Are you sure it wasn't a rattlesnake?

[altagirl]

Uh...

So I went to the doctor this evening because when we were riding on Saturday morning I got a bee sting on my ankle. No big deal, I've gotten stung by bees before - they usually hurt for like 5 min then it's like a mosquito bite. Except it's now been like 50 some hours after this happened and my ankle keeps getting more swollen and itchier and hot to the touch, etc. So I went to the doctor and he said it looks like a rattlesnake bite.

I'm pretty damn sure it was an insect, not a snake. I was riding down the gravel road to the start of Sunset at DV (fast open gravel road) and suddenly there's an extremely painful burning feeling in my ankle. I stop, and there's a squashed up fuzzy looking insect squashed in the ankle of my shoe. I brushed it out of my shoe, wiped away a drop of blood where it stung/bit me and keep riding, with my leg shaking because it freaking hurt.

It kept hurting/tingling (like getting e-stim on my ankle and lower calf) all day. And I just kept riding on it - I mean, who stops riding over a bug bite? Sunday morning it started itching like crazy and getting red and puffy. And by this afternoon, it's itching to the point I want to stab myself in the ankle to make it stop, and it's a red spot with white around it and then bruises/capillaries radiating around that about the size of my fist (i.e. the entire inside of my ankle).

I've been putting topical Benadryl/Calamine lotion on it, which has zero effect. The doctor had me switch to oral Benadryl and gave me a perscription for antibiotics, which seems... pointless.

He said since it was apparently a bee/wasp/something that it's probably just that, take more Benadryl and call him if it doesn't improve.

So I'm ruling out rattlesnakes, but what if it was like a recluse spider or something that got into my shoe? All I saw was fuzzy, mostly squashed insect that was somewhat black-ish but had dirt on it... I wish I had looked at it more closely.

Is the answer to any and all insect bites "take Benadryl"? Is any of this wierd and I've just been lucky with bee sting reactions in the past?

God, I'm a wuss.

[beaterdit]

Sounds weird. If it gets a black spot in the middle, go back to the doc ASAP - Recluse. Usually those start out white in the middle though, with red around the outside. Black widow venom is a neurotoxin that can cause similar symptoms. I'm having a hard time time figuring out how either would have gotten into your shoe though, unless it was i there when you put it on. But then it would have bitten you lower on your foot before it got squished.
Hope it gets better.

[altagirl]

Sounds weird. If it gets a black spot in the middle, go back to the doc ASAP - Recluse. Usually those start out white in the middle though, with red around the outside. Black widow venom is a neurotoxin that can cause similar symptoms. I'm having a hard time time figuring out how either would have gotten into your shoe though, unless it was i there when you put it on. But then it would have bitten you lower on your foot before it got squished.
Hope it gets better.

It's right on the edge of where the ankle cuff of the shoe was, and when I found the bug remains it was like 1/8" into the shoe. I figured it was a bee or something that I literally ran into. But he made me wonder if it was a spider that dropped onto the cuff of my shoe and bit me when I started moving and squishing it...

The spot in the center is reddish purple right now. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it and see what happens.

It's not super swollen, but enought that my ankle bone doesn't stick out at all, and it's pretty pointy on my other foot.

[summit]

Bite is inconsistent with recluse (no immediate symptoms), black widow (you'd have systemic symptoms and would feel like death), or pit viper (you'd have two nice puncture wounds and no squished insect).

[truth]

That sux AG. I'd be errring on the side of caution if it does not get vastly better soon.

[Viva]

Update???

[altagirl]

Swelling is a little better (there's a hint of where my ankle bone is supposed to be) and the coloring looks better in general. And when I take max dosages of Benadryl it doesn't itch much. It's definitely an improvement from yesterday, so I guess it's probably nothing serious. The center "bite" point is still just red, not turning black or anything, so I guess that's good too.

Mostly it just freaked me out a little to have a doctor tell me it looked like I was bitten by a rattlesnake and then just tell me to take Benadryl. But it was probably just a bee/hornet/whatever. Which I guess could certainly have been worse, as far as bad reactions to bee stings go.

[TurxSki]

I get bad reactions to bug bites

An ice-pack is pretty good at relieving the itching, and doesn't tear you up like scratching does

Now don't you wish you'd been doing something safer ?
Like shopping, or computer games or summat

[mtnbikerskierchick]

AG- I really don't have much to add except I've had friends in similar situations told by docs to take Benadryl and keep an eye on it (I guess that's just what docs say when they have no idea! I hope you feel better soon

[altagirl]

Thanks, guys. It's looking way better - about 50% of the swelling is gone, coloring is just a little bruising, and not itching that much.

