Spider bite?

Last Saturday I pulled a t-shirt out of the closet and threw it on. It was crumpled up and buried in a bin on the floor. Shortly after I felt a stinging sensation on my upper right back/shoulder area. It felt like a splinter of wood or grass was caught in my shirt so I shook the back of my shirt, a couple of seconds later I felt a second prick/sting further right and right on top of the scapulae. I still didn't think much of it and shook my shirt again. I was out the door right after and I had an exam I needed to be at down in Phoenix so I wasn't focussed on this at all. About 1000 feet away from my place I feel swelling. That area of my back was swollen like crazy and there was a golf ball on my scapulae.

The pain and discomfort started right away, it's not the worst pain ever but it's there. It's kind of a dull radiating pain that shoots out in all directions from the bite locations. All of the muscles in the area are really sore. I went hiking two days ago and I couldn't believe how sore my legs were from the relatively short hike. I have had some minor chest pains as well. The swelling has mostly gone away but where there was a golf ball there is still some swelling. It's been 7 days now and it still hurts a little.

I didn't see the critter but we have been spotting wolf spiders and black widows around our place. At first I thought it must have been a wolf but now the symptoms seem more in line with a widow bite. It's obviously not a severe case if so and I'm not scared of dying or anything especially being a week now but I am curious what others experiences have been like and thoughts on what it might be from.

One more thing....I never kill spiders in fear of the karma it might produce but a week before I got bit I spotted a large wolf spider in the house and I squashed it. I have a daughter and I didn't want it inside, they are fast and hard to catch so killing it seemed like a better option.

Damn, I hope it wasn't a BW bite as those can kill the surrounding tissue. Maybe go to the doctor?

does it have a bulleyes pattern?

Spider Bite Pictures

Spider bite is a good guess. Years ago a Brown Recluse crawled in my sleeping bag and bit me on the chest. Bullseye eventually became a circle of dead flesh. Nasty but no long-term issues.

I'd go to the doctor. A couple summers ago I had a spider bite on my hip. It didn't hurt but turned into a huge red mark. They gave me a month's worth of a steroid and anti-biotic. The mark went away after about a week and I didn't really have any effects because I caught so quick.

I had lyme when I was 18 and it put me in the hospital for a month, after that I don't mess with arachnid bites. Better safe than sorry, taking a pill everyday for a month is an easy alternative.

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Originally Posted by KQ

does it have a bulleyes pattern?

Spider Bite Pictures

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No bullseye, it's definitely not a recluse bite. The swelling has gone down substantially but it's still sore and I'm achy. There isn't much else you can do and I'm a broke student right now without insurance so seeing a doctor isn't really an option. The lyme disease aspect wasn't something I thought about, that's common with spiders?

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Originally Posted by VTsession

I'd go to the doctor. A couple summers ago I had a spider bite on my hip. It didn't hurt but turned into a huge red mark. They gave me a month's worth of a steroid and anti-biotic. The mark went away after about a week and I didn't really have any effects because I caught so quick.

I had lyme when I was 18 and it put me in the hospital for a month, after that I don't mess with arachnid bites. Better safe than sorry, taking a pill everyday for a month is an easy alternative.

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Jesus man! A month? WTF?

FYI: Brown Recluse are only found in this part of the US

http://www.minarsdermatology.com/for...ownRecluse.gif
Distribution of the brown recluse spider (dark shading) and other species of Loxosceles spiders in the U.S. (light shading).

For those of you in Washington:

WSU scientist: Dreaded spider doesn’t live here

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Originally Posted by KQ

FYI: Brown Recluse are only found in this part of the US

http://www.minarsdermatology.com/for...ownRecluse.gif
Distribution of the brown recluse spider (dark shading) and other species of Loxosceles spiders in the U.S. (light shading).

For those of you in Washington:

WSU scientist: Dreaded spider doesn’t live here

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I've seen this map before and I debated it with my doc in college. He was certain I had a BR bite in CA. I did some research back then and recalled finding out that maybe the jury was out on the above map??? I sure had all the signs of a BR bite. The suckatude was high.

edit: just saw the carve-out line up into SoCal. I was in the Bay Area though.

i think hospital/md visit is a good idea.

do you know how to recognize the look, sound, and feel of a widow web? for me, i can tell when i've accidentally broken a widow web, even if i didn't see it. of course, there's a chance the widow (if it was a widow) didn't have web spun in your shirt. widow bites are supposed to be pretty horrible, years back, trackhead claimed that they put people in the hospital more often and longer for pain management over bites from other poisonous critters; based on his observations working at a hospital in the SW.

i've had a few pretty bad random bites over the past few years that i've attributed to wolf spiders.

another ideas: centipede or scorpion.

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Originally Posted by RaisingArizona

No bullseye, it's definitely not a recluse bite. The swelling has gone down substantially but it's still sore and I'm achy. There isn't much else you can do and I'm a broke student right now without insurance so seeing a doctor isn't really an option. The lyme disease aspect wasn't something I thought about, that's common with spiders?

