12 ms·
A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease
- ISL 4y agoI wonder what the implications for antibiotic-resistance might be for widespread usage at such a low dosage?
- lostcolony 4y agoDoesn't seem like it would be widespread usage given the checklist they provide. Title is a little misleading; it's not just "a doxy a day keeps the lyme disease away!" or similar.
- SECProto 4y agoThe article is about prophylactic use in persons who have had a tick removed that was attached for more than 36 hours. It would have no impact on levels in the tick population (as it's given after the tick is removed) and should have no impact in the human population (considering how low the proportion of people with ticks attached for more than 36 hours is)
- ISL 4y agoI'm not worried about tick-borne diseases in this context (completely agreed with your point there), but rather all the other things that doxycycline and similar drugs are used against. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetracycline_antibiotics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetracycline_antibiotics
- wffurr 4y agoWell I think the point is that using it for tick bites isn't going to materially increase rates of prescription / usage.
- bregma 4y agoThis would be of particular concern if Borrelia bergdorferi were spread from humans into the natural host pool. Without that, the selection pressure for a doxycycline-resistant variant of B. bugdorferi is low to non-existent.
- seltzered_ 4y ago"may be used to reduce the risk of acquiring Lyme disease after the bite of a high risk tick bite." This seems slightly different than outright 'preventing' as the title currently says.
- LesZedCB 4y agofrom another source: > The authors concluded that a single 200-mg dose of doxycycline given within 72 hours of a bite from an I. scapularis tick was 87 percent effective in preventing the development of early Lyme disease https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2002/0215/p714a.html https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2002/0215/p714a.html
- LesZedCB 4y agointeresting that it is for >= 36 hours. i always heard 24, so i'm grateful for the extra half day of buffer. though i also no longer live in the northeast, i hear it's a wicked bad year for ticks.
- adbachman 4y agomid-atlantic US checking in. We've had three cases in our family since 2010. it's always a bad year for ticks, it feels like :( still hopeful for a vaccine, though. https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/prev/vaccine.html https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/prev/vaccine.html
- cududa 4y agoHad to take doxycycline for 2 weeks after a tick bite. Man does that stuff destroy your digestive system. 7 years ago was on a date, just casually walking down the street. Coughed a couple times for no particular reason but my doxycycline lined stomach didn’t like that and boom projectile vomiting. Luckily he thought it was funny/ felt bad for me.
- cvccvroomvroom 4y agoBefore any round of antibiotics, healthcare ought to collect a fecal sample for subsequent fecal transplantation. The carpet bombing of the GI with antibotics and reestablishment shouldn't be left to chance since something bad might develop or lack beneficial strains.
- abakker 4y agoit sucks. I've done the full courses a few times for tick bites. it is just very very hard to tolerate.
- scotty79 4y agoI guess that depends on the person susceptibility to side effect. I had 3 weeks of doxycycline for unidentifiable bug bite and I didn't notice any side effects.
- Nick87633 4y agoThat's awful. I did a two week course but had no adverse effects.
- bregma 4y agoI had treatment 100 mg 21 days BID for borreliosis and was careful to always take with a full glass of water, as directed. Only noticeable side effect was affect changes. 9/7 would take that drug again.
- erisinger 4y agoCan you elaborate on affect changes? I had a similar regimen and experienced a weird sense of mental clarity and sociability for a couple of weeks after. Never have figured out what the mechanism was.
- Arubis 4y agoFascinating. Note that a low-dose daily doxycycline is an effective and common malarial prophylactic as well, with a different (I'd argue less severe) side effect profile than Lariam/Mefloquine.
- radicalbyte 4y agoIs that the one which makes you laconic / home sick / bit nutty?
- jen729w 4y agoLariam is the one which makes you a ‘bit nutty’, yeah. I hadn’t heard the homesick one, is that right?! Mad. Never had it myself.
- nerdponx 4y agoMy experience is that all antibiotics in that category mess with your head to some extent. I found that minocycline was the worst, though, and gave me horrible dizziness.
- treeman79 4y agoSupposedly It can increase cranial pressure. IIH support forums are filled with people saying to stay away from doxy. Some say It caused permanent increases.
- Arubis 4y agoThat's Lariam, yep. I can vouch for "a bit nutty", among other unpleasant mental issues. It's also inexpensive and dosed weekly rather than daily for chemoprophylaxis.
- AndrewVos 4y agoWow I had Lyme Disease a few weeks ago, it was INTENSE. The antibiotics they give you make you puke every day too. Or they did for me at least.
