Lone star ticks and meat allergies...

MikeyD6

Deleted
I've been reading about this more and more lately. For those who don't know, some people develop an allergy to red meat after being bitten by lone star ticks. Me personally, I've been bitten by them here and there, but so far no ill effects. Just curious, has this happened to anyone on this thread, or do you know anyone first hand that this has happened to?
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
There are very few things that actually scare me. This is one of them. And yes, I know two people that this has happened to. It went away with one guy after a year or so. The other one still has effects years later. So far, I have never seen a Lone Star tick around here, but I have picked them off me in TN.
 

davidhelmly

Senior Member
My wife was bitten and has had 'alpha gal' since 2011, she is allergic to all mammal meat so poultry and seafood is all that she can eat. Everyone is different but it is a life threatening allergy with her, usually about 4 hours after she has ingested something containing mammal meat her blood pressure drops low enough that she passes out and breaks out in huge red welts all over her body. It's always a trip to the ER and a 2-3 day hospital stay to get her back on her feet. She has had reactions from restaurant's mistakenly dropping a piece of ground beef into her chicken taco, from her chicken being cooked on a grill that wasn't cleaned after cooking pork or beef, from some OTC meds that use animal parts as a binder and even from the hospital mistakenly feeding her beef broth after some surgery, that actually cause her to have a seizure in the hospital... Needless to say it is an awful allergy and causes you to make some huge changes in your daily life, we almost never go out to eat because of fear of cross contamination or rarely eat anything that someone else has cooked because you never know!

I've been bitten hundreds if not thousands of times by ticks in my lifetime and no diseases yet but I'm always thinking about it.
 

j_seph

Senior Member
Is it just a bite that does this or do they have to be on you so long?

Do they effect everyone they bite?
 

DeucesWild

Senior Member
Me and my wife took the ranger out behind the house checking on my deer stands. One evidently raked off of a limb onto her as she never got out the entire time we were riding. She found the tick stuck to her leg a couple hours later. I cant complain about the chicken and fish diet cause I was the one that coaxed her into riding with me that day. Plus it good for the cholesterol :giggle:
 

deerhuntingdawg

Senior Member
I actually was bitten by a lone star tick about a month ago. Something was bothering me in the middle of my back and I pulled him off just scratching the spot. When I saw the species, the potential allergy had me nervous but luckily no I’ll effects. The wound two about theee weeks to heal so he bit me good!! I personally have met two people effected by this allergy. Just awful and more common than you think
 

Horns

Senior Member
I know 2 people who have this. One was diagnosed by a doctor and the other pretty much figured it out from Googling the web. Both have the same symptoms as described above
 

Mirvin 264

Senior Member
I've had the allergy so long that my doctor and his nurses had no idea what I was describing probably 10 years ago (they had never heard of such a reaction). I've had several minor and a couple major reactions back in the earlier years, one landing me in the emergency room. And yes I don't have a single symptom until about 4 hours after I've ingested the meat. Funny thing with me is that I can tolerate pork, but absolutely no red meats. That's what always triggers mine. Don't even eat venison even though I love to hunt, too scared to take the chance. Mine always start with extreme stinging and itching sensations on different areas of my body, followed by severe hives, which last at least a couple hours. Then as they start to subside I begin having horrible chest pains to the point that I always end up vomiting profusely. This also lasts for a couple hours. By the time it's run it's course I'm so weak I can't function at all for at least a day. There are blood tests available now to see if you have it and how severe it is. My red meat score is still very high compared to the pork, so I still avoid any beef or venison completely. The reactions are so hard to endure that I wouldn't wish this allergy on my worst enemy. I have learned to love ground Turkey though, and I know it's better for me! But boy I sure do miss a Big Mac or double cheeseburger from Dairy Queen! I'm praying for a cure someday..........
 

Long Cut

Senior Member
My wife was bitten and has had 'alpha gal' since 2011, she is allergic to all mammal meat so poultry and seafood is all that she can eat. Everyone is different but it is a life threatening allergy with her, usually about 4 hours after she has ingested something containing mammal meat her blood pressure drops low enough that she passes out and breaks out in huge red welts all over her body. It's always a trip to the ER and a 2-3 day hospital stay to get her back on her feet. She has had reactions from restaurant's mistakenly dropping a piece of ground beef into her chicken taco, from her chicken being cooked on a grill that wasn't cleaned after cooking pork or beef, from some OTC meds that use animal parts as a binder and even from the hospital mistakenly feeding her beef broth after some surgery, that actually cause her to have a seizure in the hospital... Needless to say it is an awful allergy and causes you to make some huge changes in your daily life, we almost never go out to eat because of fear of cross contamination or rarely eat anything that someone else has cooked because you never know!

