![]() I read dozens of personal stories - all with the same theme. Which ones were useful? I had no way to tell. There were scores of “Lyme disease associations” to consult. More than a million results came up, and to my dismay, many of them were in remarkable disagreement about almost everything. The antibiotics cleared the rash immediately. My doctor prescribed four weeks of a powerful antibiotic, doxycycline, and when the symptoms hadn’t completely subsided in that time, an additional two weeks. I had all four of the identifying factors: a verified tick bite, flulike symptoms, a positive blood test, and a bruiselike rash, known medically as erythema migrans, or EM. Soon my doctor was talking with specialists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. A friend, a nurse, saw the deep blue marks and said, “You have Lyme disease! Get to a doctor right away!” How she knew I have no idea - because they didn’t look like the pictures of the bull’s-eye rash I’d seen in books. ![]() Some days later, bruises appeared on my legs, first one and then another, and within another day, my entire body was covered in them. I finally found the strength to call my doctor, who waved away my suggestion that I might have Lyme disease. I put on sweaters and heavy socks and lay down under a pile of blankets. Ten days after getting home, on a very hot day, I felt cold. Like many others who visit New England’s islands, I was bitten by ticks, more than once.
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