Spider bite?

[missyc]

Help...I have a stubborn husband who won't go to the doctor.
Yesterday he was bit by something that left 2 small bite marks. Red and sort of like little hives. His right arm went numb (only partially now) and his back is killing him. No other symptoms that he has told me of.
We don't have insurance and being Sat night the only option is the E.R.
Now he just says he doesn't think these things are from the bite. Maybe just from work.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what might cause this? Some sort of spider or something?
I'm doing a search, thought if I find something specific I'll have more luck getting him to go to the Dr.

Thanks for any info.

Men can be so stubborn! LOL

 

[Simba's Mom]

Do you have the brown recluse spider in your part of the country. Those bite and are extremely lethal. Also, I'd be concerned about possibly your DH having an allergic reaction.

 

[Leota]

Brown Recluse was my first thought too. They can be extremely lethal. He really should get to the ER stat. You do have BR spiders there. A friend of mine, who also is a Floridian, was bit by a BR & was lucky not to lose his hand from it. It wasn't pretty by any means. He was very, very sick.....even tho he did go to the ER....
It was scary.

 

[missyc]

That was my thought too. We do have them. In fact were just out looking at some new BRS egg sacks on our house.
The symptoms I read were things like fever, nausea, vomiting, etc. He doesn't have any of that. Which is why I think he just wants to ignore it!
Hmmmm..................

I'm still searching for something that would cause his exact symptoms to show him and get him to go.

 

[doxdogy]

DH was bitten by a brown recluse years ago on his side. The bite area wasn't pretty. The bite can definitely be lethal and it made him one sick puppy. Luckily he went to the doctor and they were able to treat the bite.

 

[missyc]

Originally posted by missyc
That was my thought too. We do have them. In fact were just out looking at some new BRS egg sacks on our house.
The symptoms I read were things like fever, nausea, vomiting, etc. He doesn't have any of that. Which is why I think he just wants to ignore it!
Hmmmm..................

I'm still searching for something that would cause his exact symptoms to show him and get him to go.

Oops, they aren't Brown Recluse egg sacks, they're Black Widow eggs.
Much better!

 

[Angelrose]

Please get him to the ER tonight. His arm going numb is not good in any case. It could even be a tick bite. Don't delay. My husband came within hours of dying because of a tick bite last year.

 

[MerryPoppins]

My MIL had a bad bite from a Brown Recluse a few years ago. She almost died. I don't remember her having nausea. It did something to her blood and she had to have transfusions. She was in the hospital for a number of days. Spider bites are nothing to mess around with. If in doubt, I'd head for the hospital.

 

[phamton]

Everything I am finding shows that brown recluse doesn't live in Florida.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html
http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJvol5num2/special/recluse.html
http://spiders.ucr.edu/myth.html

And this:
http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/spiders/brown_recluse_spider.htm
The brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa , is frequently reported in Florida as a cause of necrotic lesions in humans.

Several hundred Florida spiders submitted for identification by the public, and only one specimen (the Bay County record) proved to be a brown recluse spider. In addition, I have seen thousands of Florida spiders submitted by professional biologists and inspectors, with only the few specimens mentioned above proving to be members of the genus Loxosceles. It appears obvious to me that the chance of interaction between brown recluse spiders and people in Florida is close to nil, agreeing with Vetter's (2000) assessment of reported brown recluse bites outside the natural range of the spider. Medical personnel should, therefore, consider a multitude of more likely causes (see below) before diagnosing and treating a necrotic wound as a brown recluse bite.

The brown recluse spider is not an established species in Florida, but physicians have misdiagnosed its bites. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida (USA)

 

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by missyc
Help...I have a stubborn husband who won't go to the doctor.
Yesterday he was bit by something that left 2 small bite marks. Red and sort of like little hives. His right arm went numb (only partially now) and his back is killing him. No other symptoms that he has told me of.
We don't have insurance and being Sat night the only option is the E.R.
Now he just says he doesn't think these things are from the bite. Maybe just from work.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what might cause this? Some sort of spider or something?
I'm doing a search, thought if I find something specific I'll have more luck getting him to go to the Dr.

Thanks for any info.

Men can be so stubborn! LOL

those could be symptoms of a heart attack, I'd get him to a Dr.

 

[ZachnElli]

I was going to say, sounds like a black widow! Have you been able to talk him into seeing a doctor yet? I hope so!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by missyc
Oops, they aren't Brown Recluse egg sacks, they're Black Widow eggs.
Much better!

That's what I was going to