When Natalie Renee’s daughter Natasha came down with mysterious symptoms, she and the doctors were stumped. After realizing Natasha was experiencing non-typical symptoms of Lyme disease, Renee shared a now viral Facebook post warning others to watch out for these lesser-known signs.

In a post shared last week, Renee said Natasha woke up with a headache, and within a few hours was unable to walk and had a fever of 104 degrees. When Natasha complained about her head, Renee found a quarter-size lump that “by 4 p.m. had become the ugliest looking wound I have ever seen.”

“I was told at first it was a spider bite she was treated and sent home. Within hours the wound looked even worse, had a white and red ring around it, the fever was unstoppable,” Renee wrote. “She screamed in pain nonstop because she was unable to move her head/neck or even walk, she was dizzy, confused and her knees were swollen and painful and I drove her to children’s a mess scared to death because I never saw anything like this in 13 years of nursing.”

“Then finally we had a diagnosis around 11 p.m. while it was not a typical presentation of a bullseye bite and her symptoms were a little off she has Lyme disease,” Renee wrote. “She got her first dose of cefuroxime late last night and thank God this morning is the first time in days I saw her walk by herself, eat, drink and is talking my ear off again about everything.”

She shared a photo of Natasha’s bite, along with a warning to take precautions to prevent tick bites. “I never saw a tick on Natasha so even if you don’t see one check their skin for bites,” she wrote.

This summer is expected to be especially risky for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, so experts recommend taking the initiative to protect yourself. Wear long pants and long sleeves, use insect repellant like Deet and permethrin, and check yourself thoroughly for ticks and bites when you come inside. Remember that you won’t necessarily get the stereotypical bullseye rash, so keep an eye out for flu-like symptoms, fatigue and neurological symptoms, and see a Lyme-literate doctor immediately if you’re concerned as early treatment is key.

Last month, another parent turned to Facebook to share a little-known consequence of a tick bite: tick paralysis. Amanda Lewis posted a video of her daughter Evelyn struggling to stand and explained that she was diagnosed with tick paralysis at the hospital and started to feel better when a tick was found in her hair and removed.

• Originally published on The Mighty