Lyme disease

[DG_player]

Elena Della Donne said recently that she takes 64 pills a day as part of her treatment for Lyme disease?!?

That sounds absurd to my lack-of-knowledge brain. What in the hell is she taking 64 of? Anyone?

If she's taking 64 pills a day, her "Lymes doctor" is not a real doctor.

 

[Dingus]

If she's taking 64 pills a day, her "Lymes doctor" is not a real doctor.

Are you trying to say HGH, TRT, and Andro aren't legitimate Lyme treatments???

 

[U_NICED_ME]

I don't understand why more disc golfers aren't discussing with their doctors the appropriateness of keeping Doxycycline on hand as a prophylaxis in the event of a tick bite.

According to the CDC: "Tick Bite Prophylaxis. In areas that are highly endemic for Lyme disease, a single prophylactic dose of doxycycline (200 mg for adults or 4.4 mg/kg for children of any age weighing less than 45 kg) may be used to reduce the risk of acquiring Lyme disease after the bite of a high risk tick bite."

Benefits of prophylaxis may outweigh risks when all of the following circumstances are present:
1. Doxycycline is not contraindicated.
2. The attached tick can be identified as an adult or nymphal I. scapularis tick.
3. The estimated time of attachment is ≥36 h based on the degree of tick engorgement with blood or likely time of exposure to the tick.
4 Prophylaxis can be started within 72 h of tick removal.

Link to CDC article:
Https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/tick-bite-prophylaxis.html

*I am not a doctor, just suggesting more education is needed.*

 

[pearlybakerbest]

My doctor does this, I have a big bottle of doxy for when I get bit. Around here it is estimated 1 in 6 ticks carries Lyme.

 

[Dingus]

I don't understand why more disc golfers aren't discussing with their doctors the appropriateness of keeping Doxycycline on hand as a prophylaxis in the event of a tick bite.

Great question, this never crossed my mind. Is it available OTC? How hard is it to get a script in this capacity?

 

[pearlybakerbest]

Great question, this never crossed my mind. Is it available OTC? How hard is it to get a script in this capacity?

It was very easy for me, I just asked my doctor after the second time he called in a 2 pill script for a tick bite. He agreed it would be easier to have a supply than call each time I got bit.

 

[ru4por]

It was very easy for me, I just asked my doctor after the second time he called in a 2 pill script for a tick bite. He agreed it would be easier to have a supply than call each time I got bit.

This is probably not common practice, though. Few insurance companies are happy with prophylactic prescribing of meds. It is not really best practice in the medical field either. There are exceptions, but I doubt antibiotics are on that exception list.

With that being said, many docs can be pragmatic practitioners and will provide a script, if they understand what disc golf is and your true exposure to ticks. Have a discussion with your primary care provider and see how it goes.

 

[armiller]

This is probably not common practice, though. Few insurance companies are happy with prophylactic prescribing of meds. It is not really best practice in the medical field either. There are exceptions, but I doubt antibiotics are on that exception list.

With that being said, many docs can be pragmatic practitioners and will provide a script, if they understand what disc golf is and your true exposure to ticks. Have a discussion with your primary care provider and see how it goes.

If the doc thinks it's appropriate then they can write the rx. The nice thing is that you don't even need a diagnosis to write the script, and insurance doesn't verify why the script was written. There are at least two formulations of doxy, doxycycline hyclate and doxycycline monohydrate (one a tablet and one a capsule), and both are quite cheap.

I'd just advise against using someone else's doxy, or that recreational doxy available from the street (joking...), particularly to avoid getting the wrong dosage or appropriate duration of treatment.