r/CampingandHiking • u/CartoonistNo3755 • 22h ago

Tick on me

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Hello everyone. I found a tick on me I presume it latched onto me over 24 hours ago when I was hiking.

I felt it on my side and yanked it off before knowing what it is and pulled this guy off. It was still alive and moving when I pulled it off.

I don’t have rubbing alcohol and am freaaaaking out because the area he latched onto is a bit swollen. About the size of a small mosquito bite.

Any advice would be appreciated

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u/Chi_mom 22h ago

You should contact your doctor. That's a lonestar tick and they can carry alpha gal syndrome. Keep the tick in a zip lock bag as others have suggested in case your doctor wants to send it for testing.

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u/barry_vyolent 21h ago

Should also be noted that alpha gal can be transmitted pretty much immediately, unlike lyme disease which can take 12-36 hours.

I fucking hate ticks 🤮

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u/CartoonistNo3755 21h ago

That’s what i’m freaking out about is the alpha gal syndrome. And i’m reading that it takes weeks or months to even know if you have it😭

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u/Life_Library_9038 21h ago

I concur, it looks like a lonestar. Those bastards. It took months and finally a really thorough dermatologist for my partner to get diagnosed with alpha-gal. It makes you develop an allergy to any mammalian meat or by products and future tick bites that expose you to alpha gal can make it even worse. Our household had to pretty much go vegan. We use bug spray with Picaridin religiously and also have our property professionally treated for ticks in the spring and summer.

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u/CartoonistNo3755 21h ago

This is what i’m terrified of that i’m reading about. Sorry your family went through this. How soon after the bite did you have symptons? Do you still have alpha gal?

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u/Life_Library_9038 21h ago

We’re not exactly sure when he was exposed because he had multiple tick bites in the proceeding months. But it took over two months after his last bite that caused systemic symptoms to finally get a diagnosis. It’s untreatable. And it’s cumulative so each bite from a tick with alpha gal can make the disease even worse. I’m not an expert or a physician but I would treat it like any other BBP exposure and test now for a baseline and again in 30 days, 3 months, and 6 months. So sorry you have to worry about this!🤞you’ll be in the clear!

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u/CartoonistNo3755 21h ago

What kind of test did you run for the baseline? I read somewhere an allergy test and asking them to test for AGS works? I’m also reading that its too early to test for the syndrome so not sure if I should wait? Thanks so much

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u/Life_Library_9038 21h ago

Just the alpha gal IgE test. It looks for antibodies to alpha gal that your immune system produces. I say “baseline” just to determine if/what your current levels are and if negative, you can compare to future tests. It could take weeks for your body to have an immune response if you were exposed. Again, I’m not a doc, this is just what I would want to do as far as testing. Best of luck! Don’t let it keep you from the great outdoors!

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u/Life_Library_9038 19h ago

Okay, final thought, check out your state’s department of health website. They probably have directions about how to submit ticks for testing/identification and what you should do next. It’s a rapidly developing public health problem and the information and tick you provide could be really helpful.