# Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever!!!!!!



## tattooed archer (Sep 4, 2013)

Well just talked to my hemotologist Dr. And my blood work came back negative for leukemia , I feel so stress free now. But it did come back positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. So take those little extra precautions and use those bug sprays. I hope these antibiotics help take care of this.


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## Bobby Jackson (Sep 4, 2013)

Good..congrats.
hope soon you have a clean bill o health.
we sometimes don't realize how good we feel..until we don't anymore.


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## tattooed archer (Sep 4, 2013)

Bobby Jackson said:


> Good..congrats.
> hope soon you have a clean bill o health.
> we sometimes don't realize how good we feel..until we don't anymore.



Thanks hope I recover soon or start feeling better.


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## Pneumothorax (Sep 4, 2013)

Wow!  At least it sounds like you got the lesser of two evils!  Hope the meds do their job quickly!

I just looked up the symptoms.  Sounds bad!  And the site I read said there's only 250-2000 reported cases each year in the entire US!


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## tbrown913 (Sep 5, 2013)

I had that back in 2005. ran a fever of 105.5 and went to the hospital. one doc gave me the big dose of meds for it since I told him I had been bit by two ticks a couple weeks prior. within three days I was good to go! it was 3 more weeks until my blood work had been sent to the CDC that they determined rmsf!


_Posted from Gon.com  App  for Android_


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## Bow Only (Sep 5, 2013)

You ought to send me a PM to discuss what is going on.  There is a lot more to vector borne disease and your doctor won't read it in his textbook.


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## bowhunterdavid (Sep 5, 2013)

I hope you get well soon, ticks are no fun, I got lyme disease bow hunting texas several years, got home and had the red bulls eyes circles all over waste, and had neck cramps. Doctor treated me with meds, but you never get rid of it, sometimes even now you get tired real easy and still get the neck cramps. good luck.


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## Dixiesimpleman32 (Sep 5, 2013)

I tested positive for rmsf this year.They tested me for lyme glad i was  negative  for it .i  was down for 4 days.took  doxy for 10 days.i hate ticks but they ain't going stop  me from doing  what i love.just part of    it.hope you get over it good quick


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## grunt0331 (Sep 5, 2013)

I had RMSF last year.  Felt horrible for about 3 weeks.  Good luck and hope you bounce back quick.


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## Pneumothorax (Sep 5, 2013)

For you guys who've been infected, how long was the tick attached?  I was always under the impression it had to be attached for at least 24 hours but I'm thinking that may be an old wives tale.


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## Bow Only (Sep 5, 2013)

bowhunterdavid said:


> I hope you get well soon, ticks are no fun, I got lyme disease bow hunting texas several years, got home and had the red bulls eyes circles all over waste, and had neck cramps. Doctor treated me with meds,* but you never get rid of it, *sometimes even now you get tired real easy and still get the neck cramps. good luck.


This may or may not be true.  There are a lot of conflicting studies but a complete resolution of symptoms can be achieved.  


Pneumothorax said:


> For you guys who've been infected, how long was the tick attached?  I was always under the impression it had to be attached for at least 24 hours but I'm thinking that may be an old wives tale.


The physicians are taught that a deer tick must be imbedded at least 24 hours before the borrelia bacteria can down regulate outer surface proteins and make the transition from the tick's gut into the host.  This has been proven incorrect in multiple studies.  One study showed borrelia transmission in as little as 4 hours and another showed an immediate regurgitation of the tick's gut contents upon improper removal.  Don't believe what a physician tells you about vector borne diseases.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 5, 2013)

All the more reason to use a good tick prevention plan so you never get one attached to you in the first place.

Hope you make a full and speedy recovery.


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## Pneumothorax (Sep 5, 2013)

Bow Only said:


> The physicians are taught that a deer tick must be imbedded at least 24 hours before the borrelia bacteria can down regulate outer surface proteins and make the transition from the tick's gut into the host.  This has been proven incorrect in multiple studies.  One study showed borrelia transmission in as little as 4 hours and another showed an immediate regurgitation of the tick's gut contents upon improper removal.  *Don't believe what a physician tells you about vector borne diseases.*



Great information!  Creepy, but good to know.

Why should I believe you instead?  Just curious what your background is to know this.

(I do believe you by the way.)


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## Bow Only (Sep 5, 2013)

Pneumothorax said:


> Great information!  Creepy, but good to know.
> 
> Why should I believe you instead?  Just curious what your background is to know this.
> 
> (I do believe you by the way.)



Besides being in the medical field and knowing how it works, I have a background in science.  I've also had Lyme twice and both bartonella and babesia.  Since no one could treat me correctly, I had to teach myself what was necessary to get well.


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## Pneumothorax (Sep 5, 2013)

Bow Only said:


> Besides being in the medical field and knowing how it works, I have a background in science.  I've also had Lyme twice and both bartonella and babesia.  Since no one could treat me correctly, I had to teach myself what was necessary to get well.



