Lyme Disease: Prevention and Early Intervention

Tics begin to rear their ugly little heads in the early spring. The tics that are out in the spring are often hard to detect because they are nymph ticks, which means that they are as tiny as a spec of dirt. I found one on my own son and it was barely visible to the naked eye.

In summer the ticks begin to grow so they are easier to spot. They like to hide on your body in warmer places, which means they can crawl under your armpits, up your shirt and pants, and nestle themselves in your hair. This is why it is extremely important to protect every area of your skin with protectant and check your body thoroughly when coming in from outside.

I found another tic on my son; hidden under his little arm pit and we had to take him for an emergency visit to get it removed. And this is coming from someone who is hyper vigilant to protecting against tics. Children are very much at risk since they like to roll around in the grass and play in the woods. And if you have a child like my Thomas, the bugs absolutely love him, so I have to apply tic protectant everywhere on him continually throughout the day.

It is important to note that Tics are not just found in the woods anymore, they can be at your local park, outside on school play grounds, in baseball and soccer fields. They can be found just about anywhere where grass and trees are present. Some people have even reported being bitten at the beach and in cities.

Often times when autumn comes, people believe that Tick season is over in the Northeast because the weather is cooler. This is absolutely not true. Ticks can live well into November and if we have a mild winter, they can sometimes survive through winter. September and October are particularly dangerous months since Ticks love to live in fallen leaves. Children playing in leaves and those raking leaves should be protected. Those who love to take beautiful autumn walks should be diligent about using protection. I urge everyone to use protection from Ticks until the very cold months of December in the Northeast.

I do not like spraying chemicals on my body or my children’s body’s. As a result, I make my own bug/tick repellant that works great.

My Tick/Bug Replant Recipe

1 cup of Witch Hazel

1/3 cup water

And the following essential oils:

Lavender, Citronella, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus, Lemon Grass, and Saddle Wood. (Amazon sells all of these essential oils for reasonable prices)

Put it in a spray bottle, mix, and spray away!

**Obviously you have to make sure that you and your children are not allergic to any of these things that I have listed before spraying it on their skin.

I also use Avon’s Skin So Soft Bug Repellant with SPF 30. It is safe for children and waterproof. I go through tons of this during Tic season and last year we had no tics found on our children.

I also recommended that you take Astragalus Root daily as a protection from getting Lyme disease. DO NOT TAKE IF YOU HAVE CHRONIC LYME BECAUSE IT CAN BE COUNTER-ACTIVE. You can order this from Woodland Essence. You can take it beginning in Spring and throughout the summer to have your immunity built up in case a tick bites you. This is also something you can take in higher doses as soon as you are bitten by a tick. Taking this for 40 days has been shown to stop the development of Lyme Disease if you take immediately after getting bit by a Tick (As found in the Stephen Buhner protocol).

If You Get Bit

If a Tic bites you, I would consider taking 400 mg of Doxycycline daily for 40 days along with the Astragalus Root. If I had known this back when I was bitten in 2012, it would have changed my life completely! Most general physicians will not prescribe this high of a dose antibiotic for this time period, however, I urge you to show your general physician recent Lyme literature to advocate for yourself or to seek out a Lyme Literate Physician who will prescribe this higher dose of antibiotics to you. If they say no, go somewhere else and keep trying. Remember, you need to be the CEO of your own health care.

I have heard so many stories of people who were bitten by a tick and they were told by their physician that they needed to wait to see if they develop a bulls eye rash (something that only happens in a percentage of bites) or wait until they complete a blood test for Lyme (something that is often not accurate). You do not want to wait even one day when you are bitten. As I stated before, I am not a physician, but I encourage you to advocate for yourself for high dose antibiotics immediately after being bitten. The tick bite is the most active in the first 48 hours after being bitten. This is a crucial time to kill the infectious Lyme spirochetes. This is based on years of reading material on Lyme disease and knowing that the CDC recommendations are outdated and are not working.

Protect Your Fur Babies

A little note to those with dogs, our beloved furry children. There are many things that you can now have done to protect your dog from Lyme disease. They now have a vaccine and a special Lyme collar that works wonderfully. We have done this for our little Sophie and a Tick has not bitten her, even through we live in a high-risk area. It is important to protect your animals, not only for their well being (because Lyme can kill them) but also because Ticks can jump off your pet and on to you. I have heard of so many people losing their dogs to Lyme disease and it is heartbreaking.

Please share this with all your friends. It can save them from developing Chronic Lyme Disease and could save your pet’s life!