Anyone familiar with spider bites?

[Ravenlost]

I think I may have been bitten on the upper back of my right arm. Night before last I noticed what looked like a blood blister on my upper arm slightly smaller than an M&M....red M&M. :haha:

Today it's a little bigger, kind of itchy and looks like a white blister with a red ring around it.

Does this sound like a spider bite? I'm going to keep an eye on it and if there's a change by tomorrow I guess I'll go to the doctor.

Oh yeah, I've had a horrible headache for a couple days too.

[gleepish]

You are pretty far south for it... but have you been bitten by a tick? Without being able to see it, it sort of sounds a little like lyme disease...

From webmd.com

Stage 1: Early localized infection (1 to 4 weeks)

From 1 to 4 weeks after being infected with bacteria that cause Lyme disease, up to 80% of people develop an expanding, circular red skin rash (called erythema migrans).3

For people who live in areas where Lyme disease most often occurs—in the United States along the Atlantic coast, the Midwest, and parts of Oregon and California—the circular rash is usually a sure sign of Lyme disease, especially when it appears during the summer months.

In up to 50% of people who have Lyme disease, the expanding circular rash is accompanied by flulike symptoms such as:6

Fatigue or lack of energy, which is the most common symptom.
Headache and stiff neck.
Fever and chills.
Muscle and joint pain.
Swollen lymph nodes.

[mtman]

if you start feeling like flu with the head ach could be lymes desease from a tic head ach is one of the things that happen so is the red ring

[Ravenlost]

I did get a tick off the back of my arm last week, but not in the same place as this area.

North Mississippi is to far south for spiders? Somebody needs to come down here and tell 'em then! I'd be happy if they all packed up and moved north!

[gleepish]

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

North Mississippi is to far south for spiders? Somebody needs to come down here and tell 'em then! I'd be happy if they all packed up and moved north!

:haha: I meant for lyme desease! LOL

[Ravenlost]

Ah...I agree with you! I went here - http://www.aldf.com/Lyme.asp - and read up on it. I'm 99 percent sure this isn't Lyme Disease after reading the info on this website.

I'm also 99 percent sure this is a darn spider bite.

[moldy]

Please have it checked out immediately. the way you describe it makes it sound like a bulls eye. That particular mark is indicative of a brown recluse spider bite. If it is, the bite will continue to get more painful and a brown area will develop in the center. this is dead tissue. If they are treated early, the treatment is less invasive and less costly.

[Ravenlost]

After all I've seen and read online today I'm pretty sure I'll be in the doctor's office tomorrow.

It looks almost exactly like this:

[Tango]

I was bitten by a spider in August last year and it became infected in about 12 hours time. Our second class meeting was the next day so I had to go to work but had to leave early as I was completely disoriented. The sidewalks looked like they were at a slant. The bite also had a ring around it and I fondly recall (J/K) the excruciating initial pain of the bite.

[Ravenlost]

Thing is, I never felt a bite. I've been a little sick to my stomach the last few days and have had this horrible headache, but the area doesn't hurt...it bothers me and it's starting to itch a little bit, but I wouldn't call it painful.

[horselogger]

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

Thing is, I never felt a bite. I've been a little sick to my stomach the last few days and have had this horrible headache, but the area doesn't hurt...it bothers me and it's starting to itch a little bit, but I wouldn't call it painful.

as in run to a doctor;it is a whoile lot easier to pay a few bucks now than a whole lot later....sounds like one of a couple of different spider bites...go to the doctor NOW!!!!

[Cyngbaeld]

I would not wait till morning.

[Mary in MO]

I got Lyme here in MO about 6 or so years ago. I thought I was coming down with the flu, bad headache, body ache, tired. I showered and noticed a bulls eye ring on my belly with a circle of necrotized tissue in the center. It didn't really itch or hurt. Went to the doc and it was Lyme. Gotta tell you, the headache was from encephalitis so for two weeks I couldn't stand any light, movement. It was horrible. You sound just like me. I had a tick on my shoulder a week before. Turns out, you can have a tick bite in one spot and the ring show up on another without the bite in the center. Mine was probably a seed tick that I never saw and scratched off. Get to a doctor and get some doxycyline in you. A MINIMUM of 10 weeks of abx. The spirochete is invulnerable to meds when it's in its blastocyte stage and it goes into that every 3 or 4 weeks (going from memory here). The Lyme is what started my rheumatoid arthritis. My body never did stop defending. I was on abx for 4 months. If your doc balks at the long dosing of abx just balk back. You don't want liver failure from this. GET TO THE DOC.

