Anaplasmosis in Humans?

Anyone here had it, or known anyone that did? Any advice for quicker recovery? My Dad spent the last week in the hospital as they tried to find out what was wrong with him, lack of appetite, dehydration, and exhaustion combined to take him down (literally fainted a couple times). We spent the weekend together when he got sent home, and seems to be doing better but any advice would be appreciated. They think it’s something tick borne even though he never found a tick or an indication of a tick bite, but they ran a gamut of tests, and this was the diagnosis they were kinda sure he has maybe….

Yikes! just had to read up on it to see what it was. Speedy recovery to your Dad. Glad he went in and got it checked out as it sounds like just being a “big boy” and pushing through it (like too many of us probably would do) could lead to some disastrous outcomes. Good reminder that it aint just the deer and bear ticks you have to worry about.

Jeepers… that really sucks. Glad they caught it and he’s getting better- hope that continues.

As a side note, oddly I have not found one tick on myself or my dog in a month or two now… anyone else notice the drop off? Not to derail the thread

Thanks I appreciate it, pretty scary week last week. He has ran the gamut of health issues the last few years, so we were pretty concerned it was something much worse.

For anyone reading to reference. He hadn’t been eating much or drinking much for a few days and had trouble with his balance, so my mom brought him into the Dr in Park Rapids. They thought it was just dehydration and sent him home (no IV or anything first…). Couple days later he was watering some spots in the yard, walked over to talk to the neighbor, fell over mid-sentence and couldn’t get back up. Thankfully the neighbors were able to get him home, and my mom drove him into the hospital in Bemidji where he spent the next week. They ran dang near every test, including a lumbar puncture, and still aren’t 100% on what it is or what caused it, but are pretty confident it’s anaplasmosis caused by a tick.

Werm that is wild. I hope they figure it out and your dad makes a full recovery but that is scary for sure. I have never even heard of what you posted before.

Prayers for he and your Mother. You as well. Hoping this is just heat related and not a tick issue. I’ve done the bullseye thing more than a couple times and treated with doxycycline each time to supposedly clear anything from the bites up. Some of this crap is bad news stuff and lets hope his issues are none of that.

I’ve not know anyone to have it, but I’ve heard of it. Lyme disease is the most commonly associate tick-borne illness, and that’s spread through deer ticks (also known as Blacklegged ticks). Anaplasmosis is less common and is spread through wood ticks (also called American dog ticks). There’s no bullseye mark that’s associated with wood ticks and unfortunately they only need to feed for 12-24 hours to spread the bacteria that causes anaplasmosis. Whereas a deer tick must stay attached for at least 24-48 hours to transmit Lyme disease.

A good dose of antibiotics should clear things up for anyone showing symptoms of anaplasmosis. And as always, rest and fluids are key to healing. Hopefully your dad starts feeling better soon, BigWerm!

Hoping for a quick recovery. Like others commented a treatment with doxy should cure most tick diseases.
If your Dad is dehydrated it can cause dizziness. He probably is low on electrolytes. Have him start on some Gatorade daily.

Sounds like some guessing and assumptions going on. Has he considered going somewhere bigger/better to get confirmation or second opinion?

No disrespect to rural northern Minnesota Healthcare but in my experience the best providers here are the ones that know when to make the referral to experts and specialists with more resources.

I don’t know anyone that’s had it other than my dog. Anaplasmosis shows up in a blood test and can continue to show up for years after it’s treated, at least for dogs. He had similar symptoms, fatigue, lack of appetite and loss of motor controls. I had to use a strap or harness to keep him from falling over when he did his business. It’s been a few months and his rear legs still sometimes have a mind of their own. Hopefully, your dad has a full recovery.

tswoboda wrote:

Sounds like some guessing and assumptions going on. Has he considered going somewhere bigger/better to get confirmation or second opinion?

No disrespect to rural northern Minnesota Healthcare but in my experience the best providers here are the ones that know when to make the referral to experts and specialists with more resources.

Yeah we are working on that right now, he just got home Friday afternoon. Tick related diagnosis and treatment has been bad for a long time, but is coming along it sounds like. The other factor that makes it more difficult to diagnose is he is in poor health in general since a heart attack a few years ago, and on about 20 meds already.

