer that the ticks spread very rapidly. My parents remember when there wasn’t Lyme disease on the Island.

Some people are fortunate enough to find the bullseye rash. so they can treat the Lyme before they have symptoms. But sometimes the bullseye is hard to find especially if it’s on the scalp. 

Lyme disease skin rash.

      This is my experience having late stage Lyme arthritis: One week ago I was running around collecting shark teeth at the Peace River, and days later I was in the hospital. I had a swollen knee and the joint was stiff and hurt to walk with. 

      After many tests The Doctors told me I had Lime arthritis which is late stage Lyme disease I had to start taking doxycycline twice a day. I’m forced to wear a leg brace which makes it hard to move around. Doxycycline is a strong antibiotic that helps fight Lyme, but also makes my skin sun sensitive. 
    Having to wear a leg brace and avoid the sun makes it hard to enjoy the outdoors. I ice my knee and take Ibuprofen to take down the inflammation. 

      The last two times I had Lyme I caught it early. But this time I wasn’t that lucky.

   Hopefully soon I can make a full recovery and get back to doing what I love.

In the Hospital with Lyme arthritis 

These are some of the best ways to avoid getting Lyme Disease.

• Tick check Every night. The most common places to find ticks are: Armpits, back of knee, pants line, and crotch area. So we try to make sure to check those areas every night.
• avoid treading through tall grass. Ticks love the tall grass because they can hang of the tops and hitch a ride on any passing animal.
• dont walk through leaves. Especially in the fall ticks tend to hide out in the fallen leaves. So be wary.
• wear long pants with permethrin on Them. We always try to wear permethrin on our clothing because it is one of the strongest tick repellents. But you don’t want to apply it directly to your skin. 
• be weary of the woods. I love the woods so much. But so do the ticks. So I make sure to stay out of the woods until the first hard frost.