Spider bite, feel like crap

[Nevergrowup]

I'm surprised nobody's said it yet (But maybe it's the seriousness of the matter)

- If you wake up in the morning with bigger muscles, suddenly being able to climb walls, your senses being extraordinary, and having some strange stuff coming out of your wrists, then it's time to get a costume.

But seriously, I too think a doctor is in order...

[GH85Carrera]

As I remember ALL species of spiders are venomous. Most have very mild venom for humans. Just a few are deadly in this part of the world. In the land down under many if not most are deadly.

[sammyg2]

Not trying to freak you out or anything:

SPIDER-BITE VICTIM SAYS SHE FEELS LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
Friday, May 21, 1993 12:00 a.m. MDT By Larry Gerber, Associated Press Writer

Last July, Valerie Slimp was shampooing her carpet when she felt a sharp pain in her thigh.

"I thought at first I'd pulled a muscle," the 40-year-old woman recalled. But as the pain grew, she began to feel flulike symptoms. Within two days, she had gone into toxic shock and a coma.
Five months later, Slimp awoke, minus her arms, legs and nose. They had been amputated due to advancing blood poisoning.

Slimp considered herself lucky. At least the spider hadn't killed her.

"I always thought if anything was going to happen it would be a car accident or something," Slimp said in an interview this month. "Maybe get hit by a Mack truck you don't see coming. But to get bit by a spider?"

More Americans die from lightning strikes or skiing accidents than spider bites, said Rick Vetter, an entomologist at the University of California at Riverside.

Nationwide, an average of 43 people a year die from insect bites, mostly bee stings, Vetter said. Every three or four years, someone, usually a child, dies from a spider bite, he said.

In Slimp's case, by the time the venom was finally identified as that of a brown recluse spider, she was unconscious.

Rare in California, brown recluse spiders are common in the Midwest and South, Vetter said. But often, nothing happens when someone is bitten by one. "It depends on the person's body chemistry more than anything," he said.Now, Slimp uses an electric wheelchair around her home. Her husband, Randy, combs her hair and helps with her makeup.

He and their daughter, Charlene, 12, and son, Stuart, 9, also feed her, although she's learning to use a fork and other tools strapped to her elbows.

She is looking forward to getting artificial limbs soon.

Another couple gave her a golf cart for use outside. But it needs seat belts, because Slimp awoke from her coma with a new fear - falling over. "Suddenly I realized I couldn't grab hold of anything," she said.

Eventually, she said, she wants to get back to work in the family auto parts business.

"I think the one thing is that before this happened - you know life can get pretty down sometimes when you're strapped for every penny - and now I like living," Slimp said. "I really do. I'm glad I'm back."

Her husband said, "The brightest thing of all is that Valerie is alive, and she can get better and she can get back into society completely."

He recalled other people's suggestions that he start a new life without his wife, and how, when she regained consciousness, she told him he was free to leave.

"To me," he said, "that's inconceivable."

[tabs]

A RED VEIN going up your arm....Hmmmm. GO TO THE MD....This is not something to fool around with...you could DIE!!!!

[Kraftwerk]

My neighbor took his spider bite (on ankle) to his DR to have it looked at, Dr. Put him in ER immediately. He was there on IV drip for 3 days , his foot was HUGE. I don't even like the guy but I felt bad for him and the horrible experience.

[MarkRobinson]

I got bit by an unknown spider last spring: never felt it, but two days later I couldn't bend my elbow, swollen, hot, & red, & so sensative to the touch that I'd scream if you put a finger on it. Took 3 waves of antibiotics to finally control it, including 2 Rosefrin (sp?) shots in the ass: man those hurt! Elbow was swollen & mobility reduced for about a month. Have no idea what kind of spider though the doctor was sure that's what it was.

Go get it looked at please.

[HardDrive]

Not dead yet.

I feel fine, and the bite mark had faded a bit. I'm treating it with cortisone. I watched my temperature last night, it was fine (slight spike while watching that porn flick). Still, pretty creepy watching venom travel up your arm!

[Superman]

Glad to hear you are feeling okay. I too have seen a Black Widow here in Oz. Unmistakable. No need to turn her over to see the red spot. Gloss black. The locals think there are no BW's here.

[GeorgeK]

Cortisone is a very bad idea in case of infection. It will mask the symptoms until you collapse.

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Koch-Mason dressing.

Take a warm, moist washcloth, DO NOT use one that will upset your wife if it is destroyed. Cover the bite, wrap a dry hand towel around this. Cover with saran wrap, NOT TOO TIGHT. Change after 10-12 hours.

The moist will encourage it to drain, the dry towel over wet one will, help draw the crap away from the wound, the saran wrap holds in the body heat, bacteria have a fairly narrow temp range where they will survive. Warm them up and they die, one of the reasons you get a fever when you are sick.

Don't be surprised if you remove it and the washcloth has some nasty goo on it.

isn't your wife an anesthesiologist or something?

would something like this work for say a wood or metal sliver that has been a struggle to get to fester and remove? TIA Doc!

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by RWebb

you might want to get to the ER

you know what early necrosis looks like, right?

For once I would agree w/ Webby. My wife's cousin was bitten last summer and it developed into necrosis.

Go to a doctor or ER.

[Tobra]

Toby, yes it would

HD-NO, no cortisone

Missed the red streak thing, not a good prognostic sign, you can tell if it is going south on you, starts looking purple where the bite was=bad, starts sinking in the middle=bad. Watch it close and don't F around. I encourage you to at least call your primary care doc.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Not dead yet.

I feel fine, and the bite mark had faded a bit. I'm treating it with cortisone. I watched my temperature last night, it was fine (slight spike while watching that porn flick). Still, pretty creepy watching venom travel up your arm!

It is not the Venom that is traveling up your arm..more like blood poisoning...get to the MD... it has already progressed past the point of home remedy.

Most spiders don't have the mandibles to break the skin, but those that do have loads of bacteria if not venomous as well.

Black Widows do not need to be Glossy Black when they are young they are brown.

I got chomped on by some kind O spider, in two days my leg was swelling up so I went in and got some antibotics. That wound ouzzed for a few days.

There is NOTHING to fool around with here...U can die from this...

[sammyg2]

[HardDrive]

This woman who called herself 'Trinity' just appeared out of no where and stuck a probe into my arm. Pulled out this huge mechanical looking bug then picked up the phone and vanished.

[genrex]

You're not part of the collective anymore!

Quick, drink more Starbucks... or less... or something.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by genrex

You're not part of the collective anymore!

Quick, drink more Starbucks... or less... or something.

Are you trying to say resistance is a waste of time or something like that?