I've been bitten hundreds if not thousands of times by ticks in my lifetime and no diseases yet but I'm always thinking about it.

I’m sorry to hear about your wife. I recently spoke to my doctor about this subject after a Lyme scare and she convinced me that it’s more of a preservative based allergy than the meat itself. She mentioned a wild game meat would probably be safe to consume..

Has your wife ever had venison/wild game after contracting the disease?
 

bradleyjanes06

Senior Member
I know 2 guys with it. One had issues for about 3 years. Finally got to where he could eat redmeat again and a few months later boom tick and hospital the next day after eating a hamburger. He was by no means a happy camper haha. The other guy it has been 5 or 6 years something like that
 

blood on the ground

Cross threading is better than two lock washers.
My wife was bitten and has had 'alpha gal' since 2011, she is allergic to all mammal meat so poultry and seafood is all that she can eat. Everyone is different but it is a life threatening allergy with her, usually about 4 hours after she has ingested something containing mammal meat her blood pressure drops low enough that she passes out and breaks out in huge red welts all over her body. It's always a trip to the ER and a 2-3 day hospital stay to get her back on her feet. She has had reactions from restaurant's mistakenly dropping a piece of ground beef into her chicken taco, from her chicken being cooked on a grill that wasn't cleaned after cooking pork or beef, from some OTC meds that use animal parts as a binder and even from the hospital mistakenly feeding her beef broth after some surgery, that actually cause her to have a seizure in the hospital... Needless to say it is an awful allergy and causes you to make some huge changes in your daily life, we almost never go out to eat because of fear of cross contamination or rarely eat anything that someone else has cooked because you never know!

I've been bitten hundreds if not thousands of times by ticks in my lifetime and no diseases yet but I'm always thinking about it.
My gosh man that is horrible! I feel bad for her!
 

davidhelmly

Senior Member
I’m sorry to hear about your wife. I recently spoke to my doctor about this subject after a Lyme scare and she convinced me that it’s more of a preservative based allergy than the meat itself. She mentioned a wild game meat would probably be safe to consume..

Has your wife ever had venison/wild game after contracting the disease?

My wife's may be something different than what your doc was talking about, her allergy/reaction is to the alpha-gal carbohydrate that is in all mammal meats whether it has any preservatives or not and it's crazy how little it takes to trigger it. A very high percentage of medicines contain animal by products in them so it takes tons of research before a doctor can prescribe her any new medication.
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
My wife's may be something different than what your doc was talking about, her allergy/reaction is to the alpha-gal carbohydrate that is in all mammal meats whether it has any preservatives or not and it's crazy how little it takes to trigger it. A very high percentage of medicines contain animal by products in them so it takes tons of research before a doctor can prescribe her any new medication.

Dang David, that really sux. One of my son'e best friend's dad has it. He's from Texas and he was bitten by one years ago in his youth. He would have reactions when he ate red meat but the Dr's never made the connection until about a year ago when he finally landed in the hospital near death and the Dr had the presence of mind to take his time, sit down and question him. A little blood work later and they nailed it down.

The bad news is he is a BBQ'ing fool and cooks a brisket Texas style that will knock you nekkid but he can't eat it. At least they figured out what was wrong with him.
 

davidhelmly

Senior Member
Dang David, that really sux. One of my son'e best friend's dad has it. He's from Texas and he was bitten by one years ago in his youth. He would have reactions when he ate red meat but the Dr's never made the connection until about a year ago when he finally landed in the hospital near death and the Dr had the presence of mind to take his time, sit down and question him. A little blood work later and they nailed it down.

The bad news is he is a BBQ'ing fool and cooks a brisket Texas style that will knock you nekkid but he can't eat it. At least they figured out what was wrong with him.
Dang I bet that is tough for him!! Luckily Cindy cooks some mean poultry and seafood dishes!!
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
Dang I bet that is tough for him!! Luckily Cindy cooks some mean poultry and seafood dishes!!

Somebody needs to come up with a way of making Lone Star ticks extinct.
 
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