As tick season nears, just one tick bite can set off a chain reaction of maladies that can all but ruin a person’s life, three bite victims told Cowboy State Daily.
They described years of suffering, and the frustration of going to one doctor after another – with baffling symptoms – and still not getting a proper diagnosis.
Jack Murray of Casper has battled the symptoms of Lyme disease since 1992, and said it’s kept him from doing the things he loves.
Stacy Dana-Price of Star Valley suffered devastating effects of twin tick-borne infections, Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. She said that years of chronic and debilitating illness led to the loss of her business and collapse of her marriage.
Lyme disease is carried by black-legged ticks, which aren’t known to have a permanent population in Wyoming. But people can be bitten by them while visiting other states. Or those ticks sometimes hitch a ride into Wyoming on birds, pets or livestock.
Lone star ticks are another species that isn’t yet known to be in Wyoming. But there’s concern they might start showing up here soon, because the neighboring state of Nebraska has an established population.
Killen, Alabama, resident Sonny Baltimore said he was bitten by lone star ticks twice – and each time had three-year bouts with a bizarre red meat allergy. He used to be an avid outdoorsman, but says he doesn’t go into the woods anymore, for fear of a third go-round.
Ticks gorge on blood from people and warm-blooded animals, and their bites can cause an array of nasty diseases. (Courtesy Mikenna Smith, Teton County Weed and Pest District) 
Ticks gorge on blood from people and warm-blooded animals, and their bites can cause an array of nasty diseases. (Courtesy Mikenna Smith, Teton County Weed and Pest District)
Lyme Disease Nightmares
Murray said he likely contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite while he was on vacation in Missouri in 1992.
He said the disease almost always comes with “two or three co-infections,” and he’s had those, in the form of Bartonella and Babesia, bacterial and parasite infections.
His symptoms began with neurological problems.
“My feet were feeling very cold, and hurting constantly,” he said.
He also started to suffer dry, scaly skin and severe muscle cramps.
At the time, he had a good job running a drag line at a coal mine, but his illness got so severe, he had to give that up.
“I couldn’t do anything repetitive, because it would cause muscle cramps,” he said.
“I used to hunt a lot, but I had to quit,” he added.
Lyme disease is tough to diagnose, and it was even harder to detect back in the 1990s, Murray said.
He tried visiting doctors in Casper, as well as in Rapid City, South Dakota and Billings, Montana.
“The big problem was finding a doctor who knew what it was. I pretty much had to self-diagnose,” he said.
Finally, a doctor in Seattle, Washington confirmed that Murray was suffering from Lyme disease.
But relief was still years away. He eventually found a doctor in Maryland who specializes in Lyme disease. That doctor put him on an anti-malaria drug that seems to be doing the trick.
“I don’t have any symptoms now, my activity is picking up a lot,” Murray said.
He added that he’s looking forward to retiring soon, traveling, and taking up hunting again.
‘Walking Underwater’
Dana-Price said she’s not certain when or where she suffered the tick bite that upended her life.
She’s fairly certain it was in Wyoming, and probably from a tick that came in on a bird or animal.
She’d always been outdoorsy, active and athletic – but her health started crashing 2008.
“I got severe, severe body pain. My legs would lock up on me. I could still feel them, but they just wouldn’t work right,” she said.
She also started to suffer mental symptoms.
“I lost my ability to read, to write. To spell. I had personality changes,” she said. “I just used to live in Jackson, and I got lost in town.”
She also had chronic severe fatigue.
“I became just a non-functioning person,” she said. “It feels like you’re walking underwater through life.”
Like Murray, Dana-Price said she went to numerous doctors, but wasn’t taken seriously and couldn’t get a proper diagnosis.
She found a “Lyme disease literate doctor,” who pegged the disease, and at about the same time was diagnosed as having lingering symptoms of another tick-borne disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
“I was told that I was lucky that I even survived,” she said.
With so little energy, it was impossible for her to keep her business.
She said her husband was understanding and supportive. But after years of battling the disease and medical expenses wiping out their savings, the stress became too much and their marriage ended in divorce.
She eventually moved back to Star Valley, where she grew up. Old friends and family provide a support network and she’s found a local doctor “who listens to me.”
Detoxification routines have helped, and she’s seen some improvement. But she still must limit herself to working about 20 hours a week.
“I’m having to learn how to pace myself. I still don’t have the ability to read and retain the information,” she said.
Meat Allergy
Baltimore said he was bitten by a lone star tick for the first time while serving as an Army helicopter pilot in Louisiana in 2007.
He didn’t realize anything was wrong until, while on a road trip, he stopped for one of his favorite snacks.
“I love, love gas station hot dogs,” he said.
But a short while after eating the hot dogs, he started to get a horrendous itch.
Eventually, his symptoms got so bad, “I had to be grounded” from flying helicopters.
He went to a series of allergists, both military and civilian. They were stumped as to what was causing his outbreaks, because he had no history of food allergies.
“They (the outbreaks) started as a little dot. And they just grew and grew and grew. It wasn’t any fun,” he said.
He had to be put on several medications “that would just knock me out.”
A doctor finally diagnosed him with a syndrome called Alpha-Gal – which is caused by the lone star tick bite and sets off a severe red meat allergy.
“Doctors were worried about it affecting my mouth, tongue and airway,” but luckily, that didn’t happen, Baltimore said.
“I just ate chicken and fish for about three years, and it eventually went away,” he said.
He thought he was home free. And after finishing his Army service, he returned home and spent as much time as he could out hunting and fishing.
But then he was bitten again in 2013 and spent the next three years going through the same ordeal.
Since then, he doesn’t spend nearly as much time in the outdoors.
“I avoid any areas that might be tick-infested,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