Oh, and the Lyme titer can come up negative or inconclusive...they generally use the western blot test for it. Treat the symptoms even if the intial test is negative. Lots of false negatives with this disease. I still get bit by the buggers and hope to never ever never get anything like that again. Oh, and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever is alive and well everywhere execpt the rockies. Another lovely tick-borne disease.

Mary

[Ravenlost]

I already take 75 mg Doxycline daily for the Rosacea and Ocular Rosacea. If it isn't any better in the morning I'll go see the doctor before the day is out.

[BaronsMom]

If you have any concerns about any bites or reactions to bites, see your physician...

Note: bites are misdiagnosed by physicians too - it happens all the time. And, it is easy to understand why - it is very difficult to know what caused bites unless you see the "biter". What makes it more difficult - people react differently to bites.

Most important - if you have a gut feeling the bite and/or reaction isn't right - don't mess around, see a doctor! Tests can be done for Lymes-type disease...if that is your concern.

[airotciv]

[QUOTE=BaronsMom]If you have any concerns about any bites or reactions to bites, see your physician...

Note: bites are misdiagnosed by physicians too - it happens all the time. And, it is easy to understand why - it is very difficult to know what caused bites unless you see the "biter". What makes it more difficult - people react differently to bites.

Most important - if you have a gut feeling the bite and/or reaction isn't right - don't mess around, see a doctor! Tests can be done for Lymes-type disease...if that is your concern.[/QUOTE


Must agree with everyone, go to the Doc. But I wonder if its not a reaction to a bite. My husband (we live in Oregon). We have a white spider that if he is bitten by, he has a reaction to. Yet know one else in the family has this reaction when bitten. When he is bit it looks just like the photo. It takes him 3-6 months for the sore to go away. It took us along time to figure out what he was being bit by. The Doc said some bug bite, he could not say what it was. The doc puts him on an antibiotic.

[BaronsMom]

Originally Posted by airotciv

Must agree with everyone, go to the Doc. But I wonder if its not a reaction to a bite. My husband (we live in Oregon). We have a white spider that if he is bitten by, he has a reaction to. Yet know one else in the family has this reaction when bitten. When he is bit it looks just like the photo. It takes him 3-6 months for the sore to go away. It took us along time to figure out what he was being bit by. The Doc said some bug bite, he could not say what it was. The doc puts him on an antibiotic.

We have a yellow sac spider in our area that can give you a nasty bite - it is quite pale. My son was bit by one and we did see the culprit...the mark on his knee lasted a long time. The bite itself wasn't painful...just nasty afterwards...didn't destroy tissue though. Photo of the spider

http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest...SacSpiders.htm

[Ravenlost]

The bite in the photo I posted is from a sac spider, which is what I'm beginning to suspect bit me.

If I'm already on strong antibiotics what more can a doctor do? If it starts to spread, rot or anything I'll definitely go to the doctor without hesitation. Right now I'm still in "wait and see" mode.

[southerngurl]

Sounds like a brown recluse bite.

Here is a description:

The bite of the brown recluse spider is usually painless. However, localized burning sensation often develops within the first hour and during the next 6-12 hours, a small pimple or blister forms. The surrounding tissue begins to darken and take a raised appearance. The venom of this spider can cause extensive tissue damage (necrotic reaction) and over the next 10-14 days, a sunken, open, ulcerated sore up to several centimeters in diameter. It normally takes 6-8 weeks for a brown recluse spider bite to heal. A large sunken scar may persist that requires surgery to repair. Not every brown recluse bite results in ulcer formation. In rare cases systemic complications such as liver or kidney damage result.

[NWSneaky]

I've been bitten by many critters, both brothers-in-law are physicians, the bottom line is, 'time is about the only thing that heals it'.