Suggest Antibiotics For Lyme Disease

Posted on Sat, 13 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 13 Jun 2015 Answered on

Fri, 3 Jul 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Good evening, I believe I just pulled very small tick off the back of my leg behind the knee. Two of my friends have pretty severe cases of Lyme so naturally I am nervous. I also had colon cancer two years ago, stage two, so I want to be safe rather than sorry. I am allergic to penicillin but can tolerate Clarithromiycin and I would feel better to have a course of these antibiotics just to be on the safe side..

Answered by Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta (2 hours later)

Brief answer...details given below
Detailed answer...
Hello,
Thanks for the query.
I have read your query and understand your concern.
The recommended antibiotic for prevention of lyme's is DOXYCYCLINE in the dose of 200 mg as a single dose within 72 hours of the tick bite.
In case it doesn't suit you or you can not take it,IDSA doesn't recommend preventive treatment with any other antibiotic.
I hope it helps,however you are most welcome to evert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar