Being Overly Paranoid?

Take precautions. Don't live in fear. I had a tick crawling on me last week. It was a rainy day. I wasn't even outside except to get in and out of my car. A friend had given me a hanging basket of flowers that I hadn't taken outside yet because of frost warnings. I think the tick came in on that. I've lived in tick infested places my entire life. We did a lot of tent camping and hiking when I was growing up. The tick last week was only the 4th or 5th time in 45 years that I've had a tick on me. Only one of those times was I actually bitten.

Mayo Clinic just posted this today. Great info!
http://mayocl.in/1UbDIXw

Go on the vacation! Pack DEET and you will be fine.

Did you start your anti-anxiety meds, RM? Are you taking them regularly?

This is a broken record that's getting pretty old, talking you off the edge again. I mean, you know your own answer:
Either take your meds and do your best to choose a vacation which seems doable OR continue to be led around by the nose by your condition.

No, I'm not being mean. But you can't keep coming here with the same issues regularly and NOT be surprised that we are getting pretty worn out. You might feel (and rightly so) that you are suffering, but from an outside perspective, this is a lot of unnecessary drama. You know what you need to do. We have told you-- opened our hearts, shared our experiences-- time and again.

So all I can say is, choose the plan that makes your kids the least miserable. Don't think they don't see it. It's telling that your own M. has mental health issues.... Please, consider your kids. Untreated anxiety and mental illness only gets worse, not better.

It doesn't take much to check for ticks (so inspecting everyone from head to tow will only take a minute or two). You can see ticks, so the only real "inspection" you have to do is rub your hand over their heads to see if you find any bumps that you can't rub off.

Even if you find a tick, it's not an emergency situation. Just calmly use tweezers to pinch the tick. Once you pinch it, it will release. I always flush them down the toilet.

I'm with others. Life has risks. If it wasn't ticks, it could be mosquitoes with the zika virus or a region prone to tornadoes or earthquakes.

Live your life! Do your best to be aware of potential risks and prepare yourself, but then let it go and have fun!

Lyme disease is a real threat, but not a reason to ruin your vacation. Do your research. Don’t go during prime tick season (spring), check for ticks after you’ve been on a hike, teach everyone to check themselves, learn the proper way to remove a tick etc.

ETA: Contrary to advice from another poster, do not squeeze a tick if it is embedded in you. That will cause them to expel saliva and possibly transfer disease. Check the cdc for correct removal methods.

I've read your previous posts, and I realize you have an admitted health anxiety, as you disclosed in one of those posts.

Of course, there are risks anywhere and everywhere. Lyme disease is real, and the world is filled with both beauty and danger.

So, if you haven't been able to resolve your health anxiety, through counseling or other means as determined by a doctor, then perhaps you need to simply respect the fact that you deal with this anxiety. And perhaps a cabin in the woods might not be the relaxing vacation that you seek.

It's ok to choose a vacation or get-away based on your likes or dislikes, fears or loves, interests and disinterests. My dh absolutely hates RVs and those campsites where people hook up their RVs and portable satellite tvs and generators and electronics. He would go insane. We both dislike inclusive resorts. That's ok.

Choose a vacation that suits your needs. Respect your own boundaries and take a vacation in a nice clean hotel. And then continue to work on your fears about disease, germs, bugs, and potential health hazards. And maybe next year you can go to a cabin and enjoy the deer and the woods. It's admirable that you recognize your fears, as long as you seek help in overcoming them, because health hazards are everywhere.

Deer roam in my front and back yards. It doesn't keep me and my kids inside at all.

We also have rattlesnakes, copperheads, coral snakes, brown recluse spiders, black widows, water moccasins, mosquitoes (can't make it to the mailbox and back without a bite there)...wild hogs, (foxes, bats, and raccoon who can all carry rabies)...

We still don't stay inside...we enjoy our yards and go to parks and live life.

Go where you want to go and have a good time. Also, not every tick has Lyme...if you got bit doesn't mean you will get infected...

Big hugs girl!!

Yep. You're being overly paranoid.

Use Deet products and light colored clothing, walk in the center of a trail...this link might help you...

http://www.tickencounter.org/prevention/protect_yourself

I live in a home surrounded by woods. We have deer in our yard frequently. My kids play in the woods too. We just check them. So far in all these years, we've never an incidence.

