Ugh! So two weeks ago I got multiple mosquito bites. A girlfriend came over to my house and wanted to see my backyard. Even though it was dusk and I knew better, I gave her a tour.

Well, a couple of the bites itched so badly I could barely sleep through them. I figured they were just the first mosquito bites of the year and my body was extra sensitive to them. Then after several days the constant itch settled down.

This last Tuesday, a couple of the bites (especially the few really itchy ones) flared up again. And I mean a BIG flare up. They started again to itch like crazy then they broke out like I had been bitten again! But that's not possible. I've been travelling and I haven't been exposed to mosquitoes. That's when I noticed that the bites were turning into a bullseye rash. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain that sounded significant to me. In the meantime, the rash looked so ugly my travel companions were offering to take me to the hospital. So, like any modern girl, I looked up my symptoms on the internet - ha-ha!

Turns out, I've probably been exposed to Lyme disease and I need anti-biotics right away.

So I call up my doctor's office and leave a message with the whole story. Several hours later, my doctor's nurse calls me back. She hasn't even brought the matter up to my doctor yet! She says my doctor can't call in a prescription for the anti-biotics because "she isn't licensed to practice out of state". I told her I'd be home late Friday afternoon and if she'd call the prescription into the local pharmacy I'd pick them up and not have to delay getting treatment over the weekend. She said that I'd have to be seen and a blood test done (I just had a visit before I left for this trip). That means I have to go to Urgent Care and the lab isn't open on the weekends so no matter what happens, I won't start treatment until next week.

I'm really p.o'ed because I already have arthritis. One of the main Lyme disease symptoms is stiff, swollen and painful joints. Do I really need more of this?!?!??!

The ditzy nurse then closes the conversation with, "And I've never heard of getting Lyme disease from a mosquito bite." I told her that just because she hadn't hear of it, that didn't mean it doesn't happen. ANY blood exposure can transfer the bacteria. BTW, I originally called to get my doctor's e-mail address so I could send her pictures of the rash so she could see for herself but I can't get past the nurse who dismissed my phone call outright and waited so long to call back, it doesn't matter now.

Anyway, it looks like I'll be in urgent care this weekend. Yuck!

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Lyme disease is passed from deer ticks. My physician thought I had Lyme disease years ago and went ahead and treated me with a round of antibiotics. I had NO itching at all. As a matter of fact I didn't even know I had anything until dh said "What's that big red area?" It didn't hurt or itch, but did have a center area, surrounded by a more clear area then a broader red area. The area was really large. The reason they want to do bloodwork is to get titers of certain elements in your blood to see if you've been exposed and to see if you respond. So it really sounds like your treatment is somewhat on par with what I saw, although I'm not so convinced you have Lyme.

If you want to post the pic here, I'll take a look at it although I obviously can't diagnosis it.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

That does look similar to the area I had although mine was way bigger than that. But I'm not sure that size has anything to do with it. My ds had an area like that once and I took him to the pediatrician and he just said it was a bug bite and not to worry about it. I haven't heard about getting Lyme from a mosquito bite, so if you're sure that's what it was, I'm not so sure I'd worry. So have you decided what you're going to do? Is it any better today?

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Ticks & mosquitos aren't the only things that bite. I've had awful reactions to spider and black fly bites. I hope it's nothing major.

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I have more than one spot. That one was the worst and, of course, what concerns me is that it was healing and the itch had gone away then suddenly came back.

Turns out my flight is delayed. I'll have to go to the weekend clinic. I'll e-mail my rhuematologist over the weekend and send him the images, too. Maybe he'll be more responsive. I found out about the different insect infections on the Lyme Disease .org website. They specifically mentioned that many doctors miss the diagnosis because they don't realize any blood transfer bite can cause the infection. The website also said that once I have it (it is in humans) I am at risk of transferring it to another human through non-blood means, for instance, I could give it to my DD or hubby.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

I had never heard of getting it from Mosquitos either. So I decided to look up some sites so I could assure you. Most sites did not mention Mosqitos at all, but one did. So I will leave the link for you.
Lyme Disease: Bull's Eye Rash From Mosquito Bite

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies."
-- Groucho Marx

I hope everything turns out ok for ya!

And when if I were you, I would be looking around for another dr. with a nurse with a persoanlity!

I've never heard of Lyme from mosquitoes, either.

You can get West Nile and Malaria from them.

However, the picture looks like it may be ringworm. You could try something like Lotrimin. I don't think it could hurt anyway, although you may need something stronger.

My Dr. won't do antibios w/out seeing us, either. Neither will the ped.

Ringworm is very contagious and spreads quickly. It's easy to pick it up from anywhere or anyone. You could have had it on your hand from contact w/a pet, person or thing that has the fungus, then itched your bite. Open season!

If it is ringworm, and topicals won't work, either OTC or Rx, the Dr. may have to prescribe a pill.

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I had Lyme's about 10 years ago. I had all of the flu like symptoms that you can get with Lyme's. I never had any itching, but then again I didn't have a bullseye rash either. MY doctor told me that it was important to do the test BEFORE giving you meds because different meds for different results. I unfortunately had a very bad case, they think that I had it for a while before I started feeling really bad. So I had to have alot of tests and take a ton of meds before I even started to feel a little better. I was six to nine months out before I was "better". So I know that things are frustrating but definitely let the doctors do the tests first. I hope that this helps.

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Chasity