Victim E-mail
The e-mails on this page are from victims willing to share their stories so that other will know that they are not alone. If you are willing to share your story please e-mail me. Sorry for any gaps in the posting, my computer disagrees with me sometimes.
Name
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State
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Description
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Date Posted
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Treatment
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TX
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Recurring-Severe
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9/01
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Dapsone, Antibiotics,surgery
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TX
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Recurring -Severe
|
9/01
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Dapsone, Shock, amputation
|
|
OH
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Multiple Bites
|
9/00
|
Antibiotics
|
|
LA
|
Multiple Bites
|
9/00
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Surgery
|
|
TX
|
Recurring
|
9/00
|
Antibiotics
|
|
FL
|
Possible BRS bite
|
9/00
|
Charcoal
|
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IL
|
Bitten three times
|
3/01
|
Healing Touch Therapy
|
|
|
Bitten behind knee
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3/01
|
Antibiotics
|
|
NC
|
Bite on cheek
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3/01
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Antibiotics
|
|
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Recurring
|
3/01
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Antibiotics, Surgery
|
|
AK
|
|
3/01
|
Hyperbaric
|
|
OR
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Recurring
|
3/01
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Antibiotic cream
|
|
FL
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Bite on hip
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3/01
|
Antibiotics
|
|
NC
|
Multiple Bites
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6/01
|
Antibiotics, neosporin
|
|
|
Severe
|
6/01
|
Antibiotics, surgery
|
|
VA
|
Multiple Bites
|
6/01
|
Antibiotics
|
|
|
Nurse's Statement
|
6/01
|
|
|
GA
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Mild-Moderate
|
6/01
|
Antibiotics, Surgery
|
|
|
Multiple bite
|
6/01
|
Over the counter med.
|
|
|
Long term effects
|
6/01
|
|
|
AZ
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Severe
|
6/01
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Antibiotics, Surgery, Hyperbaric
|
|
GA
|
|
6/01
|
Surgery
|
|
LA
|
Recurring
|
6/01
|
Antibiotics
|
|
MI
|
Recurring
|
6/01
|
Silvadine, Cipro
|
|
TN
|
Complications
|
6/01
|
Antibiotics
|
|
MS
|
Bite on leg
|
6/01
|
Antibiotic
|
|
TN
|
Bite on nose
|
6/01
|
Dapsone, steroids
|
|
AL
|
Brother died
|
7/01
|
|
|
OK
|
Bitten On Thigh
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7/01
|
Shock, Antibiotics
|
|
|
Bitten on Cheek
|
7/01
|
Bacitracin ointment
|
|
TX
|
Recurring
|
7/01
|
Betadine
|
|
CO
|
Bite on Hand
|
7/01
|
Lanced
|
|
AZ
|
Bite On Calf
|
7/01
|
Homeopathic Remedy
|
|
MD
|
Bite on Arm
|
7/01
|
Augmentin; Bacitracin
|
|
TX
|
Multiple Bites
|
7/01
|
Antibiotics
|
|
AL
|
Bite recognized early
|
7/01
|
Dapsone
|
|
LA
|
Bite on Jaw
|
7/01
|
Antibiotics-Keflex
|
|
|
Recurring
|
7/01
|
Herbal Poultice
|
|
TN
|
Bite On Hand
|
7/01
|
Hyperbaric Oxygen
|
|
CA
|
Bite on foot
|
8/01
|
Cipro, Ibuprophin
|
|
AL
|
Renal Failure from BRS bite
|
8/01
|
Hyperbaric Oxygen
|
|
|
Bite on finger
|
8/01
|
Surgery, Antibiotics
|
|
CA
|
Biten on Jaw
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8/01
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Antibiotics, Pain medication
|
|
MS
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Bitten on Neck w/possible long term effects
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8/01
|
Antibiocs, Steriods
|
|
NJ
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Bite on Buttocks
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8/01
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Antibiotics, other meds
|
|
CA
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Bite on leg
|
8/01
|
Herbal Remedies
|
|
CA
|
Bite on foot
|
9/01
|
Cipro, Ibuprophin
|
|
GA
|
|
9/01
|
Tea tree oil, Epsom salt
|
Robin McCutchan
Location: Texas
date bitten: 6/99
date posted: 7/00
My name is Robin McCutchan, I am a mother of two, Rachel 16, and Cameron 2. My husband has been my "Rock of Gibraltar" through out all I have been through after being bitten by a Brown recluse spider. Not only have I suffered tremendously but my family has also suffered. From a single bite by the BRS its almost as if I am being bitten over and over again. Appox. 30 to 40 lesions have popped up on my hands and legs over the past year. Sometimes my skin will start to rot from a small paper cut or just occur overnight. They start by looking and feeling like a fire ant bite and within 2 days they turn black in color with a dark red ring around them 5 times the size they started. The pain associated with them is excruciating. I have scars so horrible on my hands and legs people are constantly asking if I have been burned. I have never measured the lesions but I can tell you they cover my entire finger and usually travel to the next finger. Every time I get one I get another, they seem to come in pairs. I have read and heard that the BRS travels in pairs. One probably has nothing to do with the other but I do find that odd. Well for a year now I have seen 6 different doctors with 6 different opinions. Most of them say BRS bites do not spread, they are isolated and stay in the spot of the original bite. I have been tested for Lupus, Lyme disease, Leprosy, Infintigo, and several other diseases and they have all come out negative. I have never been hurt, never even broken a bone, and I have always held a steady job until one year ago. I have been on 25 mg of Dapsone and 10 to 30 mg of prednisone and 500 mg of Keflex for the past year. At the present I have four lesions, one on each hand, and one on each leg. I have very little use of either of my hands because my fingers just don't function 100%anymore. I have had 4 operations which were in the beginning from the original bite and I have learned from that that by cutting them out causes them to grow, but try to tell to some of the doctors I've seen that. I feel as though I know more about this spider bite than at least four of the doctors I have seen, I just don't know a cure. I know exactly what each new lesions is going to do and what to expect. This spider bite has taken so much from me and my family. I couldn't change my sons diapers, bathe him, take him to the park because of my meds I take and just live a normal life. My husband has had to take on 2 jobs and 16 year old daughter works to help out. I hear lots of people complain about having to wash dishes and do everyday house work. I would give anything to do the things we take for granted, small things or the very important things that I need and want to do with my children, husband and other family. Today I had to cut all dead skin off of one of my fingers also the rotted meat. When I doctor myself I have to ask everyone to leave the house because I cry and most of the time I scream. I want help. I want a doctor that can cure these ongoing breakouts.
Robin McCutchan
LeeAnn Parkes
Texas
Posted: 7/00
I know that Dr. Abrams has given you my name concerning
your sister and the spider bite. I hope that you don't mind that I
contacted you myself. I was bitten about 10 years ago on the end of the ring finger of my right hand by a brown recluse spider. There are no words to describe the pain that this bite caused me over the years. I went to every kind of physician that I could think of, and none would believe me when I told them about the bite, nor did they know how to treat my hand. The necrotic areas would heal then come back at various intervals. I never knew when this would start. Just about two years after the original bite, about half the finger had to be amputated. The surgeon told me that this would be the only way to get rid of the problem. Several years, 21 physicians and thousands of dollars later, the problem was still going on. The latest episode started on 051800 in the usual way. This time, through the help of my supervisor, I found Dr. Abrams. I went to see him about two weeks ago. He treated my hand and arm with the stun gun while I was there. My finger healed in 8 days to a point that would have taken at least 6 weeks in the past. For the first time in the last 10 years, I can honestly say that my hand and arm do not hurt at all. I am no longer wearing any bandages on my hand. I am a nurse. My background is in ICU. The cost became personal - it cost my bedside practice. I was sitting in a Dr.'s office with him telling me that at least half of my hand would have to be amputated in order to stop this......he still refuses to believe that a spider even bit me in the first place. I left there and spoke with
Dr. Abrams by phone. I researched this problem extensively and made the decision to see him before I let anyone else do anything to my hand. I am so very glad that I did. I am currently a research nurse. At this point, I am seriously considering trying bedside nursing once again, in the ICU. Thanks to Dr. Abrams, I still have my hand - and I now have the hope that this is finally behind me. If you or your sister would like to talk, please call. I can tell you more about my dealings with this spider and the medical profession.
You can reach me by e-mail
Good luck and heal soon,
LeeAnn Parkes
ps. I attempted to attach a picture of my finger - let me know if it
came out OK.
Elaine
Location:Ohio
Description: Multiple bites
Date posted: 9/22/00
Treatment: Antibiotics
First I would like to thank you for such an informative site! I found the information, links and even the BRS bites to pets section a great help. I live in the south-western area of Ohio. My first experience with the BRS was in a town about 20 minutes from where I now live. It is a small country town, and we found our first home there to be infested with the BRS. I had read an article on the BRS several months before we bought the house, the article featured several people in the state who had been bitten by the BRS, and yet according to the article the BRS was not even in Ohio. I was quite surprised to find the BRS in residence in our new home, I am no expert, but I identified the spider by pictures. Luckily no one was bitten while we lived there. We have lived in our current house for over 2 1/2 years and not once in that time did we see a BRS either inside or outside. This summer I decided to finally get to the landscaping I had put off. I had decided to do a major landscaping project on the front and sides of our house. To save a bit on the cost I did the job myself, and I decided to take advantage of "free" mulch offered by a city right next to us (this city is right in-between where our old house was and where our new house is). I called the city and got directions to the mulch drop off/pick up area. We were deep into our 3rd-4th truck load when we noticed the spiders....just a couple at first, and then literally hundreds of them!!! Of course we recognized them...we had once lived with the BRS. Needless to say we had trucked home who knows how many already. Several days later my husband noticed a sore on his arm. The center was black and looked as if something had eaten away at it and it was surrounded by red. We did not think anything at that time. The next day the sore was worse, his entire arm hurt all the way to his shoulder and he was losing function in the hand and arm. He still went to work. A coworker noticed the sore, and remarked "so you got bit by a Brown Recluse huh?" This coworker's mother had been bitten and he recognized the sore from that experience. (As a side note---this coworker's mother had to have part of her arm removed, the muscle, tissue, fat, in that area due to her bite). Our family Dr. confirmed that the sore was from a bite from the BRS. He put my husband on antibiotics and it took some weeks but the sore finally healed. A month or so later another sore erupted, this time on his hand. I am unsure at this point if the new sore is from a new bite or just an eruption from the old bite. This sore has not completely healed---it does not look too bad now, but you can still feel a hard lump inside of it, under the skin. Several days ago I had what I thought were 3 mosquito bites on the back of my left thigh, They were a bit painful and itched but I did not think anything more about it...until my leg started to "go out" (feeling as if the hip is going out of the socket), and I noticed that I was having more pain in the mosquito bites and my muscles in the back of my leg were cramping. I finally got out a mirror and took a look...there were 3 spider bites an inch or so apart going down my leg. The centers are black in color and surrounded by red. I have had flu like symptoms also, ranging from hot flashes, stomach upset, headache,to being so tired that I have gone from sleeping 4-5 hrs. a night to wanting to sleep 8-10 hrs (and I am still tired!). My leg hurts, but more so the longer time I am up and about. My husband also recognized these bites as being from the BRS, as they are identical to how his started. I contacted the city where we received the free mulch, and explained what had occurred, and asked that a sign be posted at the site to inform others who might not be aware of what a BRS is, or of the damage a bite can cause. I was treated very rudely by the manager over their parks and recreation. I finally got rude back and explained to him that I had never at anytime asked for the city to cover ANY medical expenses---ALL that I had asked for was for the city to inform others so that if someone was bit that they would be aware of what they were dealing with. He finally asked me if we had a Dr. confirm that the bites were from the Brown Recluse. When we told him yes he changed his tune. This week I am going back to the area to check if a sign is posted. We have actually been pretty lucky so far that the damage from the bites we have received has been pretty minimal, but it worries me to know that there are so many out there who are unaware that this spider even exists. I hope that you continue your site...as it has been a great help to further educate my family on the BRS, and I am sure that it will continue to help others.
Thank you, Elain
Jennifer
Location:Louisiana
Description: Severe: Multiple bites
Date Posted: 9/25/00
Hello, my name is Jennifer. I wanted to share this story to show how important it is to see a doctor as soon as possible if you think anything has bit you and it doesn't look like it was caused by a red ant or by a mosquito! My Mother has been in the hospital since last Thursday and it is now almost Tuesday. She was bit 4 times by the same spider which she was taking things out of her trunk the prior Thursday. She has no insurance and had just went thru a divorce, needless to say, she was broke. Thinking that the bite was nothing to be concerned about, she tended to it just like she would a normal itching bite. The night of the "BRS attack" she felt a burning sensation throughout the bite site but still thought there was no cause for alarm. The second night, she was running a fever and felt cold then hot. By the third night the damage had already been done yet she didn't know it yet. The fourth night, her inner leg where the spider had bitten was red and very tender to the touch. On the fifth night, I had gone to see her and by then there was a red spot the size of a football and it hurt to move her leg. When I had urged her to see a physician A.S.A.P., she mumbled about the money and said she had an appointment set up for the next day. She didn't go to the doctor the next day, says that it was feeling and looking better. This was in Wend. On Thursday, I got a call from my Mom at my work. She sounded like she was scared to death and she couldn't stop crying. (By the way, she almost never cries.) When I got to the house and saw what this bite had done, I almost past out. The Bite dissolved the tissue around the bite area and it looked like it caved in. After 5 days in the Hospital, plastic surgery to remove the affected tissue and to remove the black spots that were still doing damage, 2 blood cultures and A LOT of pain, she remains in the hospital. We aren't going to even try to guess what that doctor bill is going to be! My Mom had no clue until the doctor mentioned the first night we were there that this spider had done all of this damage. We didn't know that they live underneath her house here in Louisiana. We also didn't know that our pecan tree is where they like to hang around when it gets dry. I think web sites, like yours, can help clueless people that live around this Spider's region to know how to handle these spiders or better yet to avoid one of these dangerous bites. I also think that there should be some warnings so that around these regions people will know what to do. Most of all kids don't have any clue either. Especially those wonderful boys that think it's "COOL" to pick an animal up. Thank you for your info. I have already taken measures against preventing this from happening again. I have a little boy too that loves to play out in the yard! Please do continue your research, I'm sure it is helping a lot of people through this!
Paula
Location: Texas
Description: Recurring
Date Posted: 9/30/00
Hi marla - my name is Paula and I live in Texas. My encounter with the BRS was as innocent as everyone else's! I was cleaning out my closet after we recently moved to a new home. I felt a sting on my toe, like a pin from a dry cleaning bag, I noticed what appeared to be a "target" spot on my toe, but didn't pay much attention to it. I showed my husband and we decided to just keep an eye on it. Brown Recluse Bite was very much on my mind! It continued to deteriorate and the Dr. kept sending me home. Finally, he agreed that it was actually a bite and scraped the blackened tissue away. He put me on a strong antibiotic and eventually, it healed. The VERY WEIRD PART is that nearly a year to the day, IT WAS BACK! I went to the DR again and his ever so intelligent nurse said, "looks like an infected corn to me, I've never known a spider to bite in the same place twice!" Well, that made me feel good. (idiot) Anyway, we kept watch on it, and it actually healed on its own, really not progressing to the black stage. It has a definite purple scarring area. Later, I developed mouth ulcers to the point of not being able to eat. No dr. seemed to know what to do - they would come and go - how do you explain that to the DR's? All I ever hear is "stress!" Well, its been 5 years now since my first attack, and I have had several outbreaks on various parts of my body - hands, feet, knees, mainly and my dermatologist has diagnosed it as erythema multiforme and put me on 1000 mg of Valtrex to hopefully break the cycle of the virus that is obviously still in my body! It appears to be a battle, but I am to take the medication for 6 months. The lesions still come up, but they only last a day or so and then disappear. Leaving a little PURPLE scar! This has been the most frustrating ordeal, but when I read of others who have actually had reoccurrence, I felt so much better. My derm. said that this spider obviously has the ability to break down the immune system. No kidding!! Share my story and I would not mind responses either. Share my e-mail if you want to. Thanks again for being there!!!!!!!!!!
Lynda Sue
Location: Florida
Description:Possible BRS bite treated with charcoal Capsules
Date Posted: 9/30/99
Hi,
Thanks for the info on your web site. About two weeks ago, around the 27th or 28th of Aug. I noticed a red bump on my right hand and the outer base of my index finger. We have a lot of fire ants so I immediately assumed that it was froma fire ant. A week later the thing hadn't changed much, except now it looked a bit like a little blister. No itching or pain to speak of. On the 3rd of Oct. I had my hands in a lot of hot soapy water for several hours and figured that this would soak it out what ever. My husband was of the mind that perhaps I had a sliver or something in it. That is what it appeared to be. But on that following Monday it began to enlarge a bit but still no pain to speak of. By Tues. is had gotten to be about 1/2" in diam and looked just like some of the photos I've seen. A red ring around a white center of dead skin, much like a burn blister after it has popped and the fluid has drained out. That's when I got on the net and began looking for info. I suspected that it was a bite of some kind, likely a spider. I began to soak it in cold very strong salt water. And used the stuff they use to draw out boils at night. It didn't improve but it didn't get any worse. Then on Thurs. I read on a web site that someone had used powdered activated charcoal as a poultice. I had some capsules so I opened two and mixed with a few drops of water and made a med. wet paste. Used a cotton ball and adhesive tape and made a nice moist poultice. In the am the redness in the outer part of it was faded. So I did it again yesterday a couple of times. When the poultice seemed to be dry I would do it again. And again last night. This am it was looking even better. The outer edge of the red ring has softened in color to a much less defined line and it is no longer weeping in the center. From all that I read and saw I think this was a spider bite of some kind but perhaps not a BR. But that I guess I will never know. But perhaps this info will be of interest to Robin and LeeAnn. Maybe it will help. I would also suggest that they (perhaps have already done it) take the charcoal caps orally for several days or so. Heavy dose will help perhaps detox the body. I have used it many times myself (actually helps detox after a bit of too many cocktails too) the charcoal absorbs toxins and helps clean out the system. Also have you check out the info on MSM or - ethylsulfonylmethane . It is a detoxifier both internally and externally. I found a web site that told how it was used on BR bites in Australia. I am thankful mine is healing. But I do pray for your sister and your friend that theirs will heal soon too.
Sincerely,
Lynda Sue in Florida
Lynda
Description: Update
On Sep. 9 I E-mailed you regarding a spider bite that I had gotten on or around the 27th of Aug. If you recall, I told you how I was using an activated charcoal poultice and it was making a real improvement. Well, I just want to update you a bit. It has now been about one month since I first was bitten and after using the poultice for about 5 or 6 days total, it is completely healed. Only a faintly pink spot remains where the skin is new. But I suspect that in another week it won't even show. Please pass this on to your sister and friend. Tell them to please try it on there next outbreak and take a series of the capsules internally also to cleanse the toxins from their bodies. The stuff is not expensive and if it healed mine it might very well do for them as well. I can't imagine the torment that they have endured and if the charcoal will remedy the situation I know it would be wonderful.
Sincerely,
Lynda Sue
Name: Mary
Location: Chicago Area
Description: Bitten three times,
Used healing Touch Therapy
Date Posted: 3/23/02
Hello. I'm not sure who will be getting this. I was bitten on Xmas eve, 2000. I watched all day as my skin reacted to some spider bite. I never saw it, but an ER doctor who has treated many patients for this is positive that I had received a BRS bite. It spread across the surface of my skin to the size of a cantaloupe within 24 hr. of my noticing the bite. I put Benadryl on it beginning about 24 hr. after I noticed the bite. Soon the itching and redness began to fade. I could see under the skin a blackish-grayish discoloration that looked sort of like a bruise, except that it was not the right color or look. I applied Benadryl 3 times a day and on the fourth day after being bitten, a friend of mine who is an ER Doc and treated many BRS bites looked at it and told me what it was. She told me it was too late for treatment and to hope and pray that my skin heals well. I have just recently learned a healing technique called Healing Touch Therapy. This is taught by registered nurses and can be learned quite easily by anyone. I began using this on my skin after 4 and a half days. By the next morning my skin looked normal except for a very pink spot at the bite site. It was the size of an eraser on a pencil. I was very heartened by this response. I have kept at it and when I was bitten a second time, I started work on it within 20 hours of noticing the bite. When I was bitten yet a third time, I was able to sit down and use this technique within 2 hours of being bitten. It took three bites before I was able to isolate where the spiders were living. Needless to say, I evicted them and anything I thought might hide them. In addition to the Healing Touch therapy, I used Chinese exercises to increase the energy to my skin and to my kidneys to support my body's healing response. I also found that I could not tolerate protein and I ate soup, bread, and crackers for nearly 6 weeks. I also craved coffee, which in retrospect probably helped my kidneys flush the toxins from my system. I also took echinacea, an herb that was used for venomous bites. I also did not rub my skin. I did not even use soap or a wash cloth on that skin. I have no ulcers. The first bite is only a light pink spot that would have to be pointed out for someone to notice it. The second bite is two weeks old and it is a medium pink spot about half the size of a dime. The third bite that is 8 days old cannot even be detected at all. If you are interested in finding a Healing Touch Therapy practitioner or teacher in your area, let me know and I will get the info. To find the Chinese exercises I used they are in a book called The complete system of self healing by Dr. Stephen Chang. I am in the suburbs north of Chicago. If anyone is close by, perhaps we can meet and I could teach the Healing Touch Therapy techniques to anyone interested. They are quite easy and I'd be interested with the results from other people. I am not a HTT teacher, but we were told that we could teach these techniques to individuals not classes. Good luck.
Mary Schacht
S.Summers
Description: BRS bite behind the knee
ON FEBRUARY 11, 2000, I WAS BITTEN BY A BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER AT WORK. I DID NOT SEE IT NOR DID I KNOW WHAT IT WAS THAT BIT ME. I WAS WEARING BLUE JEAN PANTS AND SOMETHING BIT ME BEHIND MY RIGHT KNEE , DIRECTLY WHERE THE KNEE BENDS. A FEW DAYS PAST AND IT BECAME RED AND HOT WITH FEVER. MY HUSBAND TRIED TO POP IT BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE AN ANT BITE. THE VERY NEXT DAY IT SWELLED UP TO THE SIZE OF A TENNIS BALL AND I COULD NOT WALK. THAT IS WHEN WE DECIDED THAT THIS WAS NOT AN ANT BITE. AT THE HOSPITAL THE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS OFF HAND. I WAS GIVEN ANTIBIOTICS AND WAS TOLD THAT IF THE INFECTED AREA BEGINS TO OPEN AND BLEED GO BACK TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. THE NEXT DAY WE WENT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM BECAUSE IT DID EXACTLY WHAT THE DOCTOR SAID IT WOULD DO. THAT'S WHEN THEY FIGURED OUT WHAT BIT ME. AFTER THAT BECAME THE VERY PAINFUL AND GRUELING PROCESS OF GETTING OUT THE VENOM. THE DOCTORS HAD TO LANCE THE WOUND AND DRAIN OUT THE VENOM. I WAS GIVEN ALL KINDS OF MEDICATIONS AND INTMENTS. THE SPIDER BITE HAD EATEN AWAY A 2 INCH DEEP HOLE ABOUT THE ROUND SIZE OF A SILVER DOLLAR. MY HUSBAND HAD TO CHANGE THE BANDAGES THAT WERE STICKING OUT OF THE BACK OF MY LEG. ABOUT 1 AND A HALF MONTHS LATER THE HOLE THE SPIDER HAD PUT IN MY LEG COMPLETELY HEALED AND I CAN BARELY TELL WHERE IT BIT ME. I GUESS I WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES. UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES. I WISH I HAD BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING HOW WELL IT HEALED UP. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SHARE MY STORY,
S. SUMMERS
Elizabeth
Location: North Carolina
Description: Bite on cheek
Dear Robin,
I ran across your web site because I was looking for information on the BRS. I work in my yard a lot and I wanted to find a good picture of a BRS so I could be on the lookout. When my son was 18 (he is now 34) he was bitten by a BRS. We lived in Winston-Salem, NC, at the time and he had been camping. When he came home, he lay down on his bed with his sleeping bag beside him. He remembers brushing something from his cheek. A red oozing sore came up on his cheek. After several days of trying to treat the sore, we took him to the ER. He was given Keflex and the sore soon cleared up but left a small irregular hole on his cheek. He had no recurrences from the original bite. I was interested in LeeAnn's account of the doctor using a stun gun on her wound. The following information may or may not be of help to future BRS victims. Several years ago I was watching a program on a Christian TV network and they were talking about missionaries using a stun-gun-like apparatus on poisonous snake bites. Apparently if the apparatus was used immediately the bite had no effect. They even told of one missionary who was bitten and tried to use the "stun gun" but it had lost its "juice." So they used the battery from a moped (motorcycle) to shock the bite and it was effective. The man who was telling this story on the program had one of these "stun-gun-like" devices and was showing how they worked for arthritis pain (the person with arthritis could zap the area where the arthritis was located and the pain would go away). If these "zappers" are on the market, and if they could be found to stop the effects of BRS bites, I would like to have one to carry when I am working in the yard. Would LeeAnn's doctor know anything about these devises? Thanks for your web site.
Elizabeth
Melissa
Recurring eruptions
I had recently visited your site and I would like to share my story about my experience with the Brown Recluse Spider. In June of 1993 I noticed that the little mesquito bite that I had on my shin area was getting bigger and starting to harden. My step mother is a nurse , so I went to her to ask for advise as to what it was. She told me that it looked like it may have been a mesquito bite that had gotten infected. Taking her advise I just put some Neosporin on it and went about my days. About two weeks later the spot had gotten a tad bit bigger but it was very hard and it itched a lot. I decided to go to the doctor and she put me on antibiotics. Two more weeks passed and I had went back to her and she said that the reason my leg had not started to heal is because she thought I had juvenile diabetes. She arranged for me to have a Glucose Tolerance test done at the hospital. That was six hours of the nurses drawing blood out of each arm six times. Two days later the hospital called and said that the test came back fine and that I was not a diabetic. I went back to the doctor and she gave me a different antibiotic. By this time it was the middle of July and the place on my leg was getting bigger and it had already started turning black and it started to smell really bad. I kept going to the doctor and she kept giving me antibiotics but they were not helping and I went on like that until the middle of August. I had just started 9th grade at a new school and I was in shop class and I accidentally hit my leg on a steel bar. I hit my leg right on the place that was infected and it sort of popped open and released a lot of the pressure that it had and it bled a lot. I was sent home and the next day I went to the surgeon and he did immediate surgery. When I went back to him for him to change the dressing, he told me that I had been bitten by a Brown Recluse spider and that if I had waited two more days that the venom would have gotten in my bones and they would have had to take my leg off at the knee. He changed the dressing on my leg and I could not believe what I saw. He had cut out a hole, (big enough to put a tennis ball inside) out of my leg, I was staring at the bone in my shin. He told me that I needed to come back and have a skin graft so that the scar wouldn't be so severe. I had the skin graft, but I only had a 25% take on that. A year passed and the wound healed up and the scar wasn't that bad. Later that year I had set up a psoriasis on top of the scar, which the doctor said was normal. In 1997 I had gotten sun poisoning, and I had developed a hard knot under my scar, about the size of a golf ball. It was very painful, I had to sleep on my back because it hurt too much to sleep on my stomach. I couldn't bear the pain anymore so I went back to the doctor that had done the surgery, and he did a biopsy and when he cut the biopsy the tissue was very hard and solid. The biopsy came back and they didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He put me in the hospital for observation because another place had come up, right above the first site. I stayed in the hospital for a week and I had every doctor having a conference about what was happening to my leg. I had every test done that they could do and they all came back negative. I was sent home after a week in the hospital and was told that if another place come up to come immediately back to the hospital. That night when I got home I called the Poison Control Center and asked them if they could tell me anything about the Brown Recluse spider and they told me what I already knew, but they did inform me that the poison from a Brown Recluse can lay dormant, sometimes forever. The next day another spot had come up on my leg and I went back to the hospital. I was admitted and they started an I.V. of antibiotics. I had a different antibiotic through an I.V. every six hours for 5 days. The places were not healing, so the doctors told us that when the first surgery was done, some of the venom was left in my leg and when I got sun poisoned it had reacted to it, causing the knot under my scar. He also told us that I had two options. One was to take my leg off at the knee, the second one was to take from my knee down to my ankle and strip it down to the bone and then take a muscle out of my stomach and make a muscle flap and do a series of skin grafts to cover it up. I declined both of them. I was sent home after nine days in the hospital. The doctor had a home health nurse come to my home to change the dressing on my leg and to make sure that no other places were coming up. In the middle of August I had another place appear, this time on my ankle below the original scar. I went back to the doctor and he finally admitted me back into the hospital and went and cut everything out to the bone, all three places were cleaned out to the bone. In October I had another surgery where everything was cleaned out to the bone. In December on Christmas eve I had yet another surgery where everything was cleaned out to the bone and a second skin graft was done. I had a 75% take on that one. It has been almost 4 years since my surgeries started and I have had no more problems with it, just three big ugly scars. Thank you for letting me share my story with you.
