Bah lymebug: Lyme disease's in and outs

[danaeris]

So, someone who attended Baitcon (the camping event I was at June 27-29) has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. He describes itchy, red bruise-like spots with discolouration that are not entirely disimilar from the bug bites I've been combating (mine are almost all gone now, and no longer itchy or discoloured).

I went to the walk-in clinic to get tested, but the results won't be read for pickup until sometime next week, at which time I'll be gone at KG.

At that point it will have been four weeks and three days. I won't be able to pick the tests up post-KG until five week and two days.

The question is, if the test turns out to be positive (possible albeit unlikely), will that six day time difference affect the likelihood of recovery when I'm treated with antibiotics?

Comments

[sacreddragonfly.livejournal.com]

maybe you can call the clinic
give them the situation
if they're willing to phone a prescription in...
you could go into town when the results are expected and call from the pharmacy....

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

They were all, "It's illegal to give results over the phone because it could be anyone on the other line."

[sacreddragonfly.livejournal.com]

I guess I get it, but that's kinda mean :(

you could call the toll-free health Canada number and ask them the question about the impact of waiting those extra days.

I don't know if they trace calls at all, but might not hurt to call from a pay phone...I never know how much I trust the government and health

[fyfer.livejournal.com]

Would they be allowed to fax the results somewhere? I know that's really no different than phoning (less private, really) but for some reason, my doctors will do that. (Different laws here of course.)

[vsbooklady.livejournal.com]

8 out of 10 people who contract Lyme disease have one bite and the redness expands outwards for several days, resulting in a "bull's eye" looking rash. Not to say you won't test positive, but it's another strike against it if you don't (or didn't) have this type of rash.
Definitely ask them about the chance of false negatives or false positives and insist on a follow-up test if you think it's warranted.

[foms.livejournal.com]

Speaking of KG, I haven't heard from you about your stay in our town (maybe at our place).

[insomnia.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that I hope you don't have it, as it can be pretty lifechanging. hopeforyou could tell you a lot more about it, as she has been dealing with it for over a year now...

[truthspeaker.livejournal.com]

Hypothetically speaking, *if* you have Lyme disease, I believe that you really do want to get antibiotics as soon as possible. However, please consult a real medical doctor on the health line.

On the other hand, a Lyme disease rash is special in that it appears several days after you get back (about the time the other ones go away) and keeps expanding outwards.

I got normal bug bites and one deer tick bite. My "normal" bug bites included a lot of mosquito bites and some small itchy bites that looked like a smear of blood just beneath the skin. They were red immediately afterwards but only turned blood red several days after. These are not tick bites but caused by some other bug that was at Baitcon.

The lyme disease rashes keep expanding outwards for several inches. The other bugs bites were much smaller and looked like a smear of blood below the skin.

I'm describing this so that 1) you know the difference, and 2) you know that other people at Baitcon got bitten by that kind of bug too

Hopefully, you just got the scary-looking but normal bug bites.