Has anyone ever suffered a recurrence of tick bite fever? I came down with it in 2004 and every August since, I seem to have similar symptoms (fatigue, sore throat, etc). I was curious if this can recur after the initial infection.

I have had it twice, and so has my wife.

never had it reoccur - did you finish the full 10 day run of doxy?? usually you feel great after 2 days, but you still have to finish the 10 day run, or it'll come back

Yes, we did take doxy for 10+ days, and my wife got it back 10 day later, so maybe she got bitten again sometime.

Had Lyme's....took 2 rounds of 3 week doxy....symptoms recurred for about a year. But not the same as tick fever I guess.

Hi Stevie, was just about to post a message and then it completely dissappeared, not sure what happened! I have had tick-bite fever at least 3 times, including a really nasty strain; 'rocky-mountain' that leaves bumps on your skin and attacks the heart.

I have never heard of it recurring, but I remember one of our dogs caught billary once, was treated and fell sick again shortly afterwards after she had been dipped, so not sure if it was a recurrence or a very tough tick.

I have always recovered pretty quickly after a dose of doxycycline. It shouldnt reoccur if you take the full course, but then there is such a thing as drug-resistance with some bugs, so not sure there, best to speak to a doctor.

It is always the tick that you dont see that gets you. I think it is always important to stop and check your legs and body for ticks every half hour or so when walking through thick grass. If you spray your clothes with Bayticol or any other acaricide-type aerosols, you should definately reduce the risk, as prevention is always better than cure. I wish that I had used the stuff more in my youth, maybe would not have had to suffer the horrible headaches! I hope this helps.

Only had it once which was quite enough.

Tick fevers are usually rickettsial diseases, as such, they can be difficult to kill. Antibiotic treatment works. They should not come back, but, untreated or if inadequately treated, they can seem to go away and come back. Sometimes antibiotic treatments do not completely eliminate the infection, and they recur. From my experience(interviews with MD's,patients and public health professionals) this can be because people stopped taking their drugs because they felt better, or because the wrong antibiotic was used, or the rickettsia was resistant to the drug used, or the dose was not sufficient for the person involved. Some bad cases I was involved with needed IV antibiotic treatments to get doses up to effective levels over a long enough time. Tick fevers can become chronic if untreated and can lead to some pretty serious consequences.
My experience is from the public health side, some of our members have certainly been involved in the medical treatment side and can be more specific on the human treatment experience.
It is best to prevent, rather than treat. The tick repellant/killers provided commercially work. Home remedies are a poor subsitute.
Bfly

Thank you for all the replies. When I initially came down with it, I took 30 days worth of Cipro which worked fine. I did test positive then for Rickettsial disease. Every July since I seem to come down with similar symptoms. I suppose the only way to be certain would be to take another blood test. Who knows what my problem is?

Never heard of Cipro being used to treat tick fever. Was this prescribed by your doctor? Maybe that's the problem? Anyway, hope you get cured quickly!!

John

For the African varity that I have had about half a dozen times in the last 25 years, is cured by a regime of Doxy, works every time on me anyway..

Cipro? I have no clue, but it is a powerful antibiotic for sure. I always have some on hand in Africa in case I get a dose of Ecoli or something simular and I have and it works, along with some pain pills my doc prescribed...

Oh yeah, I forgot to add, STAY OUT OF JUAREZ STEVIE

Symptons for tick fever are so simular to a common cold or flu, that may be what your getting every year, only a test will tell, and if you get those symptons on a return from Africa, I would also test for Malaria.

Could it be that what you're really suffering from is caused by "pre-celebration" of your upcoming Namibia hunt??

I think HT figured out my problem. I owe him a cold beer.