Warmest Regards,
Melissa
Susan
Location: Arkansas
Treatment: Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy
I wanted to share with other victims of this tiny monster. I live in Arkansas and I was trying on a jacket that had been in a duffel bag out in a room converted from a garage where the heating unit was (musty, damp and just to the BRS's liking) Anyway, I found a white, pus-like blister approx. 30 minutes after I removed the jacket. I proceeded to scratch it. It was on my left forearm about 3 inches from my elbow on the top of my arm. It was VERY painful when I scratched the blister. That afternoon it was red and hot. The next 2 days it enlarged by doubling in size and was still very hot. On the 3rd day I had a red streak running up my arm in under my nightgown sleeve, so I pulled my gown out to look at my shoulder and I was covered with a red, lace-like rash all over my torso! I was also swelled so that I couldn't wear my shoes. I called a local pharmacy and told the lady I spoke to I thought I had been bitten by something. She told me to call St. Vincent's Hospital in Little Rock and talk to them about a BRS bite. A doctor there had pioneered a new treatment and they were working with people who had BRS bites. They were very interested in seeing me and they told me to come down. That was a 2 hr. drive, so I asked if I could just go to our local hospital and ask them to check it out. They told me anyone I went to would treat me with antibiotics and steroids and then I would probably still have necrosis on my arm. I went to Little Rock. I received 8 treatments in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, 2 per day for 4 days, and am totally scar-free today. I do have a small area where the initial bite was that turns a purplish color when I get my skin is cold. No muscle loss, no indentions. This was 10 years ago, and they commonly use the hyperbaric oxygen treatments for people with BRS bites all the time now. I've had a brother-in-law bitten that was in ICU for a week and had to have skin grafts and plastic surgery, and more recently, my sister-in-law in Oklahoma City was bitten (just this week) and I happened to be visiting. She had the spider and I took her to her doctor within 1 1/2 hours after she received her 2 bites. Yep, they gave her steroids and antibiotics. Still, 10 years later. I told them about the treatment I received and they were stunned. They'd never heard of it. IT WORKS PEOPLE! Spread the word. It won't guarantee no scarring, it just stops the rotting process where it is. It chokes the poison out of your bloodstream by decreasing the oxygen level in your blood for 2 hours at a time. The poison can't circulate in your blood without oxygen to carry it. If you wait a week or 2 to go, you'll still have necrosis, but it will help stop the process faster. They use this same treatment for people with carbon monoxide poisoning. It's totally painless. You lay in a see-through glass tube and they change the air pressure. That's it. It' s like driving up a mountain and having to swallow to pop your ears. They get the tank to a certain pressure and you stay in there for 2 hours. Then they bring the pressure back up and you're done. They examine the bite area and you come back 8 hrs. later for another one. I went 4 days. Dr. Bill Lagaly at the Wound Care Center in Little Rock will share about the treatment with your doctor if you need a referral for your physician. They did tell me that insurance companies are very reluctant in paying for HBO treatments for spider bites. I've had people call me from several counties asking "Are you the lady that was bit by a Brown Recluse?" I've told dozens of people about the HBO treatments. You can even call 1-800-RECLUSE to talk to St. Vincents. That's how big of a deal it is. Don't think you're only options are to let your skin rot. If there are situations where HBO treatments haven't worked on a spider bite, I've never heard of it. The key is getting the treatments BEFORE you have necrosis start. That'll insure the least skin damage. I still hate the nasty little critters and shake everything I wear to this day. My whole family is spider-conscious.
Susan Jackson
Sabrina
Location: Oregon
Description:Recurring
First thank you for your web site. I would not wish this on my worst
enemy!!! October 1998 I was bitten by a brown recluse in Medford, Oregon. I was asleep when I was bit and thought nothing of it. I had felt a small pinch or stick and assumed that my cat had dragged a sticker into the bed and just kind of brushed at the sheets. The next morning I felt kind of fluish and the back of my shoulder blade had a bruised looking lump. Within a couple of hours I felt very ill and could barely move my arm it hurt so bad. I went to my doctor and he and several other doctors looked at it and they even called poison control. They decided it was either a recluse of black widow that had bitten me. Antibiotics were given and I went home. I checked my bed as they suggested and sure enough under my pillow was a dead brown recluse slightly squished. My only satisfaction through this nightmare is knowing that the damn thing died. I went about three times a week for a month to have my arm cut on. I had a scar prior to this on the front of my arm and the venom ate a whole through to it. They said it attacks weaker tissue first. Well, I did get better and then in December 1998 moved to Oklahoma. Not the place to live if you have developed a bug phobia like I have. I am a Nail Technician by trade and work with many different chemicals. In April 1999 I noticed a small sore on my left pinky knuckle. It was the size of a large dot. By the next day it had doubled in size and severely hurt. I went to the doctor who told me I picked up some fungus from digging in the dirt. I laughed and said "do I really look like I dig in dirt with these nails?" Then he said it must have been from rose bushes, he struck out again, the nearest rose was in the florist shop they don't grow where I lived. He gave me the old stand by antibiotic cream and sent me home. I went back four days in a row because with each day I was getting sicker and it was getting larger and deeper. The fifth day my mother rushed me to the ER because I had 104* temp and was vomiting. The sore also had developed a black ring around it and red lines shooting out from it. They immediately called a surgeon and told me they thought it was that flesh eating disease and I might lose my hand. I was in the hospital for 5 days on heavy meds, they did not do surgery and decided the cause was chemical burns caused by my work that had turned septic. Over the next year and a half I went back quite often as they would erupt on my knuckles and outer area of my hands. I tried everything to protect my hand from the chemicals even contacting laboratories that delt with chemical protection and purchased $30.00 disposable gloves to protect. Nothing has stopped them from coming back. I am sorry this seems to be taking so long! I moved from Oklahoma to North Carolina in September of 2000. I had another "chemical burn" and then developed a second. I had never had two at the same time before. I went to the ER because I did not have a doctor yet. They told me the sores were not chemical burns and that the steroidal cream the Oklahoma doctors had me using actually thins out the new skin growth. They sent me to a dermatologist at Wake Forest University of Medicine/Baptist Hospital. They took a biopsy and had me come back in two weeks with the promise that it was an easy cure. I came back and they had 40 resident dermatologist examine my hand then told me to come back in two more weeks for the diagnosis. That was February 8, 2001. I left in tears and so angry. The dermatologist told me that there was no cause for these terrible eruptions and that it was me causing them. He said that I was digging at my hands in my sleep! I told him that wasn't possible. I barely move in my sleep in fact I just flip the top corner of the side I sleep on and my bed is made the other side is still perfectly made when I get up. I told him that I keep these sores covered and that if I was digging the bandages would be off or at least lifted. By the time I left he had started talking to me as a child and basically telling me it was in my head. He would not believe that I was not digging at my own hands. He diagnosed me with Factitial Dermatitis and Pyoderma Gangrenosum. Which he said was digging at my own hands but he said we were making progress. I said what progress I still have these sores and he said well the one healed. I wanted to rip his head off I said they all heal eventually. He made me another appointment that I will not be going to. When I talked to my mother she told me to look up those to diagnosis's on the internet and I pulled a bunch of stuff up on the Pyoderma but nothing on the Factitial dermatitis, but it was enough to know that all this info a pics were my hands. I was not actually crazy. I was not mutilating myself and then protesting against it so much that it proved I was nuts. It was a relief. I go to my MD tomorrow armed with pictures and info and web addresses. This will be my second visit with her but she really listens and I think maybe I might finally be getting somewhere. The info says it can never be cured but it can be treated. Just knowing what the cause is and that I am not crazy is enough to help me get through for now. Thank you so much for your site and I will be praying for your sister and friend and anyone else who is suffering. Oh, it seems like now that I know what it is there is info everywhere. The discovery channel did a thing on it last night called "stings, fangs, and spines". Amazing and you can share this with whomever you wish.
Sabrina Ralston
Eden, NC
Marsha
Location: Florida
Description: Bitten on hip
My name is Marsha, I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. As a nurse, I have taken care of people with these bites and mostly they were devastating. Well, the week before Thanksgiving I was blessed with the bite of one of these lovely creatures. I was bitten by the BRS on my right hip while I was sleeping. Tuesday and Wednesday, I just plain didn't feel well and was extremely tired. Thanksgiving I woke to fever and chills and a temp over 104 degrees. As I spoke with my physician we thought it was a virus because I had no red areas at that time. The next day an area broke out on my hip about the size of a football that was beefy red. As my temperature was still > 103 degrees, I went back to the MD who then hospitalized me for cellulitis. My first lab results showed a white count of 26,000 and my liver function test all elevated. They then started checking me for hepatitis, which was all negative. I was on a course of IV antibiotics for 6 days and was sent home and told I was lucky. Now the red area on my hip remained there, but after being home for 10 days the damage started. The redness got worse, the center started to darken, and the pain was horrific. I went back to the surgeon who had seen me in the hospital and he did a I&D in the office. The pain was the worst I have ever felt and my spunk and tenacity were gone. After 2 weeks on more antibiotics and 2 wounds draining on my side, that I must pack 2 times daily to let heal from the inside out, I finally feel I will live and be myself again. The diagnosis was a suspicion by the surgeon but he said when he opened my wounds that the tissue underneath was typical BRS, it looked like cottage cheese. It is now the week after Christmas and I still tire easily, my hands are peeling for the medication and the fever and the wounds are still there. Being a nurse if I can help you with any research or as a supporter please let me know. I so wished I had had the support when it was happening to me. You may use my story.
Thank You.
Name: Christine
Description: Multiple bites
Hi! About three years ago ( maybe four) I was bit by a brown recluse. It was confirmed at the doctor's office. She (with much urgency) told me I needed to have the bite cut out. Fortunately it was small enough that I have a tiny scar above my knee. I knew I got bit by something when I pulled on a pair of jeans I hadn't worn in a long time. After a few hours, it looked like a white head pimple. I popped it and it was pretty painful. Within another couple of hours, it had a pin sized black center and about a quarter size red circle around it. It was leather hard and hot to the touch. Like it had a fever in it. I put neosporin on it and went to the doctor a couple of days later. Of course the red area got much bigger. I had pain that shot up my leg into my abdomen. I was also feeling like I had the flu. I remember this so clearly because it was such a big deal. The doctor gave me a shot and then put me on some heavy duty antibiotics. There was much pain. Then just this past summer I noticed a little round "bite" on the same leg. This time it was just below my knee on my calf. For about four weeks I thought it was an ingrown hair, so I didn't mess with it. It was flesh colored and didn't appear to need immediate attention. My friend told me it looked like something was in there (I'm thinking oh no it's some sort of parasite!) cause you could just barely make out a black something in the center of the "bite". That night I messed with it by taking a disinfected needle and opening the thing. It looked like black dirt in it. (I am at this point not thinking brown recluse anything) So I did what I do for my children when they have dirty wounds.... I poured peroxide in it because that never hurts. NOT!!!! I screamed the pain was so bad! It felt like it went right into the deep part of my calf. I put neosporin on it and went to bed. The next morning I woke up and bumped my leg. I had so much pain there. I looked and saw what looked like a huge white head and guess what.... it was hot. I thought that it reminded me of the brown recluse bite I had, but it was weeks that I had had this thing. I made an appointment to the doctor. He had to use Novocain shots round the wound just to be able to touch it because the pain was so bad. He opened up the pustule and even though the Novocain was there.... it was still painful just not as bad. He put me on Keflex and sent me home. I watched the center of the wound progress from a tiny black "hole" to about the size of a quarter (throughout the day). By that night my calf was greyish black still with the quarter sized black "hole". I at this point prayed because it was very scary and it was hard to walk on that leg. I took the antibiotics and put neosporin on it regularly. The doctor didn't recommend the neosporin, because he didn't believe me that it was a brown recluse thing. As a matter of fact, his reason for the greyish black area was from bruising when he pushed on it to see if something was embedded in my leg. I know my own body.. this WAS NOT a bruise. The next day it was much better and has healed very nicely. There is however, a small scar where this happened. Until I read your web site, I didn't know there were cases that this is reoccurring. The whole reason I got on the brown recluse search again is because a friend's son was bitten by a brown recluse. I'll bet you won't believe what the doctor said? After she didn't believe the boy that he was in extreme pain, she told him there was no way that was a brown recluse. My friend described everything to me and I am telling you, it is a brown recluse bite! But they did put him on Keflex and I advised her to use neosporin and ice. We have another problem... we live in Charlotte, NC and no one want to believe that they are common in this area! I have caught them, killed them sprayed them, etc. etc. Their webs are just like what is described on another site and they look just like the pictures!! But then again... I am not a doctor or a spider expert. I just know from experience! Are there other problems caused by this? For a couple of years I have had problems with vertigo on and off. I thought it could be just a lack of iron, but whenever I have had my blood tested, there doesn't seem to be a problem with that. I was wondering if maybe it had something to do with the brown recluse. Thank you so much for your time
Christine
Name: Joan
Description: Severe bite
On October 5, 2000 I was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider on the inside of my right leg, just above my ankle. Today is December 12, 2000, and I am still wearing a wet and oozing wound from this dastardly bite. I am most fortunate because I still have both my foot and my lower leg. However, I underwent four surgical debridements, plus one skin graft procedure. The wound as it now appears, is roughly one inch in diameter, 1/4 inch in depth. During the past two months since having been bitten, I received 30 intravenous therapies in which I received the dreaded antibiotic Vancomycin, and the less-dreadful Rocephin. I lost 20 lbs of my body weight during this period, and even worse, most of my appetite. From October 10th until December 6th I was unable to walk, spending 18 hours of every day in either my bed or a wheelchair. It was necessary to keep a potty-chair in my bedroom, next to my bed, so that I did not have to put pressure on the wounded leg. Frankly, throughout this period, I must have lost some of my memory of the course of events because a lot of them I don't seem to remember. I was never in a comatose state; but I still wonder how much damage to other parts of my body the poison from the spider has imparted. I hope that once this wound is completely healed, I won't have any later returns. I don't have any strength - find it very tiring to just walk from my car to the store and back - continue to have some discomfort in the area of the wound, etc. I will say this - I was fortunate in that my regular physician recognized what had actually happened to me within days of the event, and set me on my course of treatment almost immediately. I am convinced that his not only saved my limb, but my life as well. You may share this on your web site if you care to do so.
Joan
Name: Lisa & Doug
State: VA
BRS encounter: Doc, but not positive
treatment: Antibiotics
Symptoms: red, swollen leg, sometimes pain, fever and flu like symptoms
Comments: This all started 13 months ago for my husband, Doug. He went to visit his father in Kentucky, March 2000. Friday night he slept in their finished basement. The next day before noon he had a fever with flu like symptoms. He was unavoidably left alone all day and the symptoms worsened and included hallucinations. He returned home on Sunday evening. When he changed his clothes I was shocked at the site of his leg. It was swollen and flaming red from knee to ankle. We took him to the doctor the next morning. They said he had some kind of infection and gave him oral antibiotics and said to stay off of it. About a week or more went by before I found the bite SITES! On the back of his calf he had 4 sets of major bites and 3 lighter bites trailing down. In that time frame we went back to doc and they gave him an antibiotic shot and more orals. The poison finally came to the surface and when I cleaned the places for him the tissue under neath was dead. He did not have the red rings or blackness that others have described but the tissue did die and the hard scaring started. Since that time he has suffered bouts of fever, swelling, pain & lethargy about once a month to every two months. We finally got a doc to agree in February that he was bitten by a brown recluse. He was also suprised that Doug was not hospitalized. Unfortunately he is new in the same docs office so I think he held his tongue. The bout in Feb. was the worst since it first happened. Again, they gave him a shot & orals. No one has mentioned the steroids I've seen recommended. But at least this doc listened and did testing for other problems. The doc still seems to think it's circulation to the leg or some kind of edema of the skin. How can that be if the tests proved he had good blood flow in and out of the leg? In what I've read the poison thrives on oxygen. Therefore, couldn't it still be in his system? He just went through a 3 day bout this week (4-15-01). We are at our wits end with this. Is there any help in VA or NC out there? Will he always suffer with this? I been surfing but haven't heard of a specialist in this area. I appreciate all of your suggestions and help. Thank you so much for providing a site for victims to discuss our problems.
