Tick- & Lyme- Related Info

I get a lot of visits to my blog every day by people searching for tick-related information, especially pertaining to Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases (TBDs), deer ticks, pictures of ticks.

This page lists the posts most relevant to these topics. I hope you find them helpful. Please educate yourself about tick-borne disease, and if you think you or your dog might have Lyme or another TBD, and your doctor or vet doesn’t listen to you, please persist with them or get a second opinion. Unfortunately, the medical and veterinary professions as a whole are behind-the-times with regards to Lyme and other tick-borne disease.

I have many other Lyme and tick-borne disease related posts planned, such as several Lyme myths. If you want to see those as they appear, check back here every once in a while or subscribe to or follow my blog. I also have many posts not listed below where I mention how Lyme has affected my life. If you want to read more about living with chronic Lyme, this link takes you to all the posts filed under the category of “Lyme disease.”

Tick Information and/or Canine Lyme Information

Bitten by the Bug — Extensive information and resources on canine Lyme disease, including detail on ticks (pictures of different kinds of ticks, tick checking, tick prevention, problems with tick pesticides/spot-on treatments), symptoms, problems associated with the Lyme vaccine, conventional and holistic approaches to treatment, etc.

How to Tick-Check Your Dog (even if he is big, black, and hairy) — How to tick-check your dog, including how to get him accustomed to handling, techniques and most common tick locations, supplies, and the side-benefits of a daily, thorough tick check (with adorable photos).

How to Tick-Check Yourself — How to tick-check yourself with a partner or without, and with or without visual or mobility disabilities.

Lyme Myths: Not a Problem Here — The myth that certain areas of the world or country have a Lyme problem, while other areas are safe, with examples.

Lyme Awareness Tip for Wheelchair Users — Explains how ticks get around and attach themselves to people and animals, the importance of tick-checking, and how to modify tick-checking if you use a wheelchair.

Product Review: Tick Key — I tested out the Tick Key tick remover on a slightly engorged deer tick nymph attached to Barnum. It didn’t work at all. Received a suggestion in the comments about veterinary tick forceps. Will try those next.

Product Review: Tick Removal Forceps — These surgical-quality tick-removal tools were designed by a veterinarian. They’ve been the only tool I have found that consistently works to remove the whole tick, regardless of its size, softness, or state of engorgement. I recommend them and give them four paws up!

Diagnosis and Living with Chronic Lyme & Coinfections

My Lyme Disease Is Not the IDSA Lyme Disease — My Lyme story. A must-read if you are unsure if you have Lyme or if your doctor(s) have told you you don’t have Lyme, but you think you might. Includes links to many other people’s chronic Lyme stories.

What a Bartonella Herx Looks Like — Explanation of what herxing is, why Lyme patients undergo treatment that seems so grueling, the difference between a herx and a side effect, and two videos of me at the very beginning of an infusion, starting to herx, and at the end of that same infusion.

Waspish Wednesday: Yes, Lyme DID Cause This! — Story about going back to one of the doctors who told me, “Lyme can’t do THIS,” three years after into aggressive Lyme treatment and healing, and telling him that he was wrong.

A Typical Atypical Day in the Life (Part I) — About living with Lyme disease and MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity), and how the two interact in my daily life.

life w/lyme, cfids, mcs: a different kind of typical atypical — A post where I let the stark reality of how hard it is just to get through some days, when my Lyme is severe, and how much of an effort blogging is for me. A peek behind the curtain of Lyme (dys)functionality.

A Service Dog for Body and Mind: A New Skill — My “coming out” post about having psychiatric symptoms due to Lyme disease and bartonella, and how training Barnum has helped me control one of the worst symptoms, which is agitation.

Interlude: Gadget Wins Posthumous Recognition — Herxheimer reactions (bug die-off symptoms from starting antibiotic or antiparasitic treatment) to Lyme and other coinfections, especially bartonella.

stuck day — Example of a day when I’m severely affected by late-stage Lyme disease/neurologic Lyme; how the symptoms play out, including inability to speak (apraxia), inability to move (partial and/or intermittent paralysis), severe pain, exhaustion, and weakness.

Please Don’t Comment on My Voice! — A post about the strange phenomenon of intermittent vocal apraxia that I have as a result of TBDs. Probably it is some combination of the effects of Lyme on my brain and babesia on my diaphragm. At any rate, this post is about how frustrated I am by people focusing on how my voice is functioning that day and how I ask them not to start every conversation with it.

Insomnia and Creativity and Neuroatypy — This post isn’t about Lyme, per se. It’s about how my illnesses affect my writing, but it includes a lot about how Lyme has affected me, especially in terms of sleep disturbance and the neuropsychological effects of Lyme on my writing and creativity.

PICC Line & Infusion-Related Posts

Hospital Access FAIL — Struggles I underwent to get my PICC line replaced.

An Alert Pup! — One of several posts about training Barnum to alert me to my infusion pump alarm. This one has photos and details about PICC lines, infusing, and why I need Barnum to alert me.