bite, symptoms... does this fit the picture?

In de middle of August i suddenly had a huge bite on the back of my leg, just above the inside of my knee. it was big as a hand palm, very painful, very red, and very blue.

it remained swollen and painful and red and blue for over 2 weeks. i did not think of a tick as i was staying in the city at that time. it was painful as a horsefly's bite, but i did not see the insect that did it, and it seems bizarre i would not have noticed a horsefly. i just thought it was a spider. i put some essential oils on it to ease the pain, and that was all.

in the beginning of September i suddenly developed a red rash on the inside of my thigh. i did not make the link with the insect bite, as that had been on the back of my thigh. the rash was just a thin line, about the size of a finger, but hot and itchy and painful. i first thought it was an irritated vein.

after a week i went to see a doctor. he said it was probably an infected mosquito bite and gave me an antibiotics cream. the mosquito bite was a reasonable idea as by then i was on a greek island and had been exposed to mosquitoes.

After 1 week the rash was gone were it had been, but simultaneously it reappeared a bit lower. Still just a thin line. Again I treated it with cream. Again it went away after a week. Again it reappeared, but higher now.

Again I treated it with cream - which took away the pain, but not the spreading: on Friday night the thin red line suddenly had turned into a gigantic loop, perfectly symmetrical on both sides of my thigh, going from from under my knee to my upper thigh. The original insect bite would have been right in the middle of it.

Meanwhile, there have been a few days that I was extremely tired and that all my joints were aching - but I have had that before, due to food allergies, so I am not sure whether there is a link with the bite and the rash.

The pharmacist gave me yesterday oral antibiotics (augmentin - strong - it s making me vomit), and they are helping already: the redness is disappearing.

Tomorrow I will go see a dermatologist. I am living on a Greek island, and the choice and quality and experience of the medical help is probably limited here.

I wanted to ask if this resembles a tick bite (from what I have read, tick bites are not painful?) and if this resembles your experiences. Apart from antibiotics, is there anything else the doctor can or should do or test?

thank you for your time.

I would suggest taking pictures of the rash with something next to it like a ruler, or a coin so you can judge the size.  Read all you can and educate yourself on LD, the doctors know very little about it and most of what they do think they know is wrong.  Good luck! KO

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2001 symptoms started:

Tingling in fingers and toes both sides, not tested at that time for LD

2007 Summer tested pos. WB, diagnosed with LD, tested neg for co-infections thru Igenex

Abx - Doxy 100mg 2x/day for 3 weeks (before diagnosis)

Amoxicillin 1gm 2x/day for 1 month

Amoxicillin 1gm 3x/day with Probenecid 500mg 2x/day  5 months 

Currently on Dr. Zhang's protocol stopped Zhang's after 6 months symptoms returned.  Started Buhner's protocol May 2009