Lisa & Doug , VA Beach, VA
David
ER Nurse
I would like to add my observations to the list .I have worked in triage / ER in AUGUSTA , GA. UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL.
I had a man come in last year presenting with skin lesions with necrosis extending 2 centimeters in depth.He had been bitten by a recluse 4 yrs. previously as had his wife,she was given an antibiotic at once,he was not.She had no more occurances,in his case I believe the venom replicated causing numerous recurrences.Perhaps a massive dose of a wide spectrum antibiotic combined with a steroid could be an initial treatment. Keep the faith! DAVID
Name:Angie
State: GA
Mild due to treatment
Hi Marla
I would also like to share my story with others, hopefully it can help someone! I am a 22 yr. old mother of one daughter and I am married. My husband and I went to an outdoor concert in Fort Stewart, GA on Sept. 9th 2000. During the concert a lot of people were laying on blankets, which is our DR's theory as to where I even got a spider bite, cause many ppl here store their blankets up for summer, and dragged them out for this concert.. Anyway, I felt this sting on my foot right under my ankle.. I didn't even look down, because I just assumed it was an ant. I brushed it away w/ my other foot (I was wearing a pair of backless mules). When we got home that night, I looked at the bite and it seemed like a cluster of blisters.. SO I went to popping these little blisters...... And the next day I felt a little out of breath sitting here at home (on the computer no less!!) LOL but none of this added up until later..... I had to go into work that evening and right at the end of the night I suddenly felt like I had the flu... I hurt all over! The insides of my BONES even hurt.. and it still didn't register that I had been bitten by BRS. My husband came to pick me up, I told him what was going on and showed him the bite, and he took me straight to the ER. There, they told me it was a BRS bite but the DR was really cruddy.. was being a smart aleck and asked well can you move your hip? Your leg? (WHAT DID THIS HAVE TO DO W/ IT??) and told me to follow up w/ my DR the next morning... as soon as he saw me he said YOU GO TO THE HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY (a different hospital). In the hospital they gave me IV's of highly concentrated antibiotics and had a small debridements surgery. Its nearly 7 months later and Im still have effects from this. The skin never rotted due to the fact that I got the debridement. Now, it swells badly, to the point I cant wiggle my toes.. My boss is a physical therapist, he says I am probably getting cysts from it, because the damage and fluid inside. The actual spot itches like crazy sometimes.. Nothing I can live with but it would be great if someone could cure this!! and I've gotten every single cold that comes by.... used to never get sick, but every flu and sneeze now, hits me hard!! If anyone knows a site or a book or anything on long term effects, that would be great.... I would love to know more about this....
Thanks for letting me share!!
Angie (Georgia, USA)
Name: Carol
Multiple Bites
Information on home remedy
Dear Marla,
Years ago my niece got a spider bite on her foot while she was sleeping. She went to an old doctor who gave her some fairly simple instructions on what to do and she did that with a positive outcome. That was about 25 years ago and I just forgot all about it. Some time after that, I was out picking blackberries and the next day found that I had a large pink spot on my left upper leg. I called the doctor here in town and after treating it for a short time, to no avail, he referred me to a doctor in Tulsa. The doctor here in town told me I had a brown spider bite. I had eruptions popping up all over my body, even on my face. The doctor in Tulsa treated them with x-ray treatments 2 or 3 times a week for about 6 weeks and I recovered completely without scarring. I went on about my life had children got divorced and went to college. While living in the country with my children, my son got a fiddle back bite on his left lower leg and several doctors tried to treat it unsuccessfully. I ended up taking him to Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City where they said his fiddle back bite
had a secondary infection of sporatricosis (SP?) (found in hay and cement dust). He ended up with satellite lesions, a couple of surgeries including skin grafts and is okay now. I even ended up catching a bunch of those spiders to take to the hospitals research department to find out if they carried sporatricosis, and they didn't. All of that took place in about 1985. He has a lot of scars on his left leg, but he okay now.About 10 or 12 years ago I got a fiddle back bite of my own. I was single and didn't have money for a lot of expensive treatments and then I remembered what happened to my niece years ago and thought I would take a shot at it. I altered the original instructions so they were easier and more practical. It worked. I was amazed. Since then, I have had two or three more bites with the same success. My husband got one a couple of weeks ago and I treated his in the same manner...his is almost totally gone. We live in a large old house and I like to garden, so it is almost impossible to stay away from the varmints. At least I am no longer afraid of them. My Scottish terrier also got a fiddle back bite, his initial reaction was much more obvious than with a human. It was almost paralyzing initially. I called him and he could barely respond, he was in the house. I kept calling and he finally showed up, but he was walking kind of side ways with really spastic movements and he was breathing kind of funny. I grabbed him and pried his mouth open to check his airway and there seemed to be nothing there. Surprisingly he seemed to get better after that, so I went on about my business. The next day, I was petting him and I saw a dead fiddle back tangled in the hair on his nose. Evidentially, it was biting him when I grabbed him and pried his mouth open and that action must have killed the spider. I pulled the spider out of his fur and under the spider was the bite. I used this treatment on his bite and it was gone in days. Wish I could have remembered much sooner! The only problem is that I don't know how soon you have to treat the victim in order for this to work. Does it work on more advanced cases? If it does work on advanced cases at all, it would probably work much slower. Would you consider letting me talk to the next person you talk to that gets one?
Carol
Name: Kerri
Description: BRS bite possible long term effect
I WAS SUPRISED THAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF A BROWN RECLUSE BITE. IT HAS BEEN 7 YEARS SINCE I WAS BITTEN. RIGHT UNDER THE LEFT CHEEK OF MY REAR END. MY HEMOTOLOGIST SAID MY KIDNEYS, LIVER AND BONE MARROW WERE DAMAGED FROM THE POISON. I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 9 DAYS AND I DON'T REMEMBER A LOT EXCEPT THE PAIN FROM THE BITE, URINE THAT LOOKED LIKE COFFEE AND SMELLED LIKE BUG KILLER, AND SWEATING AND SWEATING AND SWEATING. I HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO HAVE BLOOD TESTS EVERY 6 MONTHS. IT SEEMS THAT WHEN THE BONE MARROW IS DAMAGED, YOU HAVE THE RISK OF DEVELOPING LEUKEMIA. AND TWO OF MY FRIENDS THAT WERE BITTEN DEVELOPED LEUKEMIA AFTER ABOUT 10 YEARS OR MORE. KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS??
Name: Doug C
Treatment: Antibiotics, Surgery, hyperbaric
Description: Severe
Hi Marla Jo,
Thank You for responding. I was bitten approximately four years ago. At first I wasn't even sure if I needed a Doctor. I went anyway and the Doctor looked at the bite on my left calf, because of the way it looked he told me it was a Brown Recluse Bite. He prescribed cortisone, and anti biotics and told me I would be fine. During the week following I phoned him several times because the bite was becoming more painful and swollen. He informed me to complete the meds and then if things weren't better to call him. I returned after the meds were gone, he referred me to an infectious disease specialist. I went the next day and this specialist immediately admitted me to a local hospital for IV antibiotics. My second day in the hospital I had a surgical consult. They decided to do a debreeding surgery and cut away all the dead tissue. At this time I was informed that my leg had gangrene....they called it Necrosis cellulitis. I had my first surgery, when I went in my leg had a lesion about the size of a quarter, when I awoke the hole was the size of my fist. I was sent home two days later under IV antibiotics and home nursing. I began bleeding from the wound and wound in the emergency room the next day. I was dehydrated and required several units of fluid. I was referred back to my surgeon. He immediately readmitted me for emergency surgery. They debreeded again and informed my wife that if I was not able to be admitted to a hyperbaric chamber, they would have to amputate my leg. fortunately, later that night I was transferred to another hospital where I underwent hyperbaric treatments. My first hyperbaric treatment caused me to bleed more and I required a blood transfusion. After a few more days and treatments I was sent home. I returned everyday for another week for more hyperbaric treatments. I was finally able to have a skin graft surgery and begin to recover. I was out of work for about 2 months and lost about 2/3 of my lower left leg. These bites are dangerous and as I've been told there is not set procedure on how to deal with them. Thank you for allowing me to share my story, if I can be of any help to anyone else please let me know. If you are interested in a picture of my leg please let me know I would be glad to send it. Be aware it is very graphic. Once again Thank You!!!!
Doug Campbell
Name: Samuel
State: GA
BRS encounter: Doctor
treatment: Cut out the center of infected area and then packed hole
Comments: Although my bite was not as serious as others I read about mine still was very painful. It started as a small bump that was itching and then a couple of days later I went to work thinking I had a piece of metal in my arm.my arm was swollen and very red and I had streaks coming out of it going to my elbow. a coworker suggested I go to a hospital and have it checked because his wife was bit by a BRS. So I went to the hospital and sure enough I was bit. The next day I went back to the hospital with streaks going all the way up to my arm pit and a fever. They cut out the center of the bite which was all the black part.a month later I still have a hole in my arm.
Name: Joann Morgan
State: La
BRS encounter: Doctor
treatment: elevation/antibiotics
Symptoms: None at this time
Comments: I was bitten 7 yrs. ago..in 1994..while working at Delchamps grocery..I went into the warehouse to get brown bags/and within one hour I could not pick up a 6-pack of coke..I started with chills and got very pale..at one point I felt that I was going to either pass out or vomit..I was finally allowed to go home and take some Tylenol/I thought I had the flu..After 4 hours of sleep/I got up to go to the restroom..I could not walk on my left leg..PAIN shot right through it..2 days later I went to the first doctor and he said I had the flu and gave me cough syrup/I even told him about my leg and there was even a red line going up the back of my leg/he told me to elevate it and he will see me Friday..(this was on that Previous Monday..My parents returned from vacation and saw my leg and took me to another doctor..2 days from the first doctor visit..this doctor was child doctor and saw my leg and instantly told me I was bitten by a recluse spider..and put me in the hospital immediately..at this point I had all the symptoms/nausea/dirreha/my fever went up to 105 almost 106..I was given antibiotics and the bite backed off until 3 yrs. later..the chills and fever started/ my mother took me to the emergency room at charity hospital..and within 24 hours I was put in the hospital..this time for 2 months..then the bite backed off and almost 4 yrs later it reoccured this time my fever stayed at 105 for 4 days..then broke.. the fluid that was taken from one blister was enough to fill 3/20 fluid ounces of a seringe..the doctors finally told me after all these years, that when I was bit..the venom went into my lymph noid and blocked in so it cannot flush out any of the venom and backs everything in my leg up..so it reoccurs and I just have to live with it/because it the niod to be take out..I will lose mobility in my leg..I can say at this point..Thank you JESUS for keeping me alive..even though pain still comes about..I still have my leg and my life.. Thank you
Joann
Name: Marg
State: MI
treatment: None for initial bite
Symptoms: New eruption at site of initial bite
Comments: I was initially bitten in May of last year. I was walking in my back yard after spreading wood chips and felt a sharp,stinging sensation on the inside of my left ankle and thought I had caught a rose thorn. I thought no more about it until 3 days later when my ankle developed a small blister and intense itching. The site got to be the size of a quarter but I didn't still think too much about it. I spent the better part of the next week wading in Lake Michigan which at that time of the year is barely 40 degrees. Looking back it was probably the best treatment of all. The bite looked pinkish and dried and flaky. Looks can be deceiving. I went through 3 months of sloughing tissue, joint pain, and headaches. It eventually healed leaving a brown mottled scar the size of a quarter. I thought that was the end of the story. Last Sunday my ankle started itching and blistering and now it looks like it did last summer except for it's larger and more painful. After much searching on the net (which I didn't have access to last year)I found this site, praise Goddess! When I saw the DR this morning I had enough information for us to decide on treatment. Currently he has me on Cipro in case staph or strep decide to drop into the area, Silvadine for the blistering (pallative) and neosporin to avoid infection. I see him next Tues. and he is going to evaluate bringing in a surgeon for debriding and possible excision. I am not prepared to go that far yet. I plan to try the Lake Michigan treatment first. The constant washing action of the waves and cold seem to do as much as anything I have heard about or tried.And besides it's a hell of a lot more fun. Luckily my DR believes less is more so he is willing to let me try just about anything that isn't obviously harmful before we go to the cutting part. Will let you know how this turns out.
Name: T. Jones
State: TN
BRS encounter: Identified by a doctor
treatment: Antibiotic was given (by I.V.). By mouth antibiotic and pain medication prescribed.
Symptoms: Pain, swelling (w/ redness) and shortness of breath.
Comments: My dad was bitten last week by a BRS. He noticed discomfort on Wednesday and by Friday he was in severe pain. Saturday he noticed both legs and feet were swollen (apparently it triggered) his gout and caused an attack. Monday he went to his primary physician and received the diagnosis and an antibiotic for the bite. The bite then burst Tuesday or Wednesday however, the pain and swelling persisted. Yesterday, (Friday) however, he woke up complaining of severe shortness of breath. We got him to the local ER and were told he would need surgical debridement of the site once the poison "finished" its run. I'm wondering how common it is for people bitten by a BRS to have complications that trigger symptoms/attacks from other diseases they may have at the time? Please post my comments and questions. Thank you.
Name: Sarah
State: MS
BRS encounter: Doctor ided it as a BRS bite immediately
treatment: antibiotic and steroid
Symptoms: inflammation around bite area about the size of a softball, low blood pressure, and cold sweats.
