We live in an amazing state that offers so many indoor and outdoor year-round activities, but not without risk. I’ve watched it all play out during this time of Covid-19 and quarantine. I’ve seen the best and worse of people, pushed too far, stretched too thin and with so much to lose on the line. I’ve personally lost friends to not only Covid-19 but also to Lyme and tick-borne disease. Loss that never should have happened, but it did because someone along the way, didn’t have the answers. Sometimes, it was their bodies that gave out, others just could not face going months and years in the painful, debilitative state that they found themselves in. Either way, it was loss that could have been prevented if everyone had been on the same page, at the same time, with diagnosis and treatment.

We’re all watching the pandemic play out in the media. Contradictions coming from many sources, trying to maneuver through the minefield of good and bad intel as the symptomology checklist changed and grew. We didn’t know then what we know now but one thing that was revealed was that not all patients are going to present the same way or recover on the same time frame. We already know that some get mild to moderate symptoms while others go downhill real fast, finding themselves in the hospital, possibly intubated. The culprit is the same no matter the outcome = Covid-19.

Likewise, with ticks and tick-borne disease, we have medical experts, both researchers and physicians, who contradict each other, who run parallel studies and still come up with varying answers. Some still support long outdated guidelines, based on outdated studies that have been refuted.

I found it interesting that Maine has been an endemic state for a very long time and yet, when patients present to their primary care providers or in the ER, they are not properly diagnosed and worse, not properly treated. I know this from daily calls and email requests for help.

You need to know:

A tick bite doesn’t mean that you’ve been infected, it does, however, give you a starting place for diagnosis and treatment, should you become symptomatic. Save it and get it tested.

Ticks in Maine can transmit many different diseases. and each with its own test and treatment. Besides, the many different diseases, there are different strains to contend with. So, if you’re bit by a tick, get it tested! Know what you’ve been exposed to (instructions are on our website)

While you wait, boost your immune system! Elderberry, Glutathione and Ledum are all safe and effective natural immune boosters. Bentonite Clay applied to bite site will pull out surface toxins, ice packs and topical Benadryl gel can reduce histamine reactions such as swelling, redness, hot or itchy symptoms.

The tick testing results are back – now what? Now, we get you connected to a Lyme literate provider who is experienced in diagnosing and treating all stages of all strains of Lyme and tick-borne disease. They will determine if further bloodwork and/or treatment is needed.

[Paula Jackson Jones is President of Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education, a nonprofit 501c3 and Maine-partner of the Natl Lyme Disease Assoc and member of Maine CDC Vector-borne Workgroup. You can reach her at paula@mldse.org or visit their website www.mldse.org]