Yeah, I'd say that makes you an expert on the subject!!  Thanks!


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## Tennessee Buck (Sep 8, 2013)

Get well soon brother I hope and pray you have a speedy recovery .


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## Sterling (Sep 8, 2013)

Bow Only said:


> Besides being in the medical field and knowing how it works, I have a background in science.  I've also had Lyme twice and both bartonella and babesia.  Since no one could treat me correctly, I had to teach myself what was necessary to get well.



Would you mind sharing what you know and what you've had to do to treat it? It may need to be its own thread, but I'd be curious to what you've learned and can share. Thanks


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## Bow Only (Sep 8, 2013)

Sterling said:


> Would you mind sharing what you know and what you've had to do to treat it? It may need to be its own thread, but I'd be curious to what you've learned and can share. Thanks



The treatments aren't the same for everyone.  If it were easy, I'd be cured by now.  If you want to start a question and answer thread, I can answer questions and tell you what I've learned.  This topic has two completely differing opinions, the opinion of most medical professionals and the opinion of the people who actually have the disease.  I'm just a medical professional that has had several of the diseases.


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## bamaboy (Sep 8, 2013)

I also have been diagnosed with RMSF this year,I do not know how ticks got to me,I ALWAYS use the permerthrin spray on my clothes and boots,the stuff you spray on the night before and let it dry. Then the day of woods time I use the sportsman DEET spray on my clothes and boots. The Dr. that diagnosed me says the tell of a tic has to be on you and locked in for 24 hours has been medically proved wrong time and time again. They treated me with the antibiotics for 5 - 6 weeks and also had shots  that I had to go in and get. The Dr. said he wanted me to come back every 3-4 weeks after all the meds were finished to have my blood tested to see if the RMSF was still in me and to see how long it would need to be treated before it was completely gone. I now have less than 1% in me but the RMSF is still there,showing up very weak right now so the Dr. said shortly it should be gone. Good luck and follow docs orders!!!


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## alligood729 (Sep 8, 2013)

Tattoo, hope you get a clean bill of health soon. I'm not sure if seed ticks carry any form of disease, but I count myself lucky....I got home from an all day hog hunt 2 weeks ago, pulled, scraped, razored...seed ticks for an hour. Should have done the bleach bath thing I guess. After the itchy spots started showing up, I counted at least 234 bites, 90 on my lower right leg alone....no ill effects yet, and I hope I'm past the window....


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## bamaboy (Sep 8, 2013)

alligood729 said:


> Tattoo, hope you get a clean bill of health soon. I'm not sure if seed ticks carry any form of disease, but I count myself lucky....I got home from an all day hog hunt 2 weeks ago, pulled, scraped, razored...seed ticks for an hour. Should have done the bleach bath thing I guess. After the itchy spots started showing up, I counted at least 234 bites, 90 on my lower right leg alone....no ill effects yet, and I hope I'm past the window....



Alligood,go get checked,the Dr said the RMSF had been in my blood for awhile,go get checked.


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## alligood729 (Sep 8, 2013)

bamaboy said:


> Alligood,go get checked,the Dr said the RMSF had been in my blood for awhile,go get checked.



What kind of symptoms did you have, if you recognized any?


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## alligood729 (Sep 8, 2013)

tattooed archer said:


> Well just talked to my hemotologist Dr. And my blood work came back negative for leukemia , I feel so stress free now. But it did come back positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. So take those little extra precautions and use those bug sprays. I hope these antibiotics help take care of this.



Or you Tattoo....what kind of symptoms were you having?


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## bamaboy (Sep 8, 2013)

David I got joint pain,tiredness,real stiff I just thought it was a reaction to gout but not this time it was RMSF. The Dr thought my gout had flared up and was testing my blood to get the uric acid level and something in my blood came back with a certain result and they drew more blood and tested for lime disease and RMSF,came back negative for lime disease but positive for RMSF. Please David I just ask go the dr and get checked,It after all is just a trip to your doc. If it goes untreated it can have some pretty bad effects.


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## Bow Only (Sep 8, 2013)

bamaboy said:


> I also have been diagnosed with RMSF this year,I do not know how ticks got to me,I ALWAYS use the permerthrin spray on my clothes and boots,the stuff you spray on the night before and let it dry. Then the day of woods time I use the sportsman DEET spray on my clothes and boots. The Dr. that diagnosed me says the tell of a tic has to be on you and locked in for 24 hours has been medically proved wrong time and time again. They treated me with the antibiotics for 5 - 6 weeks and also had shots  that I had to go in and get. The Dr. said he wanted me to come back every 3-4 weeks after all the meds were finished to have my blood tested to see if the RMSF was still in me and to see how long it would need to be treated before it was completely gone. I now have less than 1% in me but the RMSF is still there,showing up very weak right now so the Dr. said shortly it should be gone. Good luck and follow docs orders!!!



