Hi Girls,

I was just wondering if any of you had noticed you are reacting worse than usual to any insect bites during pregnancy?

I was bitten by a tick at the weekend whilst in the Highlands and have been left with a red spot (not rash) (now 48hrs). I know about Lyme Disease and have done the worst thing and been googling

Statistically i'm not likely to get Lyme Disease from this tick bite as it was on me for less than 6hrs when I spotted it. However that is not how my mind is working right now! I have been bitten by ticks plenty of times before but never had an allergic reaction - maybe pregnancy has made me more allergic ?

I know the bulls eye rash can appear 3 - 30 days after a bite from an affected tick and GPs won't prescribe antibiotics without symptoms(rash/fever/flu symptoms etc) and that getting Lyme Disease is VERY BAD the baby - mwahhhhh.

I will be making an appt tomorrow as I have now managed to work myself up into a frenzy and have been crying ever since I found the f.tick on me.

I feel better getting it off my chest and just wondering if anybody had any thoughts? My current symptoms don't look like Lyme but i'm a very paranoid pregnant woman just now!!!

Thanks, Pie x

I know I'm having a harder time with mosquito bites. The tick that bit you may have just been "dirty" and you've got a standard infection setting in.. in which case you'll take antibiotics and the doctor may lance it and clean it out. You may want to ask about a Western blot test (the same one used to look for HIV). It looks for antibodies that your body maybe building up in response to Lyme, if you have it. It would be too early to look for the spirochetes in blood microscopy. (This is all coming from my husband, who has had Lyme for about 3 years and has done a TONNE of research on it.)

lyme author, thanks for your advertisement but I don't think an American foundation can help much with someone in the United Kingdom.

Hi - I reacted very badly to a couple of common old mosquito bites - never react normally. I definitely think you should get checked by a doc though - not for the Lyme reason - that would have to be some seriously bad luck (!!)but as the previous poster said, more likely to be an infection. Xx

Thanks All,

I just had my 3rd sleepless night since the bite! If I weren't pregnant I wouldn't be giving it much thought, apart from keeping an eye for the 'bulls eye' rash (although not everybody gets this) and flu symptoms (just like swine flu eh!)

Am hoping to get an appt today with my GP who will be sympathetic.

Do you think it's better I try and get prescribed a week (?) of antibiotics 'just in case'? From what i've read certain antibs are 'safe' in pregnancy whereas, from what i've read, Lyme Disease most definitely isn't! Am not sure if they will prescribe them though without any definite symptoms. I've read up about the blood tests and seemingly they throw up a lot of false negatives? I did keep the nasty tick though!!

Hiya, baout 2 weeks ago i got bit on the bottom of my left leg....32 times!!!! it was agony, i even had to go docs about it!!! theyve gone now but left light scaring i hope will go away and now just keep getting bit!!!

Its driving me mad!!! glad im not the only 1!!!

xxx

Was that a tick bite you got Jox (from being out in woodland/grass etc?)

Go to a doctor!

I had once a tick bite like that, which was not treated, and I was really scared afterwards. I also have a family member who developed serious health problems due to untreated Lyme.

Go to your doctor, Pie, but try not to stress in the meantime.

Im not sure what had bit me but i had been on a field for about 4 hours having a picnic a few hours before they came up!!! took about a week to go down after the docs gave me some cream and calomine (sp?) lotion.

xxx

The reason the blood tests throw false negatives is what I said in my first post... the spirochetes (the actual bacteria) don't show up in a high enough quantity to be seen in a blood microscopy until you've had Lyme for a while. By the time the spirochetes show up, it's too late for antibiotics and you have what's known as "chronic Lyme" (this is what my husband has). The best way to pick it up early is by western blot.

As for the antibiotics, most of the drugs for Lyme are safe during pregnancy but you have to take them for nearly a month (sometimes more) and some doctors think it's better for pregnant women to have IV antibiotics rather than oral to flush the Lyme before it crosses the placenta and gets to the baby. If it were me, I'd wait for an actual diagnosis rather than taking antibiotics "just in case". It's the "just in case" situations that got us things like MRSA.

That sounds like what we call "chiggers". I forget what hubby said they are referred to over there... red bugs? itch mites? Anyway, here's the wiki link for them. I used to get attacked by them ALL the time. That's what I get for playing in the woods in shorts.