Tick bite fever

[tay50]

Six trips to SA and my first case of tick bite fever, they can keep that stuff, went to urgent care yesterday got the Doxycycline, on the road to recovery. Wow is all I can say about how this make you feel, Covid wasn't even this bad for me. Headaches, chills, high fever, achy joints, so be careful or spray your clothes, as you can guess I'm doing it next time.

 

[Doug3006]

I got it on my first trip to SA in June and my experience was just like yours! COVID was nothing compared to how sick I felt. Doxy did the trick for me too. I used Sawyers Pymethrin and that killed hundreds of the little buggers. But z3 got to me and that’s all it took.

 

[Deepfork]

Six trips to SA and my first case of tick bite fever, they can keep that stuff, went to urgent care yesterday got the Doxycycline, on the road to recovery. Wow is all I can say about how this make you feel, Covid wasn't even this bad for me. Headaches, chills, high fever, achy joints, so be careful or spray your clothes, as you can guess I'm doing it next time.

Yep I got it when we went in Aug of 2022. Actually brought the tick all the way home with me, it was right in the middle of my back. Told my PH about it he tried charge me a trophy fee for the tick!

 

[poco]

I have had three major insect incompacitys
1. tick bite fever, down two weeks
2. West Nile virus 2-3 weeks in bed
3.black widow spider bite 2 weeks of misery

pyrethrin & deet works when you first put it on

 

[Dewald]

Sorry to hear, and I’m glad you are recovering. That is one of the main reasons I’m such a big fan of Doxy as Malaria prophylaxis, as it protects against rickettsia, since you take it for two weeks after you return home, which is the incubation period. Those headaches are something else. I’ve had TBF and Malaria, and will take the latter any day.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I've had two out of three and possibly all of them. Bit by a black widow on California wildfires in 1977. It kept me off the line for a day before a position opened for animal packer. I was picked up immediately because I could shoe some of the stock. The spider had bit me on the inside of the thigh, probably while sleeping, and it was still a bit messy. Kept myself working loading and looking after stock till I could ride again. Just one day of being really sick at the local Indian clinic. 2022 I brought African tick bite fever home. I noticed the tick in the shower at the lodge (tiny bugger) but didn't see where it had latched on the back side of my calf. After I got home at first I thought I was just suffering jet lag, but symptoms became worse daily until I finally discovered the bite site while getting in the car to go to ER. Then I was prescribed the wrong antibiotic by a doctor who wouldn't listen to his patient. But the pharmacist did. She called in a nurse who changed the meds. I was on the mend within hours and able to walk my daughter down the aisle the next day.

There's still a crater on the back of my leg at the bite site.

I may have contracted West Nile years ago. Very likely. Birds were dropping like flies around here. But like most folks, I probably brushed it off as a cold or flu.

So far no Lyme disease, knock on wood! Or encephalitis. Yikes, that's a scary bug born disease. But thankfully I'm too far north for that to be a big concern. Only one recorded case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Ontario so not much of a concern there. Folks in warmer climate also need to be more wary of handling rodents or even rodent killers. A few years back a biologist tech at Grand Canyon Park succumbed to pneumonic plague after doing an autopsy on an infected cougar. Pneumonic plague is not to be confused with the more common and better known bubonic plague. Pneumonic variety kills very quickly, often before medical aid can be reached. Best to let those dead squirrels cool down in the freezer for a bit before dealing with them.

The curious thing about my tick bite fever symptoms is I had no fever except briefly one night and no headache to speak of. Apparently symptoms can be quite variable. I know one fella on another forum had cardiac arrhythmia for months afterwards. He was too sick to work for almost two months.

 

[WyoBull]

Sorry to hear, and I’m glad you are recovering. That is one of the main reasons I’m such a big fan of Doxy as Malaria prophylaxis, as it protects against rickettsia, since you take it for two weeks after you return home, which is the incubation period. Those headaches are something else. I’ve had TBF and Malaria, and will take the latter any day.

My wife and I were also prescribed Doxycycline and started it 3 days before we left and took it for 4 weeks after we got home so just finished it last week.
It was prescribed as an anti-Malaria medication but did not realize it would prevent tick fever as well. Good to know.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

My wife and I were also prescribed Doxycycline and started it 3 days before we left and took it for 4 weeks after we got home so just finished it last week.
It was prescribed as an anti-Malaria medication but did not realize it would prevent tick fever as well. Good to know.

Yes, that was the correct medication the nurse practitioner prescribed for my tick bite fever.

 

[channelkat]

Uck. A buddy of mine got that Alpha-gal syndrome. That is probably my biggest fear when in the field. Now if he even gets a little cross contamination of red meat in the cooking pan he swells up for days.