- erisinger 4y agoIf they put you on probiotics at the same time, it might have been that. Took me weeks to figure out that it wasn’t the meds making me sick, it was the probiotics they recommended to keep the meds from damaging my gut. I just didn’t tolerate them well for some reason.
- nerdponx 4y agoLast I checked, the literature was somewhat equivocal about the benefits of "probiotics in a pill" anyway, compared to something like a tablespoon of fresh lactofermented sauerkraut twice a day. That conclusion matches my personal experience too.
- librarianscott 4y agoThe literature is actually quite robust on the benefits of probiotics. Take a look at the different peer-reviewed studies just on this list of products sold in the U.S. [1]. The quality of these studies is quite high, and highly scrutinized. [1]: http://usprobioticguide.com/PBCAdultHealth.html?utm_source=adult_ind&utm_medium=civ&utm_campaign=USA_CHART http://usprobioticguide.com/PBCAdultHealth.html?utm_source=a...
- AndrewVos 4y agoActually they didn't. Which is concerning. This is the UK so they try and do everything as cheap as possible. Guess I'll medicate myself as usual.
- birdyrooster 4y agoToo bad doxycycline asphyxiates me
- stewx 4y ago*Doxycycline (typo, missing "c")
- renewiltord 4y agoSick, I had that shit when I nearly died of leptospirosis. Honestly, I don't remember that much nausea, but I was delirious so who knows.
- orangepurple 4y agoSpirochaete are the spawn of satan
- Alex3917 4y agoNot accurate. If you read the original research study this recommendation is based on, it prevents the bullseye rash, which they used as a proxy measure. It's unclear whether or not it actually prevents lyme. I personally got bitten by a tick, did the prophylaxis dose, and then developed joint pain which continued until I did a full 21 day course. Yeah it sucks not being able to go in the sun for an entire month and having acid reflux, but imho the evidence in favor of the prophylaxis is extremely dubious. source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200107123450201 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200107123450201 "A theoretical risk associated with prophylactic antimicrobial treatment is that it might alter the disease presentation so that the characteristic erythema migrans rash might not be manifested in treated subjects, in whom a more subtle, nonspecific illness might develop or asymptomatic seroconversion might occur. In such circumstances, an unrecognized latent infection might eventually result in arthritis or neurologic disease. We believe that this is unlikely for several reasons. [...]"
- Melatonic 4y agoAs an outdoorsy person I just want that damn vaccine to come back. Even if its the weird one that is very similar to what you can currently give to your dog it would be a lot better than nothing. Thankfully apparently Lyme either has not or is not common yet in the western US. I'm crossing my fingers we get a new vaccine before it does.
- Alex3917 4y agoAt this point there are so many common tickborne illnesses, plus many that haven't even been discovered, that I don't see having a vaccine against only lyme as being a huge game changer. I mean don't get me wrong, it would be great, but I don't think it would suddenly make it safe to go morel hunting or whatever while wearing shorts. That said, tick bites are mostly avoidable by following the various best practices that have been established.
- cakeface 4y agoTick bites are not mostly avoidable. It is mostly avoidable to have one on you for > 24 hours by checking constantly. Numbers of ticks have increased the past 2 years in my area of NH. I have gotten them walking from my car to the house. Also if you have animals that are treated with tick medicine they bring the ticks inside and then the tick drops off so you can get them in your house.
- bicx 4y agoIt's easy for some of us to forget that Lyme disease is an ongoing danger parts of the world. I used to have to keep it in mind when I lived in Tennessee, but that's one thing I don't think about much now that I'm in San Francisco. Of course, I have a lot of other problems instead, just not ticks!
- wlesieutre 4y agoThere are ticks and they have lyme disease! https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/environment/article/Lyme-carrying-ticks-thriving-on-California-coast-16215157.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/environment/article/Lyme-c...
- bicx 4y agoDamn it, can't escape!
- wlesieutre 4y agoFunnily enough, I just moved to Tennessee and I'm much less worried about it now. Barely exists compared to New England. California is a tiny bit lower incidence rate than Tennessee, but both are waaaay down the list. https://www.statista.com/statistics/742936/incidence-rates-of-lyme-disease-cases-by-state/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/742936/incidence-rates-o...
- oblib 4y agoWhen I lived in So. Cal, and even when I spent time in the Sequoia NP and NF, I never found a tick on me. I think I only found one on the entire 15 years I lived there, and I spent a lot of time bushwhacking around in those parks and the Tehachapis.