RMSF is very curable and your immune system can actually cure itself of RMSF.  It's not so bad.  The fact that the Western Blot and ELISA tests used to test for Lyme Disease are very inaccurate and are not supposed to be used as a diagnostic aide.  They are to be used for statistical purposes only.  The CDC knows this but won't change the guidelines.  The Lyme test is currently useless IMO.  If someone is having gout-like symptoms, I would suspect a borrelia infection or multiple infections.


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## alligood729 (Sep 8, 2013)

bamaboy said:


> David I got joint pain,tiredness,real stiff I just thought it was a reaction to gout but not this time it was RMSF. The Dr thought my gout had flared up and was testing my blood to get the uric acid level and something in my blood came back with a certain result and they drew more blood and tested for lime disease and RMSF,came back negative for lime disease but positive for RMSF. Please David I just ask go the dr and get checked,It after all is just a trip to your doc. If it goes untreated it can have some pretty bad effects.



Thanks my friend. I'll keep a close eye out...so far, it's been two weeks, and no ill effects whatsoever...I think seed ticks are more of a nuisance than anything else, like redbugs....What you think Matt?


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## Bow Only (Sep 8, 2013)

alligood729 said:


> Thanks my friend. I'll keep a close eye out...so far, it's been two weeks, and no ill effects whatsoever...I think seed ticks are more of a nuisance than anything else, like redbugs....What you think Matt?



As much as I've read, I'm beginning to think everything is a problem. lol  

They're usually not a problem, we're just the unintentional victim in the bacteria's life cycle.  The ticks have to bite a rodent first and then usually a deer.  We are just sometimes taking the place of the deer.  

Fleas and mosquitoes are another issue.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 8, 2013)

Matt, if you want to make a thread on this subject, I`ll make it a sticky. Not sure exactly which subforum to put, but it needs to go where it will get the most views. 

This is an important thing that everyone needs to keep in mind.


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## Bama B (Sep 8, 2013)

I wanted to know. Can you only contract RMSF from ticks. Or is it possible to get it from mosquitos as well.


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## Bow Only (Sep 8, 2013)

Bama B said:


> I wanted to know. Can you only contract RMSF from ticks. Or is it possible to get it from mosquitos as well.



I would say you can not get it from a mosquito.  Other things yes, RMSF and Lyme, no.


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## Bow Only (Sep 8, 2013)

Nicodemus said:


> Matt, if you want to make a thread on this subject, I`ll make it a sticky. Not sure exactly which subforum to put, but it needs to go where it will get the most views.
> 
> This is an important thing that everyone needs to keep in mind.



I'll put one in the On Topic forum.  Isn't that the best place I think for answers?


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## Nicodemus (Sep 8, 2013)

Bow Only said:


> I'll put one in the On Topic forum.  Isn't that the best place I think for answers?





Probabaly so, and there will be no tomfoolery in there. If it carries on for a good while with a lot of good info, we can always move it.


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## Gadget (Sep 8, 2013)

I've had both RMSF and Lyme....... was a real bad deal for me. 

Did any of you guys get Bell's Palsy from your infection? I had it bad lost all taste, hot was cold, cold was hot, lost most of my eye sight, lost all smell, right side of my face was totally paralyzed, had to wear an eye patch because eye wouldn't blink, had to hold my mouth around a straw to drink, couldn't talk properly, took 6 months to get over. I've never been the same since, some of my nerve damage was permanent. Caused several other problems too.


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## tattooed archer (Sep 8, 2013)

Well been on doxycycline for five days now , this stuff will you fill pretty sick ,at least it's doing it to me . I go back to the doctor the 25th to draw more blood then back on the 27th to see results . I have getting sick way more than normal . My illness have been high fevers 101 to 104 very scary when its that high . Then the uncontrollable cold shacks that would last from 2 to 4 hours nothing I did could not get warm , these cold chills start happening about twice a week . Headaches , always tired , numbness in my hands mostly my thumbs pretty strange there.body aches all the time. I never had no kind of rash . But I really don't know how long I have had RMSF buti think it might have been in my blood for a while at least 2009 . The doctor pulled my blood charts from 2009 till present and said something started going bad with my blood and now it's pretty jacked up .i never thought doing something I love like hunting or shooting archery tournaments would lead to this .but I will pull thru this and I will be in the stand this weekend with my sawyer bug spray , thermo cell, and a fly swatter .


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## Pneumothorax (Sep 8, 2013)

For the people like me interested in the new sticky created for this....


http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=769909


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## p&y finally (Sep 9, 2013)

Nathan and Eric, hope ya'll are well soon!

I dont remember if it was Lyme or RMSF but I read somewhere it was 10x as bad this year as normal years.


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