Oh dear -- I meant 9 YEARS of no red meat, not hours!

I'm not an outdoorsy type of person. In fact, I have been camping or walking through the woods or any of that, really. I've had a single tick on me (that I've known about), and I was very young when that happened. I was tested for Lyme a year ago when I was in the ER from one of the fevers, but it came back negative. From what I understand, there are a LOT of false negatives with a lot of these tests.

The pain in my arms is in my upper arms, primarily. I do get it in my forearms, as well. Friday, I was so stressed out due to my job, that it resulted in even more pain -- my shoulders were aching and I just couldn't lift things any longer, or even push a door open. That was also the night that my knees were burning and walking became a huge issue. I feel like the stress is doing me in quicker. The whole situation feels ridiculous.

As for the lotion, I realized that after the fact. Sorry. But I will absolutely try it, especially for my calves.