I have the bullseye rash around a tick bite but no other symptoms of Lyme disease. Should I get a blood test?




4 Responses to “if you get erythema migrans from a tick bite is it indicative of lyme disease?”

  1. John

    Not everyone who gets bitten by a Lyme infected tick will contract Lyme disease.

    It depends on the strength of the person’s immune system.

    Millions of people are bitten by infected ticks annually yet only some actually contract lyme.

    Most tests for Lyme are not reliable and are often inconclusive giving false negatives and positives.

    Hence, many doctors will simply give a person with a rash a 30 day course of doxycycline, whether or not symptoms are apparent.

    Here are two helpful articles about Lyme.

    http://articles.philly.com/1992-08-20/news/25989867_1_lyme-disease-rash-doctors

    http://articles.philly.com/1992-08-20/news/25989239_1_ticks-spirochete-lyme-disease

  2. Anama

    yes. Why would you even wait on this if that is really happening?

  3. Dekayel

    If you have an EM rash, that’s diagnostic for Lyme disease. Your doctor should put you on antibiotics. The tests are problematic. Often the test will be negative, even though you have the rash. It’s because the test doesn’t look for the disease, it looks for antibodies to the disease. If your body hasn’t built up enough antibodies, you’[ll test negative, even though you’re sick. Don’t wait around. Your best chance of kicking Lyme is immediate treatment.

    Good sources of info about Lyme disease:
    http://www.lymedisease.org
    http://www.ilads.org
    http://www.canlyme.com
    http://www.lymeinfo.net
    http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org
    http://www.lymenet.org
    http://www.igenex.com
    http://www.lymedoctor.com
    http://www.touchedbylyme.org
    http://www.facebook.com/lymedisease.org

  4. Julia R

    Both the ELISA and Western Blot tests lack sensitivity and will fail to detect about 50% of cases of Lyme even if it is present. At that rate you may as well flip a coin. There are specialty labs such as Igenex and Clongen that specialize in tick borne diseases. There is nothing else that causes an EM rash, so if you have the rash you have your diagnosis.

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