Comments: Hi,
My name is Sarah and I am a 19 college student here in Mississippi. And on Sunday, May 6th of 2001 was the day I was bitten on the leg, right above the ankle. Here's my story as it goes so far:: Being 19 and a college student I was of course at a party having a good time, drinking a few beers. When we all decided to go check out our friend "scary" dark basement! Well, while being the 'brave' drunken female I ran on down!! But, ghosts were not the danger located in this basement! Unbeknownst to me a nice little brown recluse spider was waiting on me to brush up next to him. I had no idea I was even bitten.. (of course you don't know much when your drunk..haha) But, I experienced a itchy bump there the next day. I took it as an ant bite and scratched away. I decided to leave it alone when it started turning a little red later that evening and forgot about it. It wasn't until 2 days later on Tuesday that the pain awoke me from sleeping late at 9:00 am. At this point it had a small black point (about the size of a pen tip) surrounded by a dark red inflamed circle about the size of a penny; which in turn was surrounded by a red area about the size of a baseball. I called my mom immediately! She suggested waiting to see if it got any worse. So we headed out the door to look for me a new car(thats a whole different, but funny story.) I had to go home though because the pain was growing worse and I could hardly stand at times. It seemed to come and go. By that evening it was so bad that I told my mom to take me to the Doctor. The doc walked in, looked at it and said "OH! This is not good!" I was like.. 'great that's what I love to hear!' He said it was a Brown Recluse bite as soon as he saw it. And asked if I had been anywhere that was dark, or a cluttered area. I remember the basement. So he gave me some antibiotics, a steroid of some kinda, and some darvecets patted me on the back, said sorry and told me to come back next week if it got worse. So hear I am, after staying up all night long writing this extend, well detailed story about all this. I guess my biggest question is what next!? Is it doomed to get worse and leave my leg with an ugly gapping hole in it? Throughout the night the infected area swelled to the size of a basketball. But, now at 7:00am this morning I am a bit tired but it looks better actually. It has decreased in redness down to the middle inflamed area (which is about the size of a penny still.) The only thing that still worries me is that it seems to have changed color a little (being almost a reddish blue color.) and the black bite hole has gotten a bit bigger. That and it still hurts like nothing I have ever felt! So what's up? I'm I getting better? Or should I still be concerned? I don't know what to think! All I know is that I still can't stand on that leg due to pain. Its Wednesday May 9th.. if someone reads my story and would like to encourage me or tell me some info.. it would all be welcome gratefully! I'm sorry for writing so much.. I'm an aspiring writer! My e-mail is SeBeth777e@aol.com
Thankx!
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Name: Terri
State: TN
Treatment: Antibiotics
Description: Bite led to complications
After being bit , I have found out a lot about these BRS... I woke up one Sat.
morning to see my husband off to work and then went back to sleep for another hour until our child woke up and when I woke up I noticed my nose was hot feeling and numb... so I looked in the mirror and it was HUGE..... about noon time the swelling didn't go down and was moving to right side of face.. I went to the ER and was told it was OK to take Benadryl and IB Profin for the pain... then the next day I get up for church and noticed my right side was swollen and red.. Waited till about noon and went back to ER because my nose and cheek was on FIRE and swollen worse and the pain in my face and round my jaw bone area was unreal... could not even softly touch my face, due to the pain...by the time I got to see the dr. I had a 102 temp and was just lifeless and hadn't had the desire to eat that day..they admitted me , started IV and antibiotics, steroid, pain medications and after 2 days of being in hosp. the plastic surgeon put me on some medication called "Dapsone" and it immediately over night started to bring swelling down and was sent home with this and still taking steroids and antibotics.....after a full week, my face peeled and the red-bruised area on cheek and nose went down and away... My nose where I was bitten and my cheek had a few white looking heads on them but was told NOT to touch face or itch and it went away. There is a small little pinkish spot on front of nose but not too bad... The plastic sx. told me that this could come back and if it did to call immed. and take the "Dapsone" and it take hold of it... I checked my bed for this creature but couldn't find anything....Needless to say, my house has been stripped and bombed and strayed and bombed again...This was the most px.full feeling in my face I have ever experienced and was sooo scary to think of it happening to you and especially IN YOUR BED.... I pray for all of you who are suffering and I hope that this medication I have mentioned my be helpful to you ..... I just pray that I don't have a reoccurrence... Thank you for letting me share this with you...God Bless all!!!
Christian Love,
Terri in Tennessee
Terri update
Hi again.... Thanks for writing back...My Dr. put me on Dapsone for only
about 3 days and then stopped it and he also mentioned about it reoccurring and said it could be in 3 mo or 3 yrs.. Do you know what needs to exactly happen with as far as having your home sprayed and all that???? This is all new to me... Hope to hear from you soon...terri
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Name: Karen
State: TX
BRS encounter: Spider itself
treatment: vioxx, antibiotics, tetanus shot, minor surgery
Symptoms: Originally extreme pain, not so bad now
Comments: I was putting my shorts on that had been laying in the floor by my bed, when I felt a stinging sensation in my upper left hip. I felt something in the shorts, pinched it together and came up with a dead, but still identifiable spider. My husband first didn't think it was a brown recluse because it was more of a grayish brown color, but after comparing it to the pictures on this web site and others, we took it and me to the ER. After 3 hours, the nurse practitioner agreed, not much they could do but anti-inflammatory, antibiotics and a tetanus shot. Three doctors later at a plastic surgeon, we're down to cutting it out. The pain has been horrific, like someone putting a hot coal on my skin. Ice was the only thing that would ease some of the pain, not even pain medicine. It's about 1/2" deep, 2" across. We may try the stun gun if this ever happens again, or Parkland Hospital in Dallas as they seem to be more proactive. Am worried about reoccurrence, will let you know if it progresses.
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Name: Valerie Sims
Sate: Oxford, Alabama
Description: Death
I am writing you to tell you a story about a very special man. He is my
brother. In August of 2000, he was sitting at his desk working. He was
Captain at a police department. He felt something on the back of his leg and he reached around to hit his leg. He felt just a small sting but he didn't
think anything else about it. Within two hours he started to become violently
sick. Thinking it was just the flu, he told his chief that he was going home.
He picked up his grandson on the way home and then went home to lie down. His grandson stayed with him and kept waking him up. The doctor said that is the only thing that save his life. By the time his wife came home, he was totally unconscious. She called the ambulance and when he got to the hospital his blood pressure was 56/32. He was very near death. When he finally came to a few days later he remembered his leg. The doctor took a look at it and already it was beginning to rot. They began giving him antibiotics to fight it aggressively. The doctor said it was a brown recluse and that he had an allergic reaction to the poison. He was in the hospital for a week. When he left we knew he would have to go back and have the dead skin removed. During this time they also found out that he had diabetes which had lain dormant all these years. By November, he began losing weight and all of his body fat but his stomach started filling with fluid. He went back to the doctor and they told him that the poison had invaded his liver. They gave him more medicine and six diuretic pills per day and then they put him on a waiting list for a liver transplant. For the next five months, he was in and out of the hospital where each time they would have to drain his stomach of the fluid. I watched him become a skeleton of the man he had been just a few months before. Each time they would drain his stomach, it would fill right back up within two or three days. The week before Mother's day he went back into the hospital and had 51 pounds of fluid removed from his stomach. He went home the day before Mother's day. I went and picked him up on Mother's day because his wife had to work. Even as weak as he was, we went to our mom and dad's and spent the whole day together. It was a day I'll never forget. I took him back home and when he went to hug me there was a sense of urgency in that hug. Within four days he was back in the hospital because he couldn't keep any food on his stomach. Two days after he was admitted, his kidneys shut down. They put him on dialysis in hopes that his kidneys would regenerate and start working again. I would like to tell you that they did start back working and that he got his liver transplant and that he is still the joy of our lives, but sadly my brother went to be with the Lord on May 22,2001, just 9 days after Mother's day. I want to tell everyone, if you even suspect that you may have been bitten by a brown recluse, see your doctor immediately. If they think your crazy for being that worried about a spider bite, at least you'll be alive and crazy. Never wait for it to just go away. If you begin to feel sick after being bitten, please see your doctor. It's possible that you had an allergic reaction to the poison. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to make our lives without this wonderful man. And we will pray for anyone of you that may have been bitten that your health would not be affected and that you will continue to heal.
Sincerely,
Valerie Sims,
Oxford, Alabama
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Name: Tracy
State: OK
Description: Bitten on thigh
Monday morning, as I was changing into a pair of sweatpants that had
been on a hanger in my closet, I felt something crawl down my leg, and
watched a little brownish-clear spider sidle under my dresser as if it didn't
have a care in the world. Shrugging it off since I hadn't felt anything really, I went about running errands, and about 7 hours later started noticing that I felt ill. I was nauseous, shaky, dizzy and had a fever of 103.4. Still thinking I may have just caught a flu bug that had been going around at work, I ignored it, hanging around the house and such. By about 10:30 that night (I was bitten at about 8:15 in the morning) I started sweating and shaking badly, and *still* could not keep any food or drink, even crackers and water, in my stomach. During one of my frequent visits to the Toilet God, I decided to take a cool bath, thinking maybe that would help. While in the tub, I noticed a dime-sized lump at my bikini line. It was blackish purple in the center with red 'arms' reaching out from it. Figuring I'd been bitten by some kind of bug, I asked my room mate to look at it. She said it looked like a spider bite, and went to get our neighbor, who studies insects and arachnids for a living.
He recognized it right off as a Brown Recluse ('Fiddle back') bite, and told me to go to the hospital immediately. After spending close to seven hours in the emergency room hooked up to two different IVs, getting a tetanus shot, and minor shock treatments around the bite, I was released and given prescriptions for an antibiotic and a low-grade steroid to keep my muscles relaxed and hopefully stop the seizures I was having from the neurotoxin in the spider's venom. Needless to say, when I got home from the hospital, I supervised all of our furniture being turned over, sprayed with spider poison, vacuumed and moved, as well as all of our clothing being run through the laundry, dirty or not. I also found this site when I was looking the spider up, since I had little to no knowledge of them, and I almost cried seeing the pictures of some of the bites. Luckily, mine isn't *quite* as bad as some of the ones pictured there, and hopefully we caught it soon enough that it won't scar. Thanks for all of the information provided on this site, and keep up
the good work.
-Tracy Vettier-Chevalier
Norman, Oklahoma
**You can post this on the site if you'd like.
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Name: Sarah
State:
Description: Bitten on Cheek
I was bitten 7 years ago when I was 14, I was living in Maryland at the time.
I was asleep at the time and have no recollection of being bitten. I woke
up the next morning feverish and achy basically like I had the flu, with a
small reddish bump on my left cheekbone right smack under my eye. Figured it was just a bug bite, my mother contributed all the other symptoms to chickenpox, my two little sisters were both fighting that at the time. The bite got visibly bigger before bedtime and had started to itch and burn, I had a constant headache. Then two nights later my mother was helping me with my homework and I starting getting dizzy and lightheaded, my whole cheek was throbbing it felt like hot knives were being pushed through my eye into the back of my head. The next morning we went to the doctor they had no idea whatsoever what it was but agreed that it was probably an infected bug bite. By this time it had turned dark black in the middle, red around that and yellow all the rest of the way around. It was the size of a tennis ball about this time. The doctors gave me Bacitracin ointment to put on it. Oh yeah I also contracted chickenpox from my sisters so this was a particularly miserable time of my life. The Bacitracin fixed all of the infection. I have a hole under my eye that looks like a cigarette burn with two holes in the very middle of it. Scar tissue in a semi circle under that. And I had slight nerve damage to that side of my face for several years after-my left cheek would start tingling and then just start twitching like crazy. I saw a neurologist but he said there was nothing major to worry about. I understand from reading this site just how lucky I was cause the doctors finally admitted it was 100% brown recluse once my face started rotting away. I have not had any recurrences or anything. All I have is a scar and memory of the worst possible pain I have ever experienced in my life. My doctor said that if I ever get bitten by another one or even a black widow I may have a much more severe reaction than I did last time so pretty much every spider I see dies a quick death just to be on the safe side.
thanks for letting me share my story with you
Sarah
Name: Phyllis Harwell
State: TX
BRS encounter: By a doctor
treatment: Clean with Betadine, then Betadine cream twice daily
Symptoms: reoccurrence of sore from about 15 years ago.
Comments: I was so glad to find your site. About 15 years ago, I noticed a blistered sore bright red around it on the inside of my left leg not far above my ankle. I was dizzy, fever, aching, sick at my stomach, and the sore really hurt. The doctor said it looked like a brown recluse bite and had me to treat it with Betadine liquid and cream. He told me if I had of gotten to the doctor right when I was bitten, that he could of gave me a shot around the bite and that would have kept it from rotting the skin. But I didn't even know when I got bit. It didn't start hurting till the next evening. It was a small area and never got big. I have a sunken scar where it bit me. It took about 6 months to totally heal and never had any more problems. UNTIL last year. I noticed my leg was hurting and after checking it out, I had a raised blister on the same spot where I had been bitten 15 years ago. The blister popped and it continued to swell and hurt and the area was raised bright red around the sore. The doctor thought it might be a ring worm at first until I told him that was the exact place I had been bitten by a BRS. He gave me some cream to put on it and it helped for awhile, then it pussed up again and the same thing over and over. I think the cream was Diprolene..It hurts so bad now that I made an appointment with doctor this coming Monday to have a biopsy taken of it to tell exactly what it was. I am so frustrated with having the sore, it's very depressing. After seeing the pictures on your web site of the bites, I feel so bad that I have been complaining about my LITTLE sore, compared to the pictures. And I have only had the one sore from my bite. I found a picture on another site that looks just like my sore. I never knew the effects from a bite could stay with you this long. Thank You very much for the info you have given me. You may post this to your site.
Phyllis Harwell
Name: Jason
State: Colorado
Description: Bitten on Hand
First I have to say, that when I was very young, I used to love to
catch and play with bugs, lizards and snakes, they were fun for me.... I even had an ant farm. When I was about sixteen I held a job of a lifeguard (at a resort in Colorado) and it was my duty to oversee paddle boaters and other water sports...... actually, I just handed out life vests. One day I did an inventory of the life vests (which were stored in an outdoor closet) and a spider fell to the ground. With my curious nature I took a look at the
spider and started poking it with a piece of grass. It soon climbed up the
piece of grass and onto my hand... but I was no too worried... I liked
spiders because they interested me. Well... the spider ended up biting me (I could not feel it at first) above the right thumb. I brushed it off and did
not think much of the bite. I woke up the next morning and my hand (above my thumb) was purple and I noticed that my whole right arm was sore. I also noticed that I had an almost black line running up my arm... past my elbow joint! I told my mom and we immediately went to see a Dr. I told him the story and he asked me to describe the spider. He told me that it sounded like a BRS because I told him about the lighter color patch on it's body (hourglass shape). He gave me a shot and lanced the wound...... The scary part of the story is that he told me that the venom (or reaction to the venom) was moving it's way up my blood stream, and if it would reach an artery in my armpit............ It could have been deadly. I was very ill
for a while.... in fact I missed 9 days of school and football practice.
NOW... I am scared to death of spiders and I try to tell my 2 and a
half year old son to stay away from them......I am 28 now, and I never want
to meet a BRS again!!!!
