Dealing with TIcks and Tick Borne Disease
Mar 11, 2023 14:38:24 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, hmoosek, and 2 more like this
Post by macmex on Mar 11, 2023 14:38:24 GMT -6
I have very little time to write, right now, but I want to start this thread. Anyone can contribute and I can come back and add more as we go. Let me start out by mentioning that I have had some issues with cognitive impairment in the last few years. At least part of the problem has been determined to have roots in tick borne disease. I contracted a form of borelia, a cousin to Lymes, found only in certain areas of the East Coast and carried it with me at least 15 years, I suspect longer. Some symptoms are insomnia, confusion, night sweats, general weakness, psychosis (in some), depression, anxiety and... well, I'll add more if I can remember them. Memory issues are one of the symptoms. A major problem for those who contract this disease is that it DOES NOT SHOW UP IN ANY TEST covered by any insurance that I am aware of. That means, unless the affected person decides to simply "suck it up" and pay for the one lab test which accurately tells is they have it, their doctor will generally tell them that they are apparently fine and that, perhaps they need psychological help. Over the years I have had two friends, out East who committed suicide, while in their 30s. I'm betting when I get to be with the Lord that 1) I'm going to see them there, and 2) We'll learn that tick borne disease was a major contributor to their problems. In one of these cases I believe he had all the symptoms and lived in the epicenter of this particular disease.
My time to write is short. So let me make the most important point about avoiding these diseases (and there are many tick borne diseases). The most important thing is to avoid getting bit by ticks and if you do, get them removed as quickly as possible. I have had as many as 40-50 tick bites in a day before I really started to work on avoidance.
If you need a quick solution the answer seems to be that one use a insect repellent with a high percentage of DEET. It's not necessary to slather your skin with the stuff but rather to spray your socks, pants cuffs (Heaven forbid you go out there in shorts!) and waistline. This treatment will protect you for a minimum of 4-6 hours. I've done this for years. However, it's so easy to neglect and, around here, it's so easy to step out and get zapped, in a moment of carelessness.
So, I've taken to using permethrin and treating the pants, socks and shirts I use outdoors. In an outdoorsmens store or feed store one can often find permethrin all mixed and ready to go in a spray can, meant for human clothing. But this is kind of pricey. So I mix my own. I purchase the stuff
This I dilute and put in a generic spray bottle. I mark it "for clothing" and treat my clothes.
Starting with 10% permethrin solution, as found in the feed store, mix 1.25 Oz of 10% Permethrin to 24 Oz water in a spray bottle. I wash my clothes and then, when I pull them out of the dryer, I spray them, wetting them with this solution. Wear gloves, let dry before use. I hang the clothes out to dry. I don't run them through the dryer.
Once dry I can wear them and ticks and chiggars leave me alone. The clothes are effective for six washings.
I only have to do this during April through early June, as a rule. The ticks are not much of a problem after that, and I can use the insect repellent when I'm going into really heavy brush, otherwise.
My time to write is short. So let me make the most important point about avoiding these diseases (and there are many tick borne diseases). The most important thing is to avoid getting bit by ticks and if you do, get them removed as quickly as possible. I have had as many as 40-50 tick bites in a day before I really started to work on avoidance.
If you need a quick solution the answer seems to be that one use a insect repellent with a high percentage of DEET. It's not necessary to slather your skin with the stuff but rather to spray your socks, pants cuffs (Heaven forbid you go out there in shorts!) and waistline. This treatment will protect you for a minimum of 4-6 hours. I've done this for years. However, it's so easy to neglect and, around here, it's so easy to step out and get zapped, in a moment of carelessness.
So, I've taken to using permethrin and treating the pants, socks and shirts I use outdoors. In an outdoorsmens store or feed store one can often find permethrin all mixed and ready to go in a spray can, meant for human clothing. But this is kind of pricey. So I mix my own. I purchase the stuff
This I dilute and put in a generic spray bottle. I mark it "for clothing" and treat my clothes.
Starting with 10% permethrin solution, as found in the feed store, mix 1.25 Oz of 10% Permethrin to 24 Oz water in a spray bottle. I wash my clothes and then, when I pull them out of the dryer, I spray them, wetting them with this solution. Wear gloves, let dry before use. I hang the clothes out to dry. I don't run them through the dryer.
Once dry I can wear them and ticks and chiggars leave me alone. The clothes are effective for six washings.
I only have to do this during April through early June, as a rule. The ticks are not much of a problem after that, and I can use the insect repellent when I'm going into really heavy brush, otherwise.
