20M. What are my next steps? Context below.
Hi guys! I am really hoping you guys can help me out here, as reading through this sub is making me realize that treating Lyme isn’t as simple as I had thought, and I am honestly terrified of the thought of chronic lyme.
At 20, and this early on, I really want to have the best possible outcome, especially as I am an athlete, and I realize that now is the window that I have to put myself in the best possible position.
Timeline:
June 6: I went hiking in Cinque Terre, Italy, where I removed a small black tick nymph (super tiny), most likely 25 to 32 hours after hiking, attached is a picture right after I took it out, unfortunately I dropped the tick and could not find it.
June 24: Felt something tingly on the surface of my knee which is when I noticed the rash, not sure how long I’ve had it since I essentially wore long pants every day of my trip. At this point, I was still a few days away from coming back home from my trip, so I went to a local doctor in Florence, who prescribed me **100 mg of doxycycline twice a day for 14 days.**
I’ve been taking the doses twice a day around 12 hours apart (away from dairy). It is now day 12 , and although I am feeling systemically fine, and the rash seems to have cleared almost entirely, as an athlete and only 20, I am honestly of terrified of acquiring chronic Lyme disease.
This subreddit it seems to be incredibly knowledgable about Lyme, and my pcp unfortunately does not. I was hoping that you guys could please tell me what the best course of action should be to give myself the best possible odds, as of now I’m considering extending my prescription to 21 days and that’s all.
Thank you SO much to whoever responds.