|
Post by Coolkat on Jul 8, 2022 4:59:08 GMT -8
I am reconsidering paying for at least my camp clothes waist down to be treated by InsectShield. This is what I'm seriously thinking about doing myself $99 for about 10 to 15 clothing items doesn't seem that bad to me. but it probably does to those people here who do it manually themselves.
|
|
driftwoody
Trail Wise!
Take the path closer to the edge, especially if less traveled
Posts: 15,032
|
Post by driftwoody on Jul 8, 2022 5:16:17 GMT -8
The last two times I hiked in Southern Illinois in April I came home and found a tick imbedded at least 24 hours. Luckily, no symptoms.
Going forward, especially after reading this thread, I'm going to take greater precautions and treat my clothes with permethrin.
|
|
|
Post by Coolkat on Jul 8, 2022 5:19:08 GMT -8
If someone wanted to soak their own clothes does anyone here know the concentration formula?
|
|
ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 10,022
|
Post by ErnieW on Jul 8, 2022 5:37:21 GMT -8
If someone wanted to soak their own clothes does anyone here know the concentration formula? This is what I have been using. They 6 weeks or 6 washings. My question is how strong is it after 4 washings let's say? InsectShield claims up to 70 launderings for apparel and 25 for gear.
|
|
trinity
Trail Wise!
Posts: 2,915
Member is Online
|
Post by trinity on Jul 13, 2022 15:18:36 GMT -8
I would be curious to hear from trinity as to his experience if he doesn't mind sharing. Sorry I'm just now seeing this, I've been off on a quick backpacking trip in southern CO. And really sorry to hear about your illness, sounds like you've had quite a rough time. I hope you continue to heal. My own experiences won't be very enlightening, but here they are. As mentioned, I had it twice, 2 summers straight. I think it was 1984 and 1985. Symtoms were different each time, I got the classic bull's eye rash one time but not the other. The second time I had noticeable joint pain and headaches. I pulled so many ticks off myself those summers that I have no idea when I was infected, but luckily, because of living so close to Lyme, I was vigilant about the symptoms, and caught it early both times. I was treated with tetracyclene, which was very effective. My wife, on the other hand, has no idea when she was first infected. Until fairly recently we were living under the false assumption that Lyme Disease was limited to the northeast, so we never really thought much about it. My suspicion is that she was infected while getting her MS in Wildlife Biology in Tennessee. She did her fieldwork along the Cumberland River, an area lousy with ticks. That would have been in the late '90s, and she wasn't diagnosed with chronic Lyme until five or six years ago. She has learned to pretty successfully manage it, but it still flares up from time to time. Primary symptoms for her are extreme fatigue. As related at the beginning of this thread, our son Samuel's symptoms were asymetrical facial drooping. The doctor's weren't sure what was causing it, so they gave him steroids. Because this kind of palsy can be a symptom of tick borne infection, they sent blood off to be tested, and it came back positive for Lyme Disease. We gave him antibiotics for a week or two, which seemed to do the trick. He has not had any symptoms since. Because he had spent 3 months camping in northern Wisconsin, there is no telling when he became infected. Lyme Disease is tough. Not much seems to be known about it, and there is a ton of information out there, some helpful, some totally out there. I prefer science-based data, but there are a lot of treatments out there that I consider just short of voodoo. Chronic Lyme is extremely difficult to diagnose, and the lab tests, which I understand to be of limited accuracy, can be extremely expensive. As I've said with my wife's illness, it sometimes feels like we're battling a phantom. I don't know if any of this is what you're looking for. The take home is that, from my layperson's perspective, there are no certainties whan it comes to Lyme Disease. I hope you make a quick and full recovery from this disease.
|
|
|
Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 13, 2022 19:09:35 GMT -8
An increasing challenge is a blood borne disease can be introduced to new insect vector populations far outside their “expected” region. Hence malaria showing up in San Diego county mosquitos…
Humans travel and they take unsuspected things with them.
Part of the basis for WHO making efforts to look at removing geographic references from disease names. Geography, in the past for sure, sometimes providing a barrier for accurate diagnoses.
I recall some tragic consequences when people acquired plague in Yosemite and travelled home to be misdiagnosed for too long when otherwise the disease is readily controllable with antibiotics. The park now tries to get that word out with vigor so when people go home if asked by their doctor they’ll answer more accurately.
|
|
|
Post by Coolkat on Jul 14, 2022 3:54:49 GMT -8
I hope you make a quick and full recovery from this disease. Thanks Trinity, the Dr's are pretty confident it was caught in time and I'm still on antibiotics. It's definitely a nasty thing to deal with.
|
|
|
Post by Coolkat on Aug 4, 2022 11:19:24 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by swmtnbackpacker on Aug 4, 2022 13:11:24 GMT -8
If someone wanted to soak their own clothes does anyone here know the concentration formula? This is what I have been using. They 6 weeks or 6 washings. My question is how strong is it after 4 washings let's say? InsectShield claims up to 70 launderings for apparel and 25 for gear. It’s going to depend on the application. The spray stuff I use out west (yea there’s ticks here too) sez it’ll last 6 washing machine cycles and “unlimited” handwashing ones before reapplication. The instructions say spray twice … I remember the government soak-in permethrin kit (it was for some hours and then let the clothes dry) was good for the whole bug season with weekly laundering. There’s just that much more relatively speaking that’s found to soak into the fabric fibers vs spraying twice. Imagine insectshield is more like the latter.
|
|