I was recently tested for lyme disease and instead tested positive for rocky mountain spotted fever (another tick borne disease). Back in the early 40s, before there was a known treatment, the death rate for rmsf was 12 to 15%. But thanks to science this has been reduced to 0.5% in the last decade. A substantial portion of the deaths today, occur for those electing to not seek modern medical treatment or they take the holistic approach.
Interesting. Of note, one of the main reasons that doxycycline is a first line treatment for Lyme is that it also treats a host of other tick-borne illnesses which the offending tick may have had. Personally, I had some weird tick illness (~102 fever and diffuse myalgias/malaise) in Oklahoma that I got 7-14 days after pulling off a tick in a city park. I have no idea what disease it was, but doxycycline took care of it. I later contracted Lyme in northern West Virginia after a rugged disc golf day even though I didn't see a tick. Doxycycline took care of that as well.
Sorry that's TMI. But the point is:
- you can get tick-borne illnesses (including Lyme) even if you don't see a tick
- doxycycline is a nice, fairly well-tolerated medication that treats Lyme in addition to other tick diseases, especially if caught early enough
- other medications can be used for Lyme (amoxicillin and cefuroxime are also first-line meds) if you have an allergy, but dose schedules and duration may be different -- make sure to take a complete course!!! Even 21 to 28 days can be indicated.
- HOWEVER, not all simple antibiotics work; actually, my Lyme initially responded somewhat to cephalexin (a "1st generation" cephalosporin because we thought it was just a skin infection, while cefuroxime is a "2nd generation") before getting worse with a "sensory radicular neuropathy"
As a side note, I hear of people all the time that have some sort of chronic inflammation after Lyme. I believe it's a thing but haven't read much. Catch it early and treat it adequately, and I believe your chance of avoiding those chronic issues improve dramatically.
Oh... and with doxycycline, taking it on an empty stomach with 4-8 ounces of water helped me tolerate it perfectly. I had one pill barf after taking it with too little water.