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No Insurance? How is that possible? :FIREdevil

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

i think hospital/md visit is a good idea.

do you know how to recognize the look, sound, and feel of a widow web? for me, i can tell when i've accidentally broken a widow web, even if i didn't see it. of course, there's a chance the widow (if it was a widow) didn't have web spun in your shirt. widow bites are supposed to be pretty horrible, years back, trackhead claimed that they put people in the hospital more often and longer for pain management over bites from other poisonous critters; based on his observations working at a hospital in the SW.

i've had a few pretty bad random bites over the past few years that i've attributed to wolf spiders.

another ideas: centipede or scorpion.

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What were the wolf spider bites like? I have sensitive skin and I get strange allergic reactions from all sorts of stuff. It's probably that, the discomfort isn't anything as extreme as what people describe from a bw. I would have felt a centipede or scorpion and besides, we don't really have them here at 7000 feet. I literally killed a wolf spider inside our house a few days before I was bit.

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Originally Posted by Skidog

No Insurance? How is that possible? :FIREdevil

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Murca

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Originally Posted by commonlaw

I've seen this map before and I debated it with my doc in college. He was certain I had a BR bite in CA. I did some research back then and recalled finding out that maybe the jury was out on the above map??? I sure had all the signs of a BR bite. The suckatude was high.

edit: just saw the carve-out line up into SoCal. I was in the Bay Area though.

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I have found a lot of stories/information that points towards the range being a lot more broad but who knows? I don't. I have heard about them here in Arizona.

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Originally Posted by RaisingArizona

What were the wolf spider bites like? I have sensitive skin and I get strange allergic reactions from all sorts of stuff.

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for me: a good deal of pain and swelling. the pain seemed to start immediately and grew in intensity for a few hours then slowly subsided. the area stayed swollen for several days with some eventually, but minimal, tissue death several days later at the center of the swelling. if i had fever or other symptoms, i didn't attribute them to the spider bite. compared to my wife and two of my kids, i do not have very sensitive skin; they get rashes from laundry detergents, mangos, soy sauce, tomatoes, etc.

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Originally Posted by RaisingArizona

The lyme disease aspect wasn't something I thought about, that's common with spiders?

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No, that is from some species of tics. Sorry to hear your a broke student with no insurance. Fukin Merika indeed. Vote for Bernie.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

for me: a good deal of pain and swelling. the pain seemed to start immediately and grew in intensity for a few hours then slowly subsided. the area stayed swollen for several days with some eventually, but minimal, tissue death several days later at the center of the swelling. if i had fever or other symptoms, i didn't attribute them to the spider bite. compared to my wife and two of my kids, i do not have very sensitive skin; they get rashes from laundry detergents, mangos, soy sauce, tomatoes, etc.

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That sounds like what I have experienced. I'm like your wife and kids, detergents or too much sun can give me rashes, mangos and pineapples make my mouth and throat puff up, cats ruin me and a short dry and sunny spell after some good monsoon rains I get really bad post nasal drip. I had poison ivy once when I was a kid and it looked like a case of leprosy.

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Originally Posted by liv2ski

No, that is from some species of tics. Sorry to hear your a broke student with no insurance. Fukin Merika indeed. Vote for Bernie.

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I am for sure. It's all good. I'm working towards a better life but it's a pia getting there!

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Originally Posted by flowing alpy

move to the pnw asap for much relief.

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My kid is here so I'll be staying if I can but if I can't get a local job out of school the PNW or Colorado is on the radar. I have always been intrigued by Bellingham. I also have a friend in Leavenworth and that place sounds really sweet.

The PNW is the only zone left that I haven't lived in and would like to experience.

Keep an eye on it and watch for redness spreading from around the bite. I got bit a few years ago and didn't think anything of it but ended up with a MRSA infection. After a week I finally went to the ER because I ached all over and had a fever. They cut a big chunk of dead/infected skin out of my leg and I spent three days in the hospital to get the infection under control.

Take a pen or magic marker and draw around the swelling (or have someone do it for you). Watching how it changes should dictate your next course of action.

Keep your activity level to a minimum and try not to help the poison race through your circulatory system.



I waited 4 or 5 days and my arm had doubled in size. Came within hours of an amputation... stubborn isn’t always an asset.

Thank goodness you weren't putting underwear on when this happened, huh? Spider bite on the taint would be a real show stopper.

^^^^^FKNA:eek:

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Originally Posted by Cruiser

Thank goodness you weren't putting underwear on when this happened, huh? Spider bite on the taint would be a real show stopper.

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I don't know, the lady might have appreciated a little extra swelling down below. Just kidding, that would have been terrible. I'm totally wigged out now, I have been smacking shoes out and excessively fwapping out my cloths before I put them on.

@Gepeto, good advice, I was going to go ride today but now I have changed my mind. The swelling has decreased greatly but it's still very sore and my whole body aches a little but that's been standard for the last 12 years or so. It's hard to tell the difference between the regular aches and what might be from this bite.

Any ER will treat you for free.

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Originally Posted by RaisingArizona

Murca

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Thought potus fixed that?

[\threaddrift]

Did all you people telling RA to rush to the doctor, draw circles around the red, etc, notice that he posted 7 days after the bite and was mostly better? No wonder health insurance is expensive when people rush to the doctor for everything. Fortunately RA showed more common sense. With a spider bite there's nothing a doctor can do unless and until it gets infected or skin dies. I've seen lots of people with spider bites who got antibiotics. I never saw one where it did any good. Yeah, you can get MRSA from a spider bite. You can get it from any break in the skin or out of the clear blue sky like my kid. Spiders aren't particular carriers of MRSA. Now the bites that really are dangerous as far as infection are human bites (and Komodo dragons I think I read somewhere.)

As far as brown recluse go--their range is irrelevant, since there are a number of species around the country that can produce the same symptoms--red with dead rotting skin in the middle. For that matter all spiders are venomous to some degree. This one sounds like a black widow but symptoms aren't severe enough to say for sure. RA--it seems like you were right about the karma thing. Don't kill any more of them.

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Originally Posted by flowing alpy

move to the pnw asap for much relief.

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PNW is home of the fastest spider in the world.

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Originally Posted by jon gaper

Any ER will treat you for free.

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Not sure if that's really true. They won't turn you down for lack of payment, but you will still be billed, I'm pretty sure.

Yesterday I was packing up after a weekend visiting family in Canada. Stayed in the downstairs bedroom of my grandparents' and as I pick up my suitcase see a black widow walking across the sheets. Ugh.

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Originally Posted by Danno

Not sure if that's really true. They won't turn you down for lack of payment, but you will still be billed, I'm pretty sure.

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This, then release the hounds on you when you don't pay.

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Originally Posted by old goat

Did all you people telling RA to rush to the doctor, draw circles around the red, etc, notice that he posted 7 days after the bite and was mostly better? No wonder health insurance is expensive when people rush to the doctor for everything. Fortunately RA showed more common sense. With a spider bite there's nothing a doctor can do unless and until it gets infected or skin dies. I've seen lots of people with spider bites who got antibiotics. I never saw one where it did any good. Yeah, you can get MRSA from a spider bite. You can get it from any break in the skin or out of the clear blue sky like my kid. Spiders aren't particular carriers of MRSA. Now the bites that really are dangerous as far as infection are human bites (and Komodo dragons I think I read somewhere.)

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Isn't it most likely that the person being bitten by the spider is a carrier of community acquired MRSA and that the bite is just an opportunity for the infection to get past the skin? I think in some communities the rate of community acquired MRSA is approaching 50%.

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Originally Posted by Danno

Not sure if that's really true. They won't turn you down for lack of payment, but you will still be billed, I'm pretty sure.

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Originally Posted by TNKen

This, then release the hounds on you when you don't pay.

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Should people who choose not to buy insurance get free care? Should the hospital write off all care rendered to folks who don't want to or can't pay?

Well it's day 10 or 11 now and most of the symptoms have faded away. The bite location is still a little swollen and still sore but nothing like it was.

I'm now thinking it was for sure a widow. The bite felt like a tiny pin prick and swelled up immediately. For about 10 days I had muscle spasms/tremors all over my body and my stomach and lower back especially. The bite area had radiating pain that I can still feel. It spreads throughout my shoulder, upper right arm, the back and side of my neck and all the way down the scapulae and shoulder blade. Since I'm not dead I'm figuring I'm going to live a little longer. Thanks for the input, I was a little worried there for a few.

Glad your feeling better. Fuck spider karma, if they look dangerous, I kill the nasty fuckers.

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Originally Posted by AaronWright

Isn't it most likely that the person being bitten by the spider is a carrier of community acquired MRSA and that the bite is just an opportunity for the infection to get past the skin? I think in some communities the rate of community acquired MRSA is approaching 50%.



Should people who choose not to buy insurance get free care? Should the hospital write off all care rendered to folks who don't want to or can't pay?

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I agree--if someone gets MRSA infection of a spider bite the MRSA almost certainly came from the victim, not the perp. My kid got MRSA spontaneously in his armpit (no he doesn't shave his pits.) He was living in a frat house at the time. Probably 100% CAMRSA incidence.

Regardless of whether it is right or wrong, non-profit hospitals need to do a certain amount of charity care to justify their non-profit status. If they didn't write off bad debt they would actually have to go out in the community and look for good to do. BTW--anyone stuck with a hospital bill they can't pay should try to work with the hospital rather than just walk away. Most will actually work with you to a greater or lesser extent. You should be prepared to prove it with personal financial data. I was at a budget meeting for Tahoe Forest Hospital where the CFO says a lot of the people who could ask for financial assistance don't--presumably because they don't want to share their information (or IMO perhaps their immigration status).