# I have Lyme Disease. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966 "2004-06-06T16:48:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/21 "2004-06-07T22:22:26Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > So, I have Lyme Disease. > > I was bitten by a tick last Thursday. It got me in bed… I’m still trying to figure out how the tick got you into bed in the first place. Was there mood music and alcohol involved? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/22 "2004-06-07T22:23:34Z")
And was it named Marv? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/23 "2004-06-07T22:31:29Z")
Whoa whoa whoa. Wait a minute now. Are you positive you have LD? I’ d always understood that it was a fairly complex thing to diagnose, and not something you could just check in with your doc to see about. I’m not doubting you’re in pain, believe me. I’m just not sure how you can be sure you have Lyme just yet. If the symptoms hit you that hard and that fast, I’d have thought it was a much more acute infection than Lyme, or even an allergic reaction to the anticoagulants the tick injects. I’ve heard of people nearly dying from such a reaction. In any case, best of luck. I’m sorry you got bit…but I’d consider a second opinion, if I were you. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/24 "2004-06-07T22:43:01Z")
On second thought (and more research,) it appears that if you get a dose of antibiotics within 72 hours of infection, you run about an 87% of getting rid of the Borrelia bacteria altogether…so aside from making you feel even worse for a time, the antibiotics are definitely the way to go, regardless of whether you were actually infected with Lyme Disease or not. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/25 "2004-06-07T22:59:43Z")
I’ve not been diagnosed per se, but my symptoms match Lyme closer than any other tickborne disease. From my readings, it’s a difficult thing to diagnose because it takes a long time to form antibodies and the tests give false positives and negatives more often than not. I’m feeling a tiny bit better today, though I think someone punched me in the neck. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/26 "2004-06-08T08:28:35Z")
> [@harmless](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out how the tick got you into bed in the first place. > Was there mood music and alcohol involved? 😃 Why do you ask? Are you looking for pointers **harmy**? BTW…Barry White and Corona 😛 ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/27 "2004-06-08T12:50:15Z")
**FilmGeek** , ick, i’m sorry to hear that. I hope you get better soon! Oh and thanks for scaring the crap out of me because I live about 2 hours from you and now I’ll be paranoid! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/28 "2004-06-08T12:56:13Z")
Tamerlane, you forgot [this guy.](http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0005/19/tick.jpg) Looks a good bit larger than a dime to me. I’m glad you at least caught it early, **Film Geek**. Hope it clears up fast. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966/29 "2004-06-11T22:21:44Z")
Well, I’m feeling much better. I’m still on antibiotics, and other than a weirdly swollen lymph node, I’m fine. I think the lymph node is that I got something (probably strep, as I get it often) but the antibiotics are holding it off for me. Let’s hope, shall we? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-lyme-disease/248966.md?page=1)