~ JASON ~
Name: Somers
State: AZ
Description: Bitten on calf
I noticed a tiny bite on my calf last Saturday after sleeping on the couch in my mother's home in Phoenix, Arizona. It didn't begin itching (just a little) until the next day. By Monday it was rather annoying. Wednesday it became RED, HOT, HARD and it itched badly. (I also had a mild headache across my forehead, was a bit fatigued, and had a slight case of nausea.) I took homeopathic APIS 30c which helped a little. (This is a remedy made from honey bees.) This helped for a few hours. I then took APIS 1M, but noticed it wasn't getting any better. By Wednesday night I awoke at midnight with a great deal of pain in my leg. It was hard to walk and my leg had swelled up from above my knee down to my ankle. I decided to take Rhus Tox 30c (a poison ivy remedy which is good for symptoms of heat, redness, swelling and better by movement.) This helped me considerably and I was able to sleep through the night and work through the morning doing housework and yard work. By afternoon it started hurting again so I went to a doctor who said he could treat me with a histamine to reduce swelling. When I explained the changes I noticed, he said whatever I was doing was working, and to continue it. I said I wouldn't use the histamine or antibiotics at this point. I went home and called my homeopath who wrote "Help and Homeopathy" for emergency medical and homeopathic treatment. She immediately recognized my description of the bite as a possible brown recluse bite (the center had begun turning black.) She had me take Lachesis 200c (a snake remedy) one time. Three hours later I called to tell her it reduced the swelling by 15%, but the pain returned after 2 1/1 hours. She then had me take Lachesis 1M Thursday night at bedtime, and then again in the morning. I have been on the road all day today with minimal pain. The swelling is down by 60%. The bite area is 70% less red and all of the heat is gone from the area. The hardness in my skin had reduced to within 1/2 inch from the bite area (it had been out 2-3 inches a day and a half ago.) I have no flu symptoms, have had no need to nap, and feel VERY lucky to have a good homeopath. I would like this letter added to your page because I want people to know that there is a healthy alternative which strengthens the immune system. I have been under homeopathic/constitutional care for 8 yrs. I have needed antibiotics only once for bronchitis a few months ago. My immune system is in great shape and I'm able to see illness as a chance for my body to get stronger (without suppressive medications such as steroids, cortisone creams, and antibiotics.) Hope this is helpful to someone out there. I do recommend the book "Help and Homeopathy" because it has both allopathic and homeopathic strategies for all emergency situations. It includes the procedures I am using for the Brown Recluse Spider bite.
Name: Kelly Moxley
State: MD
BRS encounter: Surgeon identified in consult. w/ a derm, I saw a spider too, but didn't see it bite me that night.
treatment: Augmentin 800 mg BID, Bacitracin ointment TID, then hospitalization 6 days, IV Clindamycin, Levaquin
Symptoms: Off antibiotics, still have lesion & still blistering up. Have pain and decreased use of arm, fatigue
Comments: I'm still not convinced I'm not in the Twilight Zone. I was bitten a week before and initially had patchy red pumps and itchiness. An ulceration began 3 inches above my wrist on my arm with a hot, red center and blistering ring all around it. I then developed severe cellulitis and red streaks running all the way to under my armpit. I stated above the initial treatments (in the treatment field). Three days after being in the hosp., my arm was worsening and I was then switched to IV Timentin 3.1 gr. q 6hrs, Levaquin 500mg PO QD, and Oxycontin 20 mg PO Q 12 hrs. A wound care nurse would scrub my arm with saline every day and at night the nurse would apply Bacitracin ointment and cover it with gauze. The cellulitis went away and I was sent home after 6 days of being in the hospital with a prescription for Augmentin 875 mg PO BID, Percocet 5 mg PO Q 4-6 hrs prn pain, and Bacitracin with gauze to dress is at night. 5 days later, I followed up with Dr Aly, my infection disease Dr, and he said to quit the antibiotics and that I would heal. The next day, I saw the surgeon who concurred and told me to do nothing. I was at Shady Grove Adventist Hosp. in Rockville, MD. Right now, I am receiving no meds and my arm still hurts, looks horrible and I feel lousy. Thanks for listening and God bless. Kelly
Name: JENNIFER RENEAU
State: TX
BRS encounter: DOCTOR
treatment: SURGERY, ANTIBIOTICS-2ND TIME-BENADRYL
Symptoms: PAIN, SWELLING, FEVER, NAUSEA & LETHARGY
Comments: THE FIRST TIME THAT I WAS BITTEN BY A BRS WAS IN 1990. MY GRANDMOTHER HAD JUST DIED AND I WAS TOO UPSET TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE QUICKLY GROWING INFECTION ON MY ARM. IT HAD TURNED RED, PURPLE WITH A 2" DIAMETER BLACK CENTER IN WHICH THE SKIN HAD CRACKED. I JUST PUT A BAND-AID ON IT AND IGNORED IT. TWO WEEKS LATER, I COMPLAINED TO MY MOTHER THAT MY ARM HURT. SHE PANICKED AND TOOK ME TO THE DOCTOR. HE KNEW IMMEDIATELY THAT IT WAS A BRS AND IMMEDIATELY REMOVED IT SURGICALLY. HE TOLD ME THAT SURGERY IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET RID OF MOST OF THE INFECTION. AFTER THE SURGERY, I BECAME VERY LETHARGIC AND HAD LOST MOST OF MY ENERGY (I WAS 19 AT THE TIME) AND BEGAN SUFFERING FROM WHAT FELT LIKE ARTHRITIS. TEN YEARS LATER, I NOTICED ANOTHER BITE ON THE SAME ARM. I DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE ANY CHANCES, SO I TOOK A BENADRYL PILL, WET IT AND APPLIED IT TO THE WOUND UNTIL I COULD GO TO A DOCTOR. I WENT TO THREE, NONE OF WHOM CONSIDERED THE BRS BITE SERIOUS, EVEN AFTER I EXPLAINED TO THEM MY PREVIOUS BITE AND THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE TWO. ANOTHER DOCTOR TOLD ME TO PUT ON NEOSPORIN, WHICH I APPLIED ONCE AND IT MADE IT START TO SWELL AND CLOSE UP, SO MY MOTHER DOCTORED IT USING VINEGAR AND BAKING SODA POULTICES AFTER BREAKING IT OPEN. SHE ALSO USED HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND DISTILLED WATER TO CLEAN IT. THE SECOND TIME IT WAS A VERY SMALL WOUND (SMALLER THAN A DIME) AND AFTER ONE MONTH OF TREATING IT, IT SUNK IN AND FINALLY CLOSED UP AFTER THE REMOVAL OF DEAD FLESH. FOR A LARGER WOUND, MY ORIGINAL DOCTOR SAID THAT IT MUST BE REMOVED TO HEAL PROPERLY AND STOP THE SPREAD OF THE VENOM, ALONG WITH THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS. IT CAUSES GANGRENE, IF NOT TREATED IN THIS WAY. ALL THE SUBSEQUENT BREAKOUTS MUST ALSO BE SURGICALLY REMOVED. I HOPE THIS PREVENTS OTHERS FROM LETTING THE BITE GO WITHOUT IMMEDIATE TREATMENT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS WEB-SITE! I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THE RECLUSE BITE COULD CAUSE SUCH DEVASTATING AND LONG-LASTING PROBLEMS.
Name: Cher Matzdorff
State: Al
BRS encounter: Bite, symptoms, by a MD
treatment: Leprosy medication (Dapsone) no antibiotic
Symptoms: None at this time am over the hump
Comments: A male nurse came into my salon and recognized the bite and the symptoms because he was a victim at one time. Thus I went straight to my Dr. with the information that I had. The bites were only 3 days old I was very fortunate, no draining was required.I requested that my Dr. prescribe to me the medication that the nurse suggested. The Dr. was unfamiliar with it so he called the pharmacy and confirmed the med and the dosage, the usual med would have been antibiotic but due to my insistence and a nurse who knew his stuff with in 15 minutes of initial dose of Dapsone @ 100mgs for 14 days the bite began to stop weeping and dry up. I am in my 9th day and the bites are no more than a small scab the size of an eraser on a pencil. I have over come the flue like symptoms that you described , the tiredness, the soreness in the lymph glands and the headaches within the first 7 days of taking the Med. and feel very good now. I will continue to finish my prescription. I have a theory about the continuous eruptions. The BRS bite is very similar to the chemical components in Leprosy and thus the systemic poison stays in you system unless specifically addressed as leprosy, thus completely purging you system of the toxin. I hope this information will help your friends and others that have been bitten. Cher Matzdorff
Name: Roger
State: TX
BRS encounter: Spider itself
treatment: steroid shot in the wound and antibiotics
Symptoms: None at this time
Comments: I was bitten about 7 years ago by a BRS during the summer months . I had no idea what a BRS was at the time . I had just finished mowing the yard and went inside for a restroom break. I was wearing shorts and , just for a moment , set them on the floor next to a cabinet where towels were stored. I put the shorts back on and a moment later ,I felt a pinching on the back of my right leg , about 6 inches above my knee. I slapped the spot and a spider fell out. I didn't think much of it but saved the spider in a plastic bag just in case. That evening , my entire body turned red , but not really much around the wound. By morning , my right leg was very swollen , and a large area of the back of my leg was a deep red . I went to the emergency room and took the spider with me. The attending doctor stated he recognized the spider as a Brown recluse and gave me a steroid shot right into the bitten area of my leg. He also prescribed an antibiotic , which I took for about ten days. My leg stayed swollen for about four weeks and the redness did not go away for about 8 weeks. However , there was no tissue loss and now there is just a barely visible scar with no reoccurring side affects . Needless to say , now anytime I see a spider that even closely resembles a BRS , it signed its death warrant.
Name: Marge
State: LA
BRS encounter: Doctor (From the bite)
treatment: Antibiotic Injection followed by Keflex, 500 mg 4 times daily for 12 days; topical antibiotic cream
Symptoms: Extreme pain radiating from bite area, burning itch, blotchy patches near wound
Comments: I was bitten while moving boxes from an old storage shed. I saw the spider but didn't realize it bit me till hours later when the welt formed. Actually got bitten twice, first at the jawbone then right in front of the ear. Second bite was not as bad.
We left the next day for vacation and I treated the bite with cold compresses and anti-itch cream. By the 3rd day the large bite welt had turned very red, tender and painful. Secondary bite in front of the ear was becoming more painful, swollen. Skin all around both sites sensitive, burning and peeling. Also had low grade fever.
I went to an emergency clinic, where the doctor didn't classify the bite, but diagnosed cellulitis from venom. Prescribed Keflex 500 mg twice a day, warm compresses, and OTC topical cortisone cream.
On the 5th day the pain was becoming more intense and the center of the primary bite had turned dark. Blotches had broken out down neck and below ear, skin was very irritated and larger areas were peeling. Shooting, burning pain came more frequently. Went back to clinic and at first glance at primary bite the doctor (not the same one I saw before) called it a BRS bite. He said it was the 6th he had treated that month.
He said that much more aggressive treatment was necessary. Prescribed an immediate injection of antibiotic mix, then increased the Keflex to 500 mg 4 times a day. Also gave instructions for frequent cleansing with Betadine or similar agent, and application of OTC topical triple antibiotic cream.
I write this on day 6, and after visiting this web site I'm relieved that a diagnosis has been made and treatment seems to be proper.
Hopefully things will progress and I will not suffer any other complications. I'll be home in a few more days and will be able to check in with my personal physician for follow-up care as recommended by the clinic doctor.
I will send a photo of the bite area in a separate e-mail.
My story can be used on the web page, but first name only, please! And please keep my e-mail address private!
Thanks, Margie LA
Update:
I wrote through the contact site giving details of the "bite."
Am attaching a JPEG photo taken today at doctor's office.
What a way to spend a vacation!
I did call my doctor at home and he says that the BRS bites in south
Louisiana are much more frequent since the heavy rains with tropical storm
Allison. Poor things are looking for higher, dryer ground and that usually
means in human quarters.
He also says that prompt ID of spider, followed by treatment, is the key to
avoiding complications. Hopefully I'll be one of the lucky ones.
Thanks for your informative web site!
M. LA
(Sorry the image didn't transfer very well)
Name: Suzanne
Description: Recurring
Treatment: Herbal Poultice
was just checking out your site and thought I'd share my experience
with a BRS bite-----its interesting to hear other's accounts, and that the
bite has recurred for several people, since it has for me as well.
I was visiting the Tucson desert about 9 years ago and stayed the
night at a friend's home. She got a few blankets out of a trunk to make a
bed for me (danger>>warning>>) and I was bitten in my sleep. Two days later when I was heading back to VA I had a small bump appearing on my left jaw line, just back from my chin---i thought it was a pimple forming......but I also had tingling sensitivity in the nerves running up the side of my head, and the lymph node under my chin was enlarged---at that point I wasn't connecting all these symptoms, so it seemed I was just in general falling apart. In the next few days the 'pimple' had increased to a blistery open sore about the size of a quarter, and I had seen a doctor who knew BRS bites from her work in tennessee---at that point I only used an herbal poultice on the wound, and it took about 4 weeks for it to heal. Then my bite recurred maybe a year after the initial bite, all of the same symptoms----and I realized that not only was this systemic, but it seemed to be brought on by stress--and as I'm learning from other stories on your website--from a weakened immune system<<<which happens under stress. Through the years the recurrences happened further apart, and the symptoms lessened and were milder each time. Now if I feel it happening I will put an ice cube on the spot and try to meditate the stress away. It seems to help, but I am ever-aware of it. I also had no idea about long-term effects, that is a bit scary, but its good to have the info so I can keep in check with myself and keep it all in mind.thanks for the info....fine for you to share this.
Suzanne
Name: Daniel
State: TN
Description: Bitten on hand
Treatment: Hyperbaric Oxygen
My name is Daniel Kelly and I am currently pursuing my phd in
Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tennessee. I also work at a
biotech firm developing devices that can decontaminate sites exposed to biological and chemical weapons. The reason i bring this up is because i thought i had developed a serious infection at work and immediately went to the ER once my finger started swelling. We use staph, strep, ecoli, and some viruses to determine the killing effectiveness of our devices. These bugss only really hurt you if you ingest them or are stupid enough to inject them in your bloodstream. After a bloodwork and Xray the doctors determined i didnt break anything and i was not infected with any serious microbes. He diagnosed me with a punctured artery. All they gave me was a pain reliver and told me to put ice on it. Ice really helped the pain. The pain medication was about worthless. I decided i would go home to Kingsport TN until the swelling went down. It never did. 6-7 days later white necrotic tissue developed. After my mom(shes an RN) saw this lesion begin to advance down my finger she sent me to the ER. I remeber hoping they would just cut the damn thing off and i would finally be able to sleep.