 

[BRICKBURN]

......... Headaches, chills, high fever, achy joints, so be careful or spray your clothes, as you can guess I'm doing it next time.

Been there, done that. Never want a repeat performance. RSA doc gave me the proper treatment and I was right as rain in short order.

 

[Cam300]

Sorry to hear, and I’m glad you are recovering. That is one of the main reasons I’m such a big fan of Doxy as Malaria prophylaxis, as it protects against rickettsia, since you take it for two weeks after you return home, which is the incubation period. Those headaches are something else. I’ve had TBF and Malaria, and will take the latter any day.

Is the 100 mg daily dose for malaria prophylaxis enough to also prevent tick bite fever? Just curious as online I see it’s often prescribed as 100 mg twice a day for infections. Would also be curious as to the dose OP (@tay50) was prescribed.

 

[Cam300]

Should add, I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Sideshow]

Sorry to hear, and I’m glad you are recovering. That is one of the main reasons I’m such a big fan of Doxy as Malaria prophylaxis, as it protects against rickettsia, since you take it for two weeks after you return home, which is the incubation period. Those headaches are something else. I’ve had TBF and Malaria, and will take the latter any day.

Not a great fan of Doxy as a prophlaxtic, as one of the side effects is that it makes you sensitive to sunlight! You feel like pins a needles across your skin. Had clients that ended up badly sunburnt even though they had sun cream on.
So for those with sensitive skin just be aware of this.
Its ment to clear up gonorrhoea though

 

[WAB]

Nasty critters! I came down with a wicked dose of malaria after one of my trips. I’ll never skip the malarone again!

This side of the pond, one very nasty snake bite requiring four doses of antivenin and a brown recluse bite. The brown recluse actually rots your flesh!

 

[375Fox]

Not a great fan of Doxy as a prophlaxtic, as one of the side effects is that it makes you sensitive to sunlight! You feel like pins a needles across your skin. Had clients that ended up badly sunburnt even though they had sun cream on.
So for those with sensitive skin just be aware of this.
Its ment to clear up gonorrhoea though

I really think that’s case by case with the individual. I’ve never had any issue myself with sunscreen once a day while using it.

 

[375Fox]

I’ve never had tick bite fever and hope I never do. I did not take it seriously enough though while I hunted in South Africa. Ticks are still a relatively new thing for me at home only the last 10 years have their populations really exploded so I wasn’t familiar with dealing with them. I treat all my clothes I wear in woods with permethrin now at home as standard practice and will with any clothes I take hunting with me. Good thing is outside South Africa I have seen very few ticks. Cold temperatures or regular burning really keeps them down.

 

[Sideshow]

I really think that’s case by case with the individual. I’ve never had any issue myself with sunscreen once a day while using it.

Yeah definitely case by case. But with 20 pax per trip over two and a half years I got to see a lot of people that had this side effect. Malarone has its own kick. Was designed as an Antidepressant which turned out to be a great prophylactic, as an antidepressant not so good if your on depresistant meds it can make you worse! Had one girl who wanted to take a swim in Lake Kariba had to tire her down. Wasn’t till we got to Vic falls and visited the doc that we figured out what was up.
With malaria I just made dam sure I was covered up. But for short trips talk to your GP!
Sorry slightly off topic.

 

[revturbo9967]

I grew up one town over from where Lyme disease was discovered, and live only 3 towns from it now. I have had it twice in my life and that was enough. That said, I somewhat run the same course as the PHs in Africa who don't take a prophylactic for malaria, I don't do much to prevent ticks as they're everywhere near me. Just check ourselves every time we are outside anywhere other then our yard.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I’ve never had tick bite fever and hope I never do. I did not take it seriously enough though while I hunted in South Africa. Ticks are still a relatively new thing for me at home only the last 10 years have their populations really exploded so I wasn’t familiar with dealing with them. I treat all my clothes I wear in woods with permethrin now at home as standard practice and will with any clothes I take hunting with me. Good thing is outside South Africa I have seen very few ticks. Cold temperatures or regular burning really keeps them down.

Don't count on it. My brother lived in upstate NY for most of the last 33 years. About 10 years ago or so he got Lyme's disease from a tick bite he got from a tick in the Adirondacks.

 

[revturbo9967]

Yeah definitely case by case. But with 20 pax per trip over two and a half years I got to see a lot of people that had this side effect. Malarone has its own kick. Was designed as an Antidepressant which turned out to be a great prophylactic, as an antidepressant not so good if your on depresistant meds it can make you worse! Had one girl who wanted to take a swim in Lake Kariba had to tire her down. Wasn’t till we got to Vic falls and visited the doc that we figured out what was up.
With malaria I just made dam sure I was covered up. But for short trips talk to your GP!
Sorry slightly off topic.

I really had no issue with Malarone other than funky dreams, but they weren't bad.