Tick bite before developing MC?

[bttory]

This question is a bit off the wall but I'm wondering how many of you (if any) developed MC after a known tick bite? I ask because my MC (and an undiagnosed neurological episode) came months after I had an embedded deer tick in my skin (somewhere between 12-24 hours in my skin). Recently, I listened to a very interesting podcast ("Alpha-gal" on RadioLab) about a "sudden meat allergy" that many people have developed after being bitten by a particular tick in a particular region of the United States. It is now a recognized medical condition and the cause has been established as the bite from the tick. There are theories being thrown aound, but experts are unsure of exactly why that tick is causing that allergy. One theory (according to the Podcast) is that when a tick bites a human, it inserts its saliva into the blood stream, and that saliva contains a chemical (alpha-gal) that sets off a significant immune attack. Because meat also contains high levels of the chemical (alpha-gal), the body sees it as a threat and kicks off an immune response - thus the allergy.

I have long wondered if the tick bite was the cause of my neurological episode, and the onset of my MC. Before the tick bite, I was very healthy (ate all the right foods, exercised regularly, and had more energy than a mid 30-year old should). I'm on my way to recovery, but everything changed months after the tick bite. I was tested for Lyme and other neurological diseases (MS, etc.), but all tests were negative.

I was wondering if any of you can trace your symptoms back to a tick bite. Could something in the tick's saliva have created antibodies that then were reengaged when certain foods entered my system, causing MC and other autoimmune responses?

Sorry for the longwinded post, and layperson theories, but I find it all very intriguing, and again, have always felt there must be some causative factor between my tick bite and the onset of significant health issues only months later. I appreciate you sharing your experiences with ticks (if any), and your thoughts on the theory.

[tex]

Bearing in mind that there is a heck of a lot that the medical community doesn't know about tick bites and the medical conditions that can result from tick bites, current information would indicate that your MC is totally unrelated to the tick bite you mentioned. That's based on the observation that alpha-gal sensitivity inherently causes (by definition) an allergy to all mammalian meat, except for primates and humans. As evidence that this is not the case for MC patients (at least for the vast majority of MC patients), note that virtually everyone here can tolerate lamb, rabbit, and the meat from virtually all wild mammals.

But most of us are not naive enough to think that just because medical science insists that something cannot happen, it does not happen. We all can think of examples where medical science has failed us by completely missing the boat. So in order to see if there might be any possible leads to some additional insight into this topic among other members here, I've converted your post into a poll.

My thoughts are that while tick bites may not be a proven cause of MC, quite a few members here have posted that their symptoms began after a tick bite. Most of them blame their MC on the antibiotic treatment that followed the tick bite. But I wonder if the bite itself might have been implicated in some cases, or if it might have at least contributed to the development of MC.

And I have a hunch that it's quite possible that an enzyme in the tick's saliva might possibly trigger food sensitivities apart from the alpha-gal issue, just as you have suggested.

Tex

[bttory]

As evidence that this is not the case for MC patients (at least for the vast majority of MC patients), note that virtually everyone here can tolerate lamb, rabbit, and the meat from virtually all wild mammals.

Tex

Thanks for the quick response, and for converting the post into a poll. I'll be interested to see the results. And, by way of clarification, I wanted to make sure everyone understands that I do not have a meat allergy. My question is in line with Tex's though: is it possible that an enzyme in the tick's saliva might trigger food sensitivities (apart from the alpha-gal issue) that may play a part in the development of MC.

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

[LauraAnn]

No ticks in El Paso, so that's not on the radar! But interesting poll

[Lilja]

Hi,

I had a boyfriend in 2008 who lived in a "weird" area in the eastern part of Norway. Weird because it's like a swamp area and Norway does not have many of these, and weird because they have a special fly in the area, and only there. The fly is called Simulium truncatum. Summer of 2008 the area had an invasion of the flies, we could not go outdoor for three days, the flies stood like a wall in the air. A short while after my psoriasis bursted and covered 90% of my body for the first time, I used to have only some small spots. The flies bite and suck blood, they don't sting.

My WD started in February 2009. I have never thought about whether there could be any connection between my CC and the Simulium truncatum, but who knows?

Lilja

[bttory]

Hi,

I had a boyfriend in 2008 who lived in a "weird" area in the eastern part of Norway. Weird because it's like a swamp area and Norway does not have many of these, and weird because they have a special fly in the area, and only there. The fly is called Simulium truncatum. Summer of 2008 the area had an invasion of the flies, we could not go outdoor for three days, the flies stood like a wall in the air. A short while after my psoriasis bursted and covered 90% of my body for the first time, I used to have only some small spots. The flies bite and suck blood, they don't sting.

My WD started in February 2009. I have never thought about whether there could be any connection between my CC and the Simulium truncatum, but who knows?

Lilja

Interesting. I guess we'll never know if your situation (and mine) are just coincidences, or if there is a causative effect. But one can't help but wonder. Thanks for sharing.