Insect Bite That Could Change Your Life

Lyme disease can strike anyone, says Angela Knight. As a former sufferer, she should know. The New Forest has been identified as a hotspot, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from visiting, as long as they’re ‘tick aware’

- Angela Knight

SUMMER brings everyone into the beautiful Hampshire countryside, including tiny ticks the size of poppy seeds. People and pets risk being bitten and made very ill if this tiny spider-like parasite attaches itself to you. It’s often not detected because it injects a chemical which numbs the bite area. Ticks can transmit bacteria that cause Lyme Disease. The first symptom is usually a ‘summer’ flu, sometimes a circular rash, fatigue and muscle and joint pain. Other conditions such as meningitis, facial palsy, nerve damage and arthritis can develop without treatment.

Twenty years ago I found a ‘bull’s-eye’ rash on my arm. I asked my doctor for a Lyme test but was told that ‘you don’t get Lyme Disease in this country’. I was later asked if I had recently been to the New Forest. As I hadn’t I was told to go home and see if the circles got bigger. But it is vital to get an early diagnosis. If diagnosed late it is very difficult to cure and sufferers can go from one specialist to another trying to find the cause of numerous symptoms.

My test was negative, but I did not realise that a second test was conducted, so weeks later my Doctor rang to say, “You have Lyme disease, whatever that is, but it has probably gone by now.” I felt extremely ill.

For 25 years the NHS has used a two step antibody test for Lyme Borreliosis. However, in the first few weeks of infection antibodies won’t be produced so people can test negative but still have the disease. I found that I needed antibiotics to kill the bacteria invading my body and thankfully my doctor prescribed them.