Warning!

How wonderful your husband has now been diagnosed and can enjoy his green house and garden I hope he pulls back to what he was prior now they know how to treat it and thank you for what to look for of this horrid disease caused by ticks.

I saw a prog. About LD on the telly. It is so often misdiagnosed. It really scared me tbh. I now won’t go in the countryside unless I’m fully covered on my arms and legs, no matter how hot. Thankfully, in Scotland it's hardly ever a problem to be fully clothed! :) But we have Deer all around here and they are the worst for carrying these ticks. It has put me off walking in the great putdoors, which is a real shame, but its a dreadful disease and so hard to diagnose without that tell-tale mark. I hope your OH is now well on the way to full health, but am I right in thinking it is never fully out of the body and can flare up repeatedly?

This has brought back memories of my OH being investigated for LD many years ago. He had been playing golf in a company tournament at the Forest of Arden and recalls brushing something away from his forearm, felt poorly for many weeks. The general diagnosis was a reaction to a Deer tic, thankfully he recovered.

Eirlys, so pleased to hear that your OH is feeling better now after such a long recovery.

I've never heard of it. Thanks for the information. I'm glad your husband has been diagnosed and treated now. I hope he's enjoying the greenhouse.

Thank you All, for your kind comments.

Yes, I suspect that the illness lies dormant and symptoms can flare up. I also recall reading that (ex) sufferers should not have the anti--flu jab. Our GP has not heard this. I am not getting one though I suspect my OH will follow our GP's advice.
We eat healthily and I have always taken vitamins tablets.

Thank you for raising this Eirlys. When I read about tics i get the horrors, but quickly forget again. So sorry to hear about your poor husband and send best wishes that he will soon be quite well again.

Well done you Eirlys for the weeks and weeks of patience and understanding, you are a treasure.

So glad that you both finally have I diagnosis buy boy it did sound hard to get. Glad also that your hubby is on the road to recovery and can enjoy his new greenhouse. Have heard of Lyme disease but didn't know much about it or that it was so hard to diagnose so thank you for posting this. Very rarely I have had to take tics off my old dogs (I have a special tool to do it). They picked them up from walking in a wood with lots of deer.

For us this is a recent hazard. We have lived here for many years and never seen a tick. However, over the last few years we have noticed an increase in their number. Not sure why .

We live on the edge of a Nature Reserve and heathland is being allowed to revert to its "original" state.

Deer are not being culled and there are quite a lot of them around.

Cattle and horses re-introduced.

No supervised burning of heathland that the farmers used to undertake years ago.

Global warming!!

Seems ticks are on the spread in new areas in Europe and are now found in many, many parts of the Uk.

..............

Steragram, Diane and Jen : Once diagnosis is made antibiotics work. The trouble is getting the former.

We also have this little tool for removing ticks from animals and humans. Down in Devon we were very surprised to find a large notice outside a shop. It stated, "Free removal of ticks". Never seen that before, or since.

Thank you for taking that difficult step of sharing your personal information in order to spread the word about Lyme Disease. It's important that everyone knows, because as you say it is hard to diagnose.

So true about increase in tics, now when I go to vets for the dogs and cats flea treatment drops, always buy the one that is ani tic
In it as well. Doesn't stop them biting but does kill them and they drop off.

Wow seeing that sign, there really must have been a bad outbreak that year. You have to be so careful getting them off, saw on a German Shepherd website a case where the owner just pulled it off and dog still had a sore nearly a year later. Nasty things.

Pleased to hear that your husband eventually was diagnosed correctly and he is slowly recovering.

Our rescue cat has a protective collar. Costs around £35 plus vet’s prescription fee. Excellent!

Broad line is also effective but needs to be administered monthly.

Thank you, Lisa and Marjorie’s.

Can't remember what the one I use is called. Get it from the vets. Ben costs more because he is over 40kg so he has to have 2. Yes, with it I have to do monthly. Star (My cat) has the same one but for cats. They all come with a little sticker to put on the calendar so I don't forget which is good because I would forget 😀.

I was always under the impression this disease was something yo do with rats...but having read up on it I see it is from ticks associated with deer etc....
I feel very sorry that your OH has had to wait so long to be diagnosed, I do hope the medication he has been prescribed will do the trick, and he will, once more be able to enjoy his gardening.
We live in Hampshire, and they cull the deer and burn the heathland in the New Forest......