Alec Baldwin: ‘It just kept coming back’ – actor’s ‘inexplicable’ pain due to Lyme disease

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin tell their children they’re expecting

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The actor, who is known for his roles in films such as Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and The Cooler, which landed him an Oscar nomination, first spoke about his experience with Lyme disease back in 2011, after first being bitten by a tick 20 years prior. The condition is a bacterial infection, which can easily be spread to humans by infected ticks. And although easily treated if diagnosed early enough, for some people Lyme disease can produce a wide array of symptoms, including facial paralysis and arthritis.

After being bitten, Baldwin has been left with constant fears and anxiety of being outside, after enduring horrible symptoms, including long-term joint pain.

Opening up about his symptoms, Baldwin said: “I think twice that I had it, I got bit twice and I probably had it four times over five years where it came back at the exact same time.”

Although unsure whether he had it twice or only once, both times the actor said that he was bedridden with cold sweats, joint pain, soreness, and exhaustion.

“August of one summer I was standing on my friend’s porch at night, and it was a cool evening—it wasn’t a hot steamy evening—and I felt literally this wave go over my back and over my shoulders and kind of wrap around me like a chill, and I got just attacked.

“It came like someone snapped their fingers and put a spell on me,” the actor recalled.

“I had the same thing each August,” he continued. “I got bit, and then I had it again the following August, and I got bit again.

“I had it the following August and it just kept coming back.”

Due to his recurring symptoms and seemingly vulnerability to the condition, Baldwin started to think that he might suffer from “chronic Lyme disease,” something that even experts are unsure of its existence.

As a result of his experience, and “inexplicable” joint pain that he still suffers from, Baldwin said that he and his wife Hilaria Baldwin are extremely cautious about letting their six children play outdoors.

Speaking more about the area in which they live [known as the Hamptons] he said: “When we have a very mild winter out here, the ticks are beyond. They just come busting out like it’s — what’s that concert everybody goes to? It’s Coachella for ticks out here.

“I want my kids to grow up riding horses and bikes and enjoying themselves every day and not have to spend every day with us going over them with a magnifying glass to make sure they don’t have any ticks on their body or their dogs, but that is part of the lifestyle of where I live.”

Due to the wide range of symptoms Lyme disease can cause, and the higher population of ticks in the British countryside, it is important to be aware of the first signs and symptoms of the disease, and how best to prevent tick bites.

Although not all ticks are infected, they are most active from around March to October. The NHS explains that once bitten, a circular or oval shape rash around the bite can be an early symptom of Lyme disease.

This rash can appear up to three months after being infected, and can last for several weeks after. Usually a darker shade in the middle, the rash might gradually spread but tends not to be itchy or hot.

Some people also get flu-like symptoms a few days or weeks after they have been bitten by an infected tick. This can include:

  • A high temperature, or feeling hot and shivery
  • Headache
  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Tiredness and loss of energy.

Later more severe symptoms of Lyme disease, which can occur within days or months of being bitten and infection can include:

  • Additional rashes on other areas of the body
  • Facial palsy (loss of muscle tone or droop on one or both sides of the face)
  • Arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling, particularly the knees and other large joints.
  • Intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones
  • Heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
  • Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath
  • Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
  • Nerve pain
  • Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet.

Lyme disease is often treated with a course of antibiotics, but one of the sure ways to avoid the condition is to protect yourself against ticks, especially if you are going to a landscape known to have a large population – grassy and wooded areas.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that the best thing to do to prevent ticks is to treat clothing with products containing a chemical called permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings. Alternatively, you can buy permethrin-treated clothing and gear.

An alternative is to always check clothing for ticks after coming in from an outdoor area. Washing and tumble drying clothing for 10 minutes on a high heat will act to kill ticks.

If you or someone you know finds a tick on their body after examination, the safest way to remove them is as follows:

  1. Use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool. You can buy these from some pharmacies, vets and pet shops.
  2. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
  3. Slowly pull upwards, taking care not to squeeze or crush the tick. Dispose of it when you have removed it.
  4. Clean the bite with antiseptic or soap and water.

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