Lyme disease and tick repellant

[JLomama]

Hi all,

Not sure if I am posting this in the right place, but here goes.  I think we have a Lyme problem.  We definitely have a tick problem.  A few years ago I was having terrible symptoms; chronic fatigue, serious mood swings (just flipping out over nothing), brain fog, blurry vision and other things I won't go into.  Went to an ND who muscle tested me and I was positive for Lyme.  So we tested the whole family and ALL of us had it. We did NAET treatments and supposedly got "cleared" of the Lyme. I seemed to feel better, but I really can't say for sure if that's what it was or if I was cured.  I also stopped using Mirena birth control and that seemed to help tremendously. But here we are again and I've been having symptoms again; irritability, mood swings, severe fatigue. I am 4 months postpartum as well.  My oldest son has been having issues for several weeks with skin rashes, what looked like eczema on his hand, red rashes between his thighs, and now he has had flaky scalp.  So today I discovered a very small tick embedded in his scalp and did my best to remove it gently with tweezers.  The body squished and came loose from the mouth parts which are still in his skin.  I washed it and put on peroxide, but I'm taking him to the Dr. to have the rest removed and hopefully get some antibiotics (as much as I hate to use them) because who knows how long that thing was there? I'm also going back to the ND to get us all tested again.  Has anyone else been through this?  What do you use as a natural tick repellant?  I've read that lemon eucalyptus oil is good but wears off fast. Our home is surrounded by woods, we have an outside cat, and there are ticks everywhere. What would you do?

[Koalamom]

What would I do- is what I did... Move! I have been living with ticks all around me and suffered from lyme bad and didn't want my kids to live that way, so we moved to the coldest part of VT with no ticks in my area. I know this is not a practical suggestion, but I have suffered so much so it is very serious for me.

[BeagleMommy]

We check the kids and ourselves for ticks every time we come inside. But even with that, we still find ticks seized into everyone from time to time.
Allimax is an amazing antibiotic that we take if we feel an infection coming on. My MIL took Allimax with the antibiotic from her doctor when she had Lyme a couple of years ago.
I'd go back to the NAET practitioner, personally. A clearing should last for life, as I understand it.
Guineas will eat ticks. My friends with guineas have almost no ticks around their house even though it is wooded and just a couple of hours from my tick-infested yard. They are on my list of critters to get for my homeplace.

[savithny]

I was very anti-bug-repellent.   Until my older child got Lyme.  Not just "feeling funny," but a bad case -- the right side of his face was paralyzed and he was losing function in his right arm and leg when it was diagnosed.

A lot of scary treatment later, I really don't want to go through that again..    So we judiciously use some things when we go out to likely places.

One thing to consider -- pyrethrins are plant-derived repellents that are allowed in most states in farms that are "certified organic."   They make clothing impregnated with pyrethrin, and they also make a spray that you spray clothing with and let dry completely, and the clothes will repel ticks.  I like this better than putting DEET straight on my kids.

[JLomama]

The ND tested us and we are all positive for Lyme and other coinfections. We all did NAET treatments to the tune of $280.  Problem is hubby won't do it and I'll end up getting it from him and then the baby cuz I bf.  Can't convince him to go.  He doesn't believe we have Lyme, first of all, and he thinks NAET treatments are voodoo. I don't know what to think. My symptoms aren't gone. I hate to waste $$ on something that doesn't work. My vision is really out of focus today and I still have fatigue. Moving isn't an option for us because all of our family is here and my hubby has a good job. I don't want to live in paranoia about ticks. I grew up in PA and it's a beautiful place. We love to camp and canoe and things like that (which puts us at even greater risk for coming in contact with ticks). Even if NAET treatments work, we will continually be surrounded by ticks and we will keep getting Lyme. There's nothing to prevent it. So other than using repellents and checking for them, I'm not sure what else to do.  The guineas are a good idea. Just not sure they would survive. We had 2 very large chickens who were dragged under a fence and taken into the woods by something. Pyrethrin is interesting. Never heard of that.  I did read that lemon eucalyptus oil is just as effective as DEET, you just have to put it on more often.  Thanks for the tips.

[ameliabedelia]

I would combine permethrin-treated closed with methods to recude the ticks around your yard.  One way is with the guinea fowl.  Another way involves these chemically treated boxes that are enticing to mice.  You put them around the perimeter, the mice crawl through and get the insecticide on them. THis kills ticks which get on the mice, and mice are a carrier of both ticks and lyme disease.  I'm sure if you google, you will find exactly what this is.

There are also certain plants you can plant around the yard that repel ticks.

[mbravebird]

Rose geranium essential oil is very very good at repelling ticks. I've been drying all our clothes with it recently, and I also have made a spray. Ducks also eat ticks!

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by mbravebird 

Rose geranium essential oil is very very good at repelling ticks. I've been drying all our clothes with it recently, and I also have made a spray. Ducks also eat ticks!

Please share how you are doing this? Sounds like it smells so pretty!

[Panserbjorne]

it does sound lovely!  LOL!  I have used rose geranium oil in a spray when people were really nervous about ticks and it did smell nice and seemed to offer them protection.  I'd like to hear how you're drying clothes with it though!

[mbravebird]

Yes, it does really smell nice, but not so "rose"-y that my husband feels funny smelling like it. It has a briskness to it from the geranium. I have been putting ten drops on a damp washcloth when I put my clothes in the dryer. Not so good in that we're using electricity instead of line-drying, but as long as we're doing that, it's nice to be able to scent the stuff! For tick repelling, you want the pelargonium graveolens, which in the most commonly available Aura Cacia brand is just called "geranium" oil.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by Panserbjorne 

it does sound lovely!  LOL!  I have used rose geranium oil in a spray when people were really nervous about ticks and it did smell nice and seemed to offer them protection.  I'd like to hear how you're drying clothes with it though!

Oh please share your spray recipe? And what is the difference from geranium, and rose geranium and which one do I want for tick repellent and does it also work for mosquitoes or dreaded black flies?

Mcbrave, that sounds awesome. Just to give my clothes a nice boost of scent sounds nice.