Fortunately I went to Wellmont hospital in kingsport this time. Wellmont
is one of the better hospitals across the nation. Within a few minutes they
new it was a spider bite. They sent me to wound care and started
hyperbaric treatments immediately. After Two hours of treatment i the
pain was gone and the swelling was reduced by about half they put
some silvedine on it and told me to come back tomorrow. After four
more visits the wound was clean and began to heal and swelling was
completely gone. Its been four weeks now and the wound is about
completely healed. They put you in to a long acrylic cylinder and seal you in there. They pressurize you with pure oxygen. THis oxygenates your plasma in your blood to 100% capacity (normally your plasma is about 2%). The oxygen also kills bacteria which normally feed on dead tissue. My
understanding is that the toxin consists of 8 potent enzymes that destroy
capilaries preventing bloodflow to the invenomated area. These enzymes
are neatrualized by high cocentraions of oxygen. The oxygen also kills
anaerobic bacteria which normally feed on dead tissue. I encourage everyone to Read about this treatment. I can not believe some of the treaments that these BRS victims have gotten. For those whom still suffer from these bites i suggest you get this treatment. No surgery needed. Please Post this on the site!!!!!!!! I think more people need to know about this treatment.
I've included my experience below... it is very long winded, but I figured I'd send it. In short, I was recently bitten by a brown recluse [which in my 39 years of living have never heard of the thing]. Reading the things I have read in the last week is unbelievably scary. I get the impression that this bite might be a life long, non 'successfully' treatable ailment. And that on many people the effects can be very traumatic. I'm sort of in a panic denial type mode where I guess I can't dig through the details for fear of finding out what i do not want to hear. The 4 doctors I have seen have not given me this dire impression???
Again thanks for your information.
My story:
Hi,
On a Wednesday morning, the 4th of July, I was sitting in a van waiting to pick somebody up at an airport in Chicago, IL, when I felt something nip/sting' my calf [I should mention that I was visiting family in Chicago and am from NJ]. I thought it must have been a fly or a mosquito and never even looked. A couple seconds later it itched real bad and suddenly I was showing people in the van a red mark about the size of a quarter. I completely and totally ignored it, I'm 39 and have spent ½ my life playing in the woods and don't take much notice of bites. That afternoon and night we partied, walked down to the lake and watched fireworks. The next day, Thursday, I noticed the spot seemed to be getting bigger and redder, it also seemed to have a couple of rings developing. As usual my older sister had us all up for a 40 minute power walk [not a great idea, but I'm was clueless]. During the day we hung around as my leg started to get sorer and
the wound seemed to be getting more pronounced with some bubbles or blisters developing in the quarter shaped center. The wound grew to about 2-3 inches and was getting really nasty looking. so we decided a doctor was in order. I went over to a local health care facility [I'm sure there is a term/name for the facility, but can't think of it] where the doctor
nonchalantly said that it looked like a 'spider' bite or possibly an ingrown hair??? He gave me a tetanus shot and a prescription for Augmentin, an antibiotic. I thought great, no big deal and headed home. I put off filling the prescription because it was the 4th of July week and we needed to party and play horse shoes every night [bad decision!]. That evening we played
softball and partied that night. The next day, Friday, the biggest complaint was a very sore feeling in the calf, like someone hit me with a bat and every joint in my body felt arthritic. It was the day we had to visit my brother in laws grand parents, who had a pool [based on hind sight and currant knowledge, another bad decision]. I have an 8 & 6 year old niece and nephew who only get to see their uncle twice a year, so we swim all day, we all go out to dinner have a couple drinks and call it a night. I'm in bad shape by then, the sore is about 6 inches and by now my body hurts bad, at midnight I start the antibiotics [about 50 hours after being bit] and commit to visiting that same health center Saturday morning. Upon arrival, I have 2 doctors ooooooooing and aaaaawwwwwwwwing about how 'impressive' this thing looks. they say it does not look like an ingrown hair. and that it looks like a 'spider' bite! They give me a shot of antibiotic in the behind and call a surgeon at a hospital down the road. I get sped over there and the surgeon say's you've been bitten by a brown recluse!!!!!!!!!! Prior
to that, I've never heard of the thing and at this point wish I never came in contact. Today is Wednesday, exactly 7 day's latter, I have 1 Augmentin
left of the 10 given to me and have an appointment here in NJ with my GD "primary care giver' tomorrow. Physically I do not feel that bad the aches and pain were only felt during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th day after being bitten. The wound has shrunk form it's largest size of about 6 inches to a currant and consistent 3 inches. The last 2 day's for the first time there seems to be swelling below the wound. down to my ankle, which I assume is from walking on it for work the last couple of day's. Around the 4th day this
thing had 3 different distinct rings with the middle ring being about an inch and completely black and dead looking. That finally went away and it seems to now have a center of about 2 inches of puss and blisters and an outer ring of redness. Any feed back is appreciated. Let me know if anyone wants pictures and thanks for your time.
Name: Eve
State: CA
BRS encounter: Doctor
treatment: CIPRO 500ML of antibiotcs/ 600to 800ml Ibuprophin
Symptoms: Swelling purpulishBLK/red/itchy hot painful
Comments: Its been a month now and i went to the doc about 1 week later . I got the Cipro 500ml antibiotics and 600 ml of I buprophin. Neosporin cream. My foot and ankle looks 3 times swollen . the sore hasnt open or ooze no real black spot but the redness and purplish area is bigger size of a coffee cup opening. the area of skin is wrinkly and now i notice a round spot the size of an eraser developing. I see doc tomorrow after being on medication for ten days. It hurts really bad especially in morinigs when i wake up although if i dont take Ibuprophin i cannot sleep the pain wakes me up. i also have sharp pain almost like a shock of electricity running through the area from time to time. I feel the docs are not taking this serious please what more shall i do? i am scared to death. everyone ask me waht in the world happen to your leg? i try to keep it elevated. but im noticing like a bruise around my ankle too. the bite started off 5 inches above my left leg. i will take a picture of it now since one moth from the time i was bitten. thank you for your site...Hope to hear from you.
Name: Glenda
State: Al
Description: Renal Failure from BRS bite
Hello:
My name is Glenda and my daughter Brittany was bitten by a
Brown Recluse spider in April of 1996 when she was only 4 years old.
At the time, I was an OTR Truck Driver (my husband and I were a team)
and my children were in the care of my parents. I received apage via my Quall Comm unit saying that I needed to call home ASAP. After arriving at the nearest phone, I called my mother to see what was wrong. She told me that she had taken my daughter to the emergency room and the doctor told her that Brittany had strep throat and prescribed some antibiotics for her and sent her home. She said that Brittany had woke up crying that morning and had a very small place below her right breast where something had bitten her. By the time my mother got her to the hospital, the bite was very visible and the doctor ignored that area saying it had nothing to do with Brittanys' high fever and chills. After getting her home from the hospital, my mother called them back telling them that Brittanys' fever had soared to over 104 degrees farenheit. The doctor told her that she was a paranoid grandmother and that Brittany would be okay. That was when my mother paged me. I told my mother to rush Brittany to a reputable hospital in the next county over and to have the doctor page me from there. She did that and so when I called the hospital, the doctor told me I had to come home right away that it was a matter of life and death. By the time my mother got Brittany to the other hospital, she was passing blood through her kidneys' as thick as syrup, had an extremely high fever and was terribly jaundiced.
I flew home from Colorado on the soonest available flight. Brittany had been transported to Childrens' Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. When I
walked into the room I was totally unprepared for what I saw. My baby, only
4 years old was NOT yellow jaundiced....she was ORANGE from yellow
jaundice!!!! When she raised her little brown eyes, she didn't look at me,
she looked through me as if she had no idea as to who I was (I had only been gone for 1 week). I noticed that she had a catheder in her and what was coming out looked like dark red syrup. She had all kinds of IVs' in her
little hands and arms. All I could do was stand there in complete shock.
A few minutes later, the nurse came by and took me to the doctor who
had been awaiting my arrival. He told me flat out that Brittany needed blood
or she was going to die. With trembling hands, I signed the papers for them
to give her the blood that would (hopefully) save her life. They ended up
giving her 3 units of blood that day alone and I don't know how many more
after that. Three days after being in PICU, she was moved to a toddler floor where she would be a little more comfortable. She was taken to a nearby hospital (UAB) daily for the next 3 days to undergo Hyper Barrack Oxygen treatments. They took pictures of the bite before the first treatment and after the last treatment. The bite had decreased in size very well. I was told that she would have to be monitored closely for the rest of her life because of her kidneys and liver as in the beginning she was going into complete renal failure. Today, her pediatrician does not do any of that as he thinks it is not necessary. Brittany still complains of massive pain in the bite area at least once per week and the doctor says there is nothing he can do about it, that it is just healing itself. I do not believe it but can not afford to take her to another doctor as she is on medicaid and you have to get a referral to do that. If you have any information that you think will help us, please, tell us about it. Brittany has had no more eruptions since the first time.
Glenda
Name: Not Given
Description: Bite on hand
Treatment: Surgery, Antibiotics
June 12, 2001, I was bitten at my home sometime during the mid morning hours. I had, what appeared to be a black dot, the size of a fine ink pen, on the end of my right index finger. I couldn't feel a piece of anything in my finger, so I dismissed it, it didn't hurt. Later that afternoon, it had a red
swollen area surrounding the black mark, so I figured it was a piece of glass
festering to the top of my skin. I proceeded to pick it with a needle, then
less than 2 hours I felt an extreme tense amount of pain. I thought I
infected myself with the needle, perhaps bad bacteria on needle. That entire
night I was in horrendous agony, I soaked the finger in hot water and Epsom salt, then soaked it with peroxide. I continue this regiment all throughout the night, I never slept. I cried all night, wondering why it hurt so badly from a needle. That next morning I went to the ER room, where they gave me a tetanus shot, some antibiotic, and Advil. The DR sent me to have X-rays, and they saw no glass in my finger, she came and looked at my hand, where a deep red line was moving from my finger to my wrist. She marked the wrist, sent me home, and told me if it continue far past this line, come directly to the ER, and she asked for me to see her first thing in morning, no matter what. I kept my arm elevated as instructed, we saw a small redness just past the mark the DR made on my wrist, and I slept throughout the night, I woke to check on the red line ever so often. By morning the red line grew, and another was underneath at my elbow, and 3 thick red blotches were from my middle underarm to my shoulder. At first we thought it was from the pillows holding my arm elevated making the mark, but they never went away. I went to the ER as instructed, after a 2 hour ordeal, I finally saw my ER DR, and she called another DR, he advise that something was there, and to admit me. Shortly, a Plastic Surgeon walked in, looked at finger, said he had to cut it open, 3 shots of Novocain in my finger, I still could feel him cutting a perfect square from my finger. He then proclaimed I was bitten by a Brown Recluse, I told him No, I never felt it, He said exactly why it was a brown recluse, and he left a large volcano of poison in your finger. I was on antibiotic, and pain medicines crazily. He finally said he had to amputate my finger to the first knuckle. I said no, is there any other way, he waited until morning, and decided to operate and remove all the damaged tissues, etc.. from my finger. Two days later Sunday, June 17, he performed a Surgical Flap - where he removed the tissue, blood, circulation, etc... from my middle finger and
sewed it to my index, then sewed the fingers together. I had another
suregery, a Skin Graph for the middle finger as well. I stayed in Hospital
waited for the poison to be flushed from my system, fevers to go down, and
for my surgery to recover. I was finally released 10 days later. Both hands
were bandaged, my right with a fist full of gauze, And my left, because of
the clots, and sores from IVs. Three weeks later, and visited the DR twice a
week for bandage changing. Another surgery, Finally I had my fingers
separated. A week after that, I lost the tip of my index finger, and the DR
cannot find my bone, but a new nail shows a lot of health, and we are hoping for the best. Two weeks ago I had the remainder stitches removed. This week the old nail is still clinging on, and he doesn't want to remove it, because he doesn't want exposed bone. He still hasn't felt my bone in my finger yet, I am not sure what this means. I am also doing as much physical therapy as possible, but this seems to Hurt very much. I still have a few surgeries to go, I need some additional reconstructive surgery, and last will be to place a nerve in my finger. I will keep you updated, if you so wish and as the DR keeps me informed. Thank you for your webpage, It certainly helps me with some daily tasks I have to do, and the sadness and often depression felt, because of a little brown recluse spider. It has turned my life upside down, I am unable to work thus far, I should be planning for the hapiest day of my life, but get depressed. I had planned on my finance and I paying for most of the wedding, but medications, some hospital bills, and regular bills ate our savings, and its hard on 1 salary. But I am trying to figure something out, and keep my chin held high. I have (so they say) a year of further healing and therapy. It amazes me that something I never saw, never felt could do this much damage. A question that I have, as a new person to this, Is how common are eruptions? Heres my e mail if anyone has some answers, or any questions for me. Thanks for listening. ShaAnn1212@aol.com
Name: DeAnne
State: CA
BRS encounter: from the bite
treatment: Keflex, Tylenol w/Codeine, Augmentin, Shots, Vicodin and Motrin
Symptoms: redness,extreme swelling, flu-like severe fever and pain, sweating, nausea, migrain pain, dizziness
Comments: I would first like to say that I was mesmerized by your site. It made me feel so "unalone" about my problems. No one that I talk to knows anyone that has ever had a serious bite of any sort. I was bit sometime on Friday the 13th (spooky) of July, 2001. I had gardened on this day but hadn't felt any bites and had just generally been busy. The next morning I awoke with a black spot at the edge of my right jaw that was about the size of a pencil eraser surrounded by about a 1-1/2" red area. I felt fine and sort of disregarded it as I had a full day ahead that didn't give me time to worry about it. I went about my business and at the end of the day felt extremely tired, just zapped. I told my husband that I needed to go to bed and I did. I began not feeling well and developed a fever that rose to 104. The red area had spread to my entire cheek area. The next morning I went straight to the ER where things got worse in my opinion. I was shaking at this time and somewhat dillusional and they were dumbfounded but not very concerned in my opinion. We did not see a spider so it was difficult to determine what had bit me. The Dr. began heat compresses that he instructed me to continue for that day and night. Prescribed oral Keflex and Tylenol 3. At home, I knew that the heat was not a good thing. My nausea worsened, my fever persisted and I just felt a ton of pain that was moving into my ear area. The next day I woke up with the side of my face from my eye down to my collar-bone one huge blob. But, My ear had just expanded like a balloon! It grew to 6" and the lobe was 1" thick. The pain was so intense. I went to a new Dr. because we had just changed over and she was quite alarmed of the heat treatments. It had made the toxins spread and the swelling expand. She quickly gave me shots of an antitoxin/antibiotic, and switched me to Augmentin , Motrin and Vicodin since nothing was touching my pain. My mother came into town to help with my family since I was sleeping non-stop and crying and in agony. She was instructed by the Dr. to watch for my ear to possibly "collapse". This was frightening. As the swelling came down and the fever subsided I went in for daily shots and check-ups. My external ear unbelievably returned to it's shape but my internal ear area did "collapse" causing hearing loss which after 3 weeks is beginning to return due to medication. In reading other reports, the fatigue that I feel now sounds "normal" under the circumstances unfortunately. I was so fourtunate over all and my heart goes out to the other victims. I am concerned about future problems, now, though. I did not have tissue damage in the are of the bite and have no scar. Some had thought I was bit by a Black Widow, but the stories that I have read made me pretty sure it was a BRS. Good Luck to all that have been affected by these little critters.