Erica's advice is perfect. Follow that :)

Lime disease is old news.
The one everybody is freaking out about right now is zika.
What's the point of going on vacation to relax if you're going to freak out worrying about catching some exotic disease?
Have you considered spending a few days touring San Fransisco or Las Vegas?

They make a product called Off, try that! Monday my kids headed out and there was two deer in the neighbors yard. Not only have they not encountered a deer tic they have never had a tic period.

Just use some common sense, if you are hiking in the woods spray with Off, tall grass, spray with Off. If you are afraid of Off wear long pants, tuck them into your socks, spray your clothes with Off

Ha, ha - welcome to my life! We live in a tick-heavy area and now that the warmer weather is here we are doing twice a day tick checks. Kiddo had a dog tick in his hair a couple weeks back (unattached) and I had a deer tick on my ankle (attached and I'm not sure for how long, so now I'm on the lookout for lyme symptoms). You learn to live with it. Just check first thing in the morning and right before bed. Generally, if you catch the tick right away there shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't freak out too much on vacation. Just take care in really brushy areas. Wearing white socks and tucking your pant legs into the socks helps a lot. I spray Deep Woods Off all over my socks, shoes, sleeves and on my hat if I'm going to garden.

Yes you are being overly paranoid. I lived in CT (lyme is named after Lyme, ct) and never had lyme although I'm out with the dog several times a day. My M. who basically leaves the house to get in her car to go somewhere inside has had it twice. Really just go have fun and check everyone at the end of the day for tics. Bring along a tic key (you can find them on amazon) to make it easy to remove one if you find one.

The worst case on this is someone gets lyme and ends up on a course of abx to treat it.

Ditto Diane B.

Life has risks, but life is meant to be lived. Otherwise, it's not a life.

I agree with someone else who posted everything in life involves risk and possible danger. There are accidents daily on the major highways in my city, yet I still drive. I hike all the time in swamps, despite the fact that Zika infections have been reported in my county, as have Chikungunya infections. I canoe in canals and lakes, where there are alligators (and I see lots of families with young kids doing the same...some even swim in those waters!), and I swim in the beach, despite shark attacks, drowning, and rip current risks. All you can do is educate yourself on safety and follow the protocols. No matter where you travel, you could get mugged, get food poisoning, or get hurt. Is that going to stop you from ever traveling at all? Keep in mind all these things could happen IN YOUR OWN CITY. I doubt you'll stay cooped up in your home 24-7 for fear of having something happen. All you have to do is protect and educate yourself, be aware of what is happening around you, and take whatever precautions they recommend to protect against this specific critter.

Bug spray. Area spray that kills or repels them for 20 hours or something...

And yes, any time our kids go outside where there are trees nearby we need to check them.

Again RM? Now it's Lyme Disease that's freaking you out?
PLEASE get some help. Please. I can't imagine living like you do, it must be exhausting and your kids must be living in fear as well.
Worrying over every possible bad thing that can happen is not normal, and IS treatable, either through therapy or medication or both.
Please get some help!!!

I grew up in areas much like you describe, I survived. Yes, ticks are a concern in many places, but everyplace has something to be concerned about.

I live in Wisconsin. My older son and husband were both bitten by Lyme-carrying ticks. Both presented the classic bullseye rash and were treated early. No further problems.

Tips:
Use a good repellent like Deep Woods Off with DEET.
Check for ticks each day, everywhere on your body. (My husband's bite was his upper arm, my sons was on his hip.)
Be mindful of non-itchy bite marks and rashes.

This is not going to help your paranoia but you need to know it so you can start dealing with how you are reacting - Ticks are not just in the woods, they are in the grass of lawns, sports fields, playgrounds, etc. There doesn't need to be trees to be ticks. You have almost certainly already encountered them. Your kid has probably been uneventfully bitten in the past.

You need to learn how to cope with your reactions and feelings, so that you don't blow things out of proportion. Your past questions mention severe anxiety OCD but also that you haven't stuck with medication or therapy. That is the main problem in your life, your undertreated mental illness.

You mentioned having to deal with your mother's issues for your whole life. Look at how that has impacted you. Now think about how your issues will impact your kids if you don't get a handle on this. I know it is hard, but you have to commit to your own well-being so that you're able to be the mother that your kids need you to be.

If you are looking on the west coast you will be fine. If you are looking on the eastern part of the US, yes, you have to do a tick check every night. I just check the kids and myself. If you get the tick off in the first 24 hours you will be fine and not get lyme disease.