Health

Man says his legs looked like a ' zombie' after two tick bites gave him different diseases 


Don Murry Grubbs (pictured), from White House, Tennessee, was hiking near his home and was bitten by two ticks

Don Murry Grubbs (pictured), from White House, Tennessee, was hiking near his home and was bitten by two ticks

A Tennessee man says his legs looked a ‘zombie’ after two tick bites gave him different diseases. 

Don Murry Grubbs was bitten while hiking near his home in White House – about 22 miles north of Nashville – but didn’t realize what had happened for about two weeks. 

Grubbs said a small spot on one of his thighs began to swell and, within a few days, a rash covered both of his legs, reported WKRN.

He visited his doctor who ran blood tests and discovered that, in a very rare circumstance, his patients had two tick-borne illnesses.

Grubbs was diagnosed with Lyme disease and with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which can lead to hearing loss, paralysis and even limb amputation when left untreated. 

‘I found a spot on my inner thigh, and I thought, you know, it’s an ingrown hair,’ Grubbs told WKRN. 

‘I tell people it looked like legs from The Walking Dead, my calves and my ankles were totally covered.’

He didn't realize anything was wrong until two weeks later, when a small spot on one of his thighs began to swell and then rash covered both of his legs (pictured)

He didn’t realize anything was wrong until two weeks later, when a small spot on one of his thighs began to swell and then rash covered both of his legs (pictured)

Grubbs rushed to see his doctor, who immediately drew blood samples and sent them off to a lab.

‘And my luck, it tested positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme, so I got a dual diagnosis,’ he said.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a bacterial infection that is spread through tick bites, usually from the American dog tick, Rocky Mountain wood tick and brown dog tick.

Meanwhile,  Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black-legged ticks.

The two diseases have similar symptoms fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash called erythema migraines. 

If not treated with antibiotics, RMSF and Lyme disease can lead to hearing loss, paralysis and and amputation of limbs and – in extreme cases – death.

Grubbs (pictured) was diagnosed with two tick-borne illnesses: Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Grubbs (pictured) was diagnosed with two tick-borne illnesses: Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Both are bacterial infections that can lead to the amputation of limbs, hearing loss, paralysis, mental disabilities, and even death, if left untreated

Both are bacterial infections that can lead to the amputation of limbs, hearing loss, paralysis, mental disabilities, and even death, if left untreated

Doctors told WKRN that it’s very rare for someone to be bitten by two species of ticks, let alone have the bites result in different diseases. 

‘Luckily, I caught both of them really early so the prognosis for me is good, but a lot of folks with the Lyme disease, they have it and they carry it months, sometimes even years, and they never even know it, and then they’ve got chronic fatigue going on and then all these symptoms,’ Grubbs said.

Grubbs added he is currently recovering the diseases and on a regimen of antibiotics, but is still experiencing symptoms including tiredness and brain fog.

‘The brain fog is what’s really strange,’ he told WKRN.

‘It clouds your thoughts; you know you feel like you are always in a haze, but that seems to be subsiding.’

He said that he hopes his story not only warns people about the dangers of tick bites but also informs people of potential signs and symptoms.   



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