Name: ari
State: MS
BRS encounter: by a doctor from the bites
treatment: steroids and antibiotics
Symptoms: severe burning headaches, fevers, skin sensitivity especialty to sun
Comments: i was bitten on the neck twice after returning from lunch to work. I had been up on the mezzamine floor(which was dark, hot and humid with lots of cardboard boxes). I put my apron back on and shortly after felt a sting to my neck. I rubbed it and was stung again. The sensation subsided smewhat and I got my needed supplies and started back downstairs. I became vry disoriented and dizzy(about 5-10 min after bites) but made it downstairs. I went to my work area and the paint can was "vibrating Wildly"! I had extreme difficulty focusing and felt flushed- I thoughtat the time it was due to the heat (no airconditioning). After a few minutes, my vision was less blurry and I went to work applying finishes to frames. My neck was still stinging a ittle so I went over to our first-aid kit ad put some antibiotic ointment on the bite. I got through the remainder of the day and went home. I was thankful it was Friday and would have the weekend to rest. On Saturday the sting on my neck was swollen and sore-yet itchy. I thought it was a mosquito bite! I went outside and had to go back in-my skin was reacting weirdly to the sun. I stayed in rest of the day and felt increasingly worse. A couple of friends and I had planned a trip days before to go to the Napoleon Exhibit in Memphis. I felt rotten but took some alka-Seltzer Cold medicine and went. By the time w got there- I was having dfficulty standing. I told my friends to go ahead while I waited in the hallway seated on a bench. I was approched by Museum personnel 3 ties to inquire about me- I ust hae looked awful! They finally asked me to go to offce where they paged for my friends. We came back home and I went to the couch where I began crying- became uncontrollably emotional and scared...I felt like I was falling- it was terrible. Being determined to beat this thing-flu or whatever it was-I went on to work Monday. As soon as I walked in my co-workers freaked out when they saw my neck-it was swollen with a circle arund it and red streaks spreading across both sides of my neck to my lymph glands! It looked like red tunnels-quite scary-I was told it looked like a spider bite and upon hearing this I immediately left and went to see my doctor who diagnosed me ashaving been bit twice over my thyroid gland. He told me there was good news and bad news: The good news being where I was bitten was not a muscular area and therefore cosmetically not too damaging- but o the other hand, he said I couldn''t have been bitten in a worse spot neurologically! I asked him what could he do- he said there was no vaccine and prescribed antbiotics and steroids. My headaches grew worse, hoever in the following days-my skin ws sloughing off at the bite site and would not heal.I got through the days by taking Alka-Seltzer cold plus- I didn''t know what else to do- I had to work- I''d just bought my home months earlier! I began having serious problems atwork- I was stresses, lethargic amd wwas having problems focusing.(I was in good shape from riding my bike often and not se to being sick like this!) I started developing a rash and fever-this being a few months afterwards-with the persisting burning headache- I finally had to take off from work for a over a week. I went to the doc- told him my symtems- He prescribed an antibiotic I believe(things fuzzy during this time) and told me he thought I needed to take an anti-anxiety drug. I went back to work and struggled along. New problems started arising howeve- work I''d finished was sent back to me saying wrong color- I was astonished! I''d prided myself i doing beautiful finishes with an exactig eye for color. I was losing my color vision! I was i denial for a long time about that- art ws my joy in life- not to mention the fact that my job depended on it! The problems eacalated to the point of possibly being fired- I''d lost my energy and heathy looks and was losing weight rapidly- t the point of loyal co-workers cautioning me about drug testing going on! Looking back I realized they thought I ws on cocaine or speed or someother crazy drug! My boss (who had just several monhs before wanted to promot me head of several other departments) also lost faith in me. It was a terrible time, physcally and emtionaly. I requested and was granted sick leave where again I sought medical help. This time I was given free sampls of Xanax to cure me. I went back to ork after several weeks and after a while- threw in the towel. I went home to die of what I thought was some weird unknown disease. I''d had every test possible run with no answer- I secluded myself away for the most part of several months- I was afraid to go to the family Thanksgiving Dinner for fear of puttig others at risk- what I had might be cntagious! My family felt slighted but tryed to understand. My mom thought I had become anorexic ad worried about my health. My headches weren''t as severe all the time- but I''ve not been through a day since bite without some burningto some degree. My sister finally drug me to her doctor agter I''d had some faintig spells and chest pains. She ut her foot down when I started coughing blood. Her doctor scolded me for not coming sooner. I was 140 pounds before bite- now about 115 and I am 5-8!Hecalled me at home wih the diagnosis- Hyperthyroidism, Graves Disease. He fond it peculiar that my thyroid gland was''t showing usual symtoms, tho. I was relieved to know I wasn''t going crazy like I thought. I had lost all color vision at this point and my vision was ike an old black and white tv on the brink. At times, due o the swelling in my head and burning headaches, I could not see at all. I went tothe hosital where they gave me medications to slow my heart which was beating over 200 beats aminute. I was there for several weeks. Later I was given radiation to destroy me thyroid gland. my headaches still persisted and got worse- my vision was to the pont of my getting counsel (and my parents) to send me to school fr the blind. I was in such pain at times therealization of possibly becoming totally blind was not registering! I was sent to an eye specialist who took cat scans and I had emerency surgery on my orbits. A lot of pressure was releasd and I got my color back after recooperating from surgery. I''ve had another since then 2 years ago with the possibilty o more to save my sight. I a thankful I can see color again and my vision is really clear at times when I don''t have swelling. I am disabled by this condition, however, and not able health-wise to hold a steady job. I do some arts and crafts to make extra money at my home. I just retuned two weeks ago from seeing my eye specialist- he is an eye dsease specialist and said my condition was not normal in Graves''s Disease- He said there were similarities but also inconcistencies. I told him about my spider bite over my tyroid gland and he said that would certainly complicate the case. I feel the spider bite caused my disease and a researching to find ot if it did. I was bitten in 1993 and diagnosed in 94 with Graves. Do you think ths is possible? Is there any data regardng BR Spider bites n the neurological or endocrine system? I realize I''ve written a short story here... I guess this has been a therapy session for me. I''ve been so frustrated! Thanks for letting me bow off some steam!!!
Name: Tara
State: NJ
BRS encounter: ER Doc / Reg. Doc
treatment: Injection of 2000MG of Keflex and other medications
Symptoms: reddness, itching, blackness
Comments: I''m not really sure who will be receiving this email, but I just want to share my story anyway... I woke up one morning to a pain in my right buttocks. Yes, my butt!! It looked and felt like a small mosquito bite... Several days later, it began to ooze with clear liquid for days on end... It eventually began to hurt so bad that I could barely sit down. Finally my boyfriend convinced me to go to the emergency room. I sat and sat and sat and finally was told by the doctor that it was a regular spider bite and tht if I didn''t see any improvement within 48 hours that I should follow up with my primary doctor. 48 hours whizzed by, and still no improvement. I made an appointment with my doctor and when he saw the size of the infectious area, he could barely contain himself. It was measured at a whopping 22cm in circumference. This is when he gave me an injection in my "good" buttocks. It was a fairly new treatment, so he was not sure what was going to happen. I was bite in mid-July and here it is, August 14th, and there are no signs of reddness left. Althought, I was told to monitor my buttocks due to the simple fact that it is a "reoccuring" bite, and that eventually it will get worse again, which is what my doctor has told me countless times. He explained the surgery, and the possibility of a skin-graph, and honestly the thought of all that scares me. I was told that it was almost impossible to be bitten in New Jersey, but could still happen. This experience has definately traumatized me and my hate for spiders. Not only did I hate them before, but before I go to bed now, I have to ask my boyfriend to spray raid in the entire bedroom!! It sounds funny, until you get bit!! Thanks for letting me share my story... Wish me luck for the next few weeks...
Tara
Name: Lauren
email: nlgb63@aol.com
state: CA
ID: from symptoms
treatment: accupuncture, homeopathy, herbs
I was bitten in late July 2001. I had one bite on the back of my leg that
seemed like a mosquito bite at first, it itched alot, then became blistered
and red with a dark center. A red ring formed around it and became larger
and more inflammed each day. The ring turned white and I could see the skin was dying (necrosis). It kept getting larger until it was about 2 inches in diameter. It took about 2 weeks to go away, but it left a large crater in my
leg and the skin there was basically dead. It scared me to touch it, it was so weird. A week after the first bite, another bite appeared about 4 inches
directly below the first one. I thought that was rather strange and
coincidental, to get bit on the same leg by a spider I never saw in the first
place. It progressed exactly like the first one, only a little bit worse. A
week later, a third bite appeared on the front of the same leg. That's when
I started getting suspicious that maybe the poison and lesions were spreading from one bite, not multiple bites. During this time I also became very sick, right after the first bite. I thought I had the flu and I was having trouble breathing. After the second lesion appeared, I woke up with muscle spasms and cramping in my leg. From the time I started feeling sick, I drank 2-4 cups of Purple Lapacho tea (Pau d'Arco) plus Yerba Mate every day. (For detailed info on medicinal properties of these herbs see www.wisdomherbs.com) That's what I usually take for flu. Topically, I soaked cotton balls in the tea and also began putting Calendula liquid and gel on the lesions. I started online searches and researched the methods of treatment available from the local hospital and my doctor. These included antibiotics, cortisone/ cortisteroids, prednisone, dapsone, and sometimes surgery. None of these were acceptable to me, besides I had no insurance. I wanted something to eliminate or counteract the venom, the poison itself. I didn't want drugs that affect only symptoms, like inflammation. Besides, I've read in medical journals that the use of some of these drugs is controversial anyway. I decided to go to the doctor who had been successful in treating my son's allergies with accupuncture. The doctor said she had treated other poisonous bites, although not a BRS. (BIG leap of faith!) I had one treatment on August 14, 2001. My headache and body ache disappeared by evening, I could breathe normally and felt better in general. By yesterday, the redness/inflammation had decreased about 25%. Thanks to Somers on your website, I took homeopathic Lachesis Mutus 30x and Ledum Pal. 30x. I drink Lapacho/ Yerba Mate tea. daily.
Today, August 16, both bites have diminished in size about 50%. The red
ring, which had turned white on the second bite, is gone completely. The
first bite, which had healed but left a crater, I had been putting the
Calendula and aloe vera gel on. The crater is gone, the skin is almost
normal again. I continue to research the exact properties of this venom and the various treatments. My goal is total elimination of the venom from my system. Time will tell. I'd be happy to answer any questions. My email is nlgb63@aol.com.
Name: Eve
State: CA
BRS encounter: Doctor
treatment: CIPRO 500ML of antibiotcs/ 600to 800ml Ibuprophin
Symptoms: Swelling purpulishBLK/red/itchy hot painful
Comments: Its been a month now and i went to the doc about 1 week later . I got the Cipro 500ml antibiotics and 600 ml of I buprophin. Neosporin cream. My foot and ankle looks 3 times swollen . the sore hasnt open or ooze no real black spot but the redness and purplish area is bigger size of a coffee cup opening. the area of skin is wrinkly and now i notice a round spot the size of an eraser developing. I see doc tomorrow after being on medication for ten days. It hurts really bad especially in morinigs when i wake up although if i dont take Ibuprophin i cannot sleep the pain wakes me up. i also have sharp pain almost like a shock of electricity running through the area from time to time. I feel the docs are not taking this serious please what more shall i do? i am scared to death. everyone ask me waht in the world happen to your leg? i try to keep it elevated. but im noticing like a bruise around my ankle too. the bite started off 5 inches above my left leg. i will take a picture of it now since one moth from the time i was bitten. thank you for your site...Hope to hear from you.
Update:Eve
Hello Marla
yes i do agree i feel they took it lightly i had to push the matter. i went
to doc today and actually i had seen (nurse pratic) i requested my doc on
friday. i am having ex-rays done tomorrow to see if its deeper inside. wel i
told them how i went on the net and i was shocked to tears and depression.
and was very diappointed on the docs not trying to help us educate ourselves on the matter. I am back on 10 days of CIPRO 500ML of antibiotics and well see what happens next. But its the time thats scares me. i am taking pics of it and ill show you it . a very thin layer of skin is peeling kinda like when you get sun burned. I just hope and pray for the best but i pray for all who have to go thru this its a gamble seems like. but thank you so much for your support. i had a trip scheduled on 16 for three weeks to miami florida and cant get money back to late in the month $1500.00 and that makes things worst. but i have to do what ever i hear to do even if its another opion. One of the nurse and pharmasis said boy they needed to see what type this spider was and how it infects, so you are right most have no clue, but you think they would do a little homework on it. i mean it was me and the 13 old girl in one week so that would be alarming it seems. well i will keep you posted thanks again. Im from rialto CA 1 hr east of Losangels
Name: Lisa
State: GA
BRS encounter: self-ID; 3rd time bitten
treatment: trying to treat myself; 3 weeks into it now
Symptoms: The bright red rash has now formed into a rather neat, 3"x3" square. It itches like crazy.
Comments: Because I had "beat" two other bites, I decided to try to treat this one myself. I was doing pretty well and was rather proud that the indented purple center was healing. However, it seemed that the top healed and left the poison inside. A red area appeared, which has now formed into a 3"x3" square, and the center (about the size of a quarter) is a nasty-looking red and purple. But it is flush with the skin and not sunken.
My treatment began with tea tree oil, then epsom salt poultices (which seemed to blister the area). Then I used Benedryl cream. It did a good job drying up the area, but I began getting worried when the square area became raised and thick-feeling. I began using a tea tree oil salve which eliminated the thick, dead skin feeling but now the entire area is "weeping". As I'm watching, drops of a light-colored yellow liquid form and the area stays totally wet to the touch. I will have to go to a doctor for this one.
When I was bitten the first time, I was already on heavy antibiotics for an upper-respiratory infection. When I was diagnosed, the wound was about the size of a quarter and about a half inch deep. Pouring tea tree oil directly into the wound made for a very quick recovery and my scar is very small. The second bite must have been from a spider with little venom. The rash began and the wound started to indent, but tea tree oil worked well. Neosporin and a bandaid finished the healing.
I have not had the malaise and flu-like symptoms because I stay on high powered vitamins. I am taking larger amounts of vitamin C right now because I know this poison is trying to get the upper hand.
The girl who has the recurring problems with her hands needs to go to a vitamin store and get products that will boost her immune system. And because of my personal experience, I am a total believer in tea tree oil products. I even use a tea tree spray made for horses; the spray is also excellent for dogs and children. Our whole family uses it.
I don't have a regular doctor and was really hoping I could heal this by myself. I have an old prescription of prednizone and noticed that came up a few times in the writings of various folks. Maybe that will give me the boost I need.
I was so happy to find your web site. You have done a great service for many.
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