I was doing the ice pack thing too - if I wrapped an ice pack around it in an ace bandage, I couldn't get at it to scratch it.

Funny how posting here for medical advice makes you feel better...

[caddah]

funny i just got stung by what i think was a wasp or hornet on friday painting on the top of a ladder. my entire life i have had no reaction to bee stings. they hurt like a bitch for a little while and then thats pretty much the end of it...just like you mentioned in your first post.

well a couple years ago i got stung on my hand by a wasp or something. i saw it squirming around between my thumb and index finger, right on that little flab of skin that connects them. well my hand blew up like a water melon. exaxt same symptoms you explained above.was swollen for like a week. very very tight, red, and itchy. i took some allergy medicine and iced it a little bit just for comfort. thats basically all you can do.

fast forward to this last friday and i get stung again. oh shit....it hurts for five minutes, then subsides. and i think good. no swelling this time. then i notice my entire upper arm swelling up. i got stung on the shoulder. same thing as before happened. swelled up about 2 times the size of my other arm. really tightened up to the point where it was difficult to bend at all. and itched like crazy. well its wednesday and today is the first day it looks normal.

i dont know if this is becuase of the type of insect....both of my stings that got swollen were wasp looking type things. and i had no previous reaction.

either than or i have recently aquired a reaction to these bites. Im not sure. But i would not be worried at all if i was you. take some benadryle or something and it will go down eventually. sounds like that is whats happening anyway.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

Glad things are feeling better AG. People can have very specific allergies to wasps, hornets, etc. For instance, most bees/hornets/yellow jackets don't bother me but wasp stings will give me hives, watery eyes, etc. People can also develop allergies later in life sometimes to things they previously weren't bothered by. Either way I am glad your ankle is better. Plus I would imagine if it were a rattlesnake bite, one where he used some poison on you, you probably wouldn't have been able to finish the ride. Although I gather you may be tough enough to do that.

[yentna]

funny i just got stung by what i think was a wasp or hornet on friday painting on the top of a ladder. my entire life i have had no reaction to bee stings. they hurt like a bitch for a little while and then thats pretty much the end of it...just like you mentioned in your first post.

well a couple years ago i got stung on my hand by a wasp or something. i saw it squirming around between my thumb and index finger, right on that little flab of skin that connects them. well my hand blew up like a water melon. exaxt same symptoms you explained above.was swollen for like a week. very very tight, red, and itchy. i took some allergy medicine and iced it a little bit just for comfort. thats basically all you can do.

fast forward to this last friday and i get stung again. oh shit....it hurts for five minutes, then subsides. and i think good. no swelling this time. then i notice my entire upper arm swelling up. i got stung on the shoulder. same thing as before happened. swelled up about 2 times the size of my other arm. really tightened up to the point where it was difficult to bend at all. and itched like crazy. well its wednesday and today is the first day it looks normal.

i dont know if this is becuase of the type of insect....both of my stings that got swollen were wasp looking type things. and i had no previous reaction.

either than or i have recently aquired a reaction to these bites. Im not sure. But i would not be worried at all if i was you. take some benadryle or something and it will go down eventually. sounds like that is whats happening anyway.

Maybe you should get an epi pen just in case your next reaction is worse....that story =

AG: glad it's turning out all right. Allergic reactions are freaky deaky.

[altagirl]

I do have a couple of epi pens around - one in the house, one in the camelbak. Like 7 years go when I was deployed in Saudi Arabia, we pulled 24 hour shifts - I was taking a nap in the break room, woke up and my lip was tingling. I walked to the bathroom and by the time I got there my lip was like 4x normal size. I went straight to the aid station, he gave me some benadryl and it was gone in like 30 minutes. No bite mark or anything and since I was asleep, we had no idea what it was - just guessed it was some sort of insect/spider bite. Which left it at - I have no idea what you're allergic to, so it might be a good idea to have an epi-pen around just in case it happens again and you develop more severe symptoms and can't breathe.

And I also had a mild allergic reaction to shrimp a few years ago - hives on my face for a couple hours. Doc said to be safe, just avoid all seafood. Yeah right. So I kept trying things one at at time, and then even have had shrimp since and no reaction at all.