I had anaplasmosis in my late 20s. It was the sickest I have ever been with anything. It was also mis diagnosed Or undiagnosed for over a week. I too had a lumbar puncture to test for bacterial meningitis. I was extremely sick for nearly a month. Even after getting the correct diagnosis and starting doxycycline it took about 10 days to get mostly better. I hope your father has a quick recovery.

walleye216 wrote:

I had anaplasmosis in my late 20s. It was the sickest I have ever been with anything. It was also mis diagnosed Or undiagnosed for over a week. I too had a lumbar puncture to test for bacterial meningitis. I was extremely sick for nearly a month. Even after getting the correct diagnosis and starting doxycycline it took about 10 days to get mostly better. I hope your father has a quick recovery.

Pretty much the same for me. I had it about 3 years ago. I was really sick as well. They gave me high doses of Doxy for about a week and then backed the dosage down for two weeks.

Park Rapids to north of Bemidji is a common spot for bad ticks.

Hoping for a quick recovery and thinking of you and your family Werm.

I’ve had lymes and anaplasmosis. I got a doxy scrip early and it started to knock out the symptoms quick. It takes longer for the meds to work the longer you have had the disease.

Both can take a long time to show up in tests. If you have a deer tick bite and start feeling crappy get on doxy asap. Some docs don’t want to prescribe meds until it shows up in a test. Time to find a new doc if that’s the case. They both suck and you do not want to wait the days, weeks or even months that it can take for it to show up on tests, trust me.

Good luck to your pops Werm. Hopefully that was it and he will be fine soon.

I read the original post and felt sick – for you and your dad, but also because it brings up bad memories.

Don’t know if your dad has Lyme, but know that even if tested – less than half of the people with it don’t test positive the first time, or even sometimes with subsequent testing. The CDC testing is terribly antiquated.

I went on the wild goose chase of seeing 25+ doctors/specialists to try to get answers when not just one, but two of my family members got sick with similar symptoms as your dad. MRI’s, blood work, CT scans, lumbar punctures, etc, etc, etc. Both tested negative for Lyme 3-4 times over 6 months before they finally got a positive test result. By then, the disease went systemic, doxycycline no longer works, and it’s been a living hell of multiple symptoms that’ll ruin your life ever since.

My 25 year old son got it one year, my wife the next (Interestingly they have the same blood type). My son had found a tick after walking in the woods, my wife never saw one. I’ll spare you their separate journeys but is very extensive. But I will add that my wife fainted while doing 50 mph while going on an entrance ramp onto Hwy 100 and is lucky someone was in the car to take the wheel before she smashed into the cement median.

Let’s hope your dad has something else that is better treatable. First thing I recommend is to get on Ivermectin. Doesn’t work for everyone, but many it does. In our case, yes for my wife, no for my son. But it’s cheap and no side effects. Second, see Dr. Kyle Warren in Edina who specializes in these types of infectious disease things. Mainstream doctors that don’t have a positive test result in front of them for Lyme will invariably diagnose it as “in your head” and take anti-depressants. It’s obviously not and it’s called gaslighting. Dr. Warren can help develop a treatment plan.

I hope this narrows down 5 years of learning the hard way into one post.

Good luck, hope your dad turns the corner soon

Thanks for the feedback and well wishes everyone, sounds like the Doxy is doing the job and he’s seeing some good improvements. I had another friend that had Lyme’s that also recommended Dr. Warren in Edina, so that is good to know for anyone not progressing.

Hope the old man’s still on the upswing BW! Tick disease are a scary deal and nothing to mess around with. Our oldest daughter had Lymes a couple years ago but luckily we caught it right away. The biggest systems with her were being real lethargic, which obviously isn’t normal for an 12 year old. Keep us posted on the recovery.

Yep. Dang ticks. Went in to urgent care and they blood work. Ended up having Anaplasma phagocytophilum AB and Babesia microti lgG AB at the same time. Doctors had me on three different antibiotics at one time to knock them out. Felt better after about a week. We had left for a vacation to Florida but only made it to Nashville before being to sick to continue. Turned around and my wife drove back. I ended up with a temp of 104. Never saw a tick or where I was bitten by one. Hope he is doing better.