I just discovered a tick on my back, where it has happily been sucking my blood since last Sunday, when I fell while I was hiking in the woods near Williamsburg VA. (Don't ask me how the damn thing survived notice for several previous showers.) Should I go to the ER right now? I have the bug. Of course now I feel itchy all over :(.
Well, my doctor's office night staff said I should go. So any advice about what I should ask about would be very welcome.
7:24 PM PT: Thanks, everyone who commented! I am grateful for your good suggestions and your support. I am very comfortable with waiting till tomorrow to see my doctors, and with insisting on aggressive treatment.
Mon May 05, 2014 at 2:48 PM PT: I went to see my primary care doctor today--actually a PA on staff--and got a cursory check-up. That's partly how the clinic situation works, it's potluck who you get. On the good side, I guess, there is a doc on staff there who is well-informed about Lyme, so she was able to run things by him. Other good news, probably, is that the tick was not engorged with blood. Maybe that means it really wasn't on me for very long. They are going to send the tick out to a lab, though I'm not quite clear whether it was just for ID purposes or to test the bug. It was still alive last time I saw it.
I have to pick up and take one massive dose of doxycycline today. They were not willing to have me run an extended course of it since I am asymptomatic.
So that's the story for now. Again, I am very grateful for the quick and thorough response from all of you who answered. I'll keep you updated as the need arises.
Hugs to all.