- angst_ridden 4y agoDepends on the place and year. Most years, I've had no issues with ticks. But after a rainy winter (like 2010/2011, or 2018/2019), I've been hiking with people who have gotten ticks in the Santa Monicas and even in the San Gabriels. Spring of 2011 was the worst. After a hike at the Circle-X Ranch, one of my companions had two ticks, and two of us had one apiece.
- xmonkee 4y agoIs there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and going on a hike and getting bit.
- radicaldreamer 4y agoTicks in california don't carry lyme typically. I'd be a lot more worried if you were on Long Island or on the east coast generally. If you do get bit though, the bite is very obvious and you'd know. If you catch the tick, you can send it in for testing, although it might be easier just to take the doxy.
- erisinger 4y agoAlmost nothing stated here is accurate…
- oblib 4y agoIt may have changed since I lived there but that was certainly true when I did. And I spent a lot of time rambling around the mountains, creeks, and NFs and NPs there and most all of it bushwhacking off trail.
- radicaldreamer 4y agoWhich part is inaccurate? (genuinely curious)... I was bit by a tick in Marin a few years ago (I caught the tick as well), got very nervous about Lyme and researched it thoroughly, was much less concerned after consulting a few folks in the Bay Area. Lyme seems rare here (UCSF estimates 2-15% prevalence in ticks but its far less common than on the east coast). https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html
- rzz3 4y agoThis is categorically false.
- Enginerrrd 4y ago
- Jistern 4y ago
- kirse 4y agohttps://www.ticklab.org/ https://www.ticklab.org/ if you've been bitten, remove the tick carefully and send it in. Free if you're a Pennsylvania resident, might be an equivalent lab in your state. Plus plenty of stats on ticks & diseases by state. Nice thing about ticks is it takes awhile (like 16-24+ hours) to transfer Lyme. Use a fine-tooth comb on scalp and do a thorough body scan after outdoor adventures.
- dtgriscom 4y agoWell, it's good that there are _some_ nice things about ticks...
- oblib 4y agoWhere I live (SW Missouri Ozarks) Lyme disease isn't as common places back east but ticks and getting bit by them are, especially this time of year. We get lots of folks coming here to hike and camp and backpack in the Summer months, but most locals don't. We go to creeks and streams and lakes and hang out on the rocky banks and gravel bars and swim, boat, canoe (float trips), and if we camp out we set up our tents on those rocky banks. I (and most everyone I know here) treat clothes I wear when working outside with permethrin. I spray my shoes, socks, denim jeans, and T-shirts. Those will last at least a month and a couple washings. We also do "Tick Checks" when we get inside after being outdoors. We do get out, most of us live in forested areas and we have gardens and lawns to tend to, so we do get bit, there's no getting around it, but we get those ticks off fast. I've never had an engorged tick on me. And I treat my clothes when I go hiking, camping, and backpacking in the cool season too (Late Nov - Mid-March), but the ticks are not near as bad then. So, those practices likely also have to do with why very few locals get Lyme.
- jnordwick 4y agoBeen in Springfield for a year-plus now, and had my first tick bites up in Ozark and first infection from mites at my place at the edge of town. Good times.
- mauvehaus 4y agoBrave Little State from Vermont Public Radio did an episode on when we'll have a Lyme disease vaccine (again...) that's worth a listen[0]. New Hampshire Public Radio did an entire podcast series about Lyme disease [1]. Both are worth a listen. Patient Zero from NHPR was absolutely eye-opening about the medical system and Lyme [0] https://www.vpr.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2021-10-07/when-will-there-be-a-vaccine-for-lyme-disease https://www.vpr.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2021-10-07/wh... [1] https://www.patientzeropodcast.com/ https://www.patientzeropodcast.com/
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- treeman79 4y agoHave a severe autoimmune condition. Tons of weird issues. But didn’t know it. Would occasionally take doxycycline. My issues would clear up for a few weeks. Mentioned this once to a doctor neuro-ophthalmologist). He grew interested and started asking about how dry my eyes and mouth were. I said they were fine. He insisted on testing. I failed. I was just used to them being dry Declared I had had Sjogrens. An autoimmune condition. That he had seen many people in his decades that doxy helped with Sjogrens. Later this was confirmed. Said I shouldn’t listen to any doctor that ignored the antibiotic link. Every single doctor I’ve talked to thought I was crazy for suggesting their was a relationship. I then discovered the Marshall plan which is super controversial. Basically that some auto immune‘s are caused by a very low level infection. Maybe in the mitochondria. Doctors mostly consider that a quack theory. I was tested for Lyme. (Negative) As symptoms are very similar. No idea. A course of doxy will give me about a month of feeling great. But doctors just say I’m lying. Would love to be able to figure a way to test the theory.