Lyme Disease Testing - Should I Take Antibiotics If I Have A Tick Bite?

Question

Not sure if I have lyme disease - I was out in a forested area all day and felt a tick bite on my legs. I've heard that sometimes you don't feel the symptoms for a while, but would like to confirm this with facts. I'm sure some kind of lyme disease testing would be possible.

Answer 1

The size of the tick and how long it was attached to your skin is important here. Did you take any antibiotics soon after the bite? It's the first line of defense for tick bites. If the mark on your skin is something like a quarter-sized bull's eye (a reddish kind of rash), it's lyme disease and you should take antibiotics immediately.

Lyme disease testing is possible if you were able to remove the tick completely from your skin with tweezers. Sometimes symptoms of lyme disease are not immediately noticed. If so, an easy way to confirm is to have the tick tested for the presence of the disease (it's transmitable to humans).

Answer 2

Good sources of info about Lyme disease:

http://www.lymedisease.org

http://www.canlyme.com

http://www.lymenet.org

http://www.lymeinfo.net

http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org

http://www.ilads.org

http://www.betterhealthguy.com

http://www.publichealthalert.com