And then this was almost the opposite reaction - wheras those were immediate and very short term reactions, this was no swelling until 24 hours later. And I've had a bee sting in between those incidents that was nothing more severe than a mosquito bite (also at Deer Valley - one flew into my elbow pads while I was riding). So who the hell knows.

Anyway, my ankle is looking 90% normal today. So that's good.

[The Reverend Floater]

...or pit viper (you'd have two nice puncture wounds and no squished insect).

Sorry, but I had to laugh at this. Pit viper? I'm gonna say it wasn't a mongoose, either.

[altagirl]

Sorry, but I had to laugh at this. Pit viper? I'm gonna say it wasn't a mongoose, either.

I laughed when the doc asked me if I was sure it wasn't a rattlesnake. Followed by heh, uh.. um... wait, that doesn't sound good if that's what it looks like.

[The Reverend Floater]

I laughed when the doc asked me if I was sure it wasn't a rattlesnake. Followed by heh, uh.. um... wait, that doesn't sound good if that's what it looks like.

Just glad you're okay, whatever it was. And you have a great drinking story to boot!

[splat]

Rub your piss on those bites. It works.

[slippy]

Prolly a mountain lion sting. Those hurt bad. Rub potato salad on it.

[altagirl]

Prolly a mountain lion sting. Those hurt bad. Rub potato salad on it.

There was a kid on the radio last week who had been bitten by a black bear while camping. (It grabbed his arm through his tent while he was asleep.) They were describing the photos of his injury as looking like a couple of mosquito bites. Kindof takes the edge off the story.

But I figured that must be equivalent to a mountain lion sting.

[summit]

Rub your piss on those bites. It works.

Are you still seriously spouting that insane BS?

[mnflyfish]

I do have a couple of epi pens around - one in the house, one in the camelbak. Like 7 years go when I was deployed in Saudi Arabia, we pulled 24 hour shifts - I was taking a nap in the break room, woke up and my lip was tingling. I walked to the bathroom and by the time I got there my lip was like 4x normal size. I went straight to the aid station, he gave me some benadryl and it was gone in like 30 minutes. No bite mark or anything and since I was asleep, we had no idea what it was - just guessed it was some sort of insect/spider bite. Which left it at - I have no idea what you're allergic to, so it might be a good idea to have an epi-pen around just in case it happens again and you develop more severe symptoms and can't breathe.

And I also had a mild allergic reaction to shrimp a few years ago - hives on my face for a couple hours. Doc said to be safe, just avoid all seafood. Yeah right. So I kept trying things one at at time, and then even have had shrimp since and no reaction at all.

And then this was almost the opposite reaction - wheras those were immediate and very short term reactions, this was no swelling until 24 hours later. And I've had a bee sting in between those incidents that was nothing more severe than a mosquito bite (also at Deer Valley - one flew into my elbow pads while I was riding). So who the hell knows.

Anyway, my ankle is looking 90% normal today. So that's good.

I have been stung tons of times in the past with no adverse reactions. Then Wednesday afternoon I was doing some yard work, moving a couple piles of brush that I've ignored all summer. All of a sudden, I had pain coming from all areas of my body. Inside the brush was a bees nest. I drop the brush and start running. Hit the street and at this tme realized the bees had gotten sick of the exposed skin and had flown up my shorts! Needless to say the neighbors got a show. I counted 15 stings, and felt like shit. I was actually a little worried, paid real close attention to my breathing, etc for the rest of the night. So what's my point, well I believe that if one get a hold of you and releases more venom into you then you'll have a stronger reaction.

Good Luck, glad everything is better,
Jay

[The Reverend Floater]

Are you still seriously spouting that insane BS?

Whatever, pit viper.

[splat]

Are you still seriously spouting that insane BS?

Only as long as you're so ignorantly stubborn as to not try it, whizball.
I'd also be the first in line to hook up jumper cables to a car battery or use a stun gun to zap a charge across a pit viper bite and neutralize the alien proteins in the venom. Also works for bug stings and bites.

Chew on that for a while, mon alopathic paramedic.

[BakerBoy]

Only as long as you're so ignorantly stubborn as to not try it, whizball.
I'd also be the first in line to hook up jumper cables to a car battery or use a stun gun to zap a charge across a pit viper bite and neutralize the alien proteins in the venom. Also works for bug stings and bites.

Chew on that for a while, mon alopathic paramedic.

Hey, he was a nookular engineer in college for a week, leave him alone!

[/weekly disparaging remark directed towards Summit so he still thinks he's worth stalking]