Summer 2026 Tick bite experience

After more than ten blood samples taken in both Austria and the US, the doctors at Valley Medical Group finally figured out what had been bothering me for the last six weeks. The culprit turned out to be a parasite called Babesia—one of the nastier things you can get from a tick bite.

The symptoms were relentless: exhaustion, headaches, night sweats, aching muscles and joints, and air hunger (a new term I learned)—basically that feeling when you can't quite get a deep breath. The parasite invades your red blood cells, multiplies inside them, and ruptures them in the process. In my case, I lost almost 25% of my blood cells in six weeks, causing severe anemia.

I'd been treated with antibiotics for anaplasmosis, which had no effect. Now that we know the real culprit, I'm on a 10-day course of azithromycin and atovaquone, which should hopefully kick this little vampire to the curb. After that, it'll be a few more weeks for my blood cell levels to normalize, and I should be back to normal.

I likely picked this up hiking in the fields around Conway and never even noticed the tick or its bite.

My cyclocross race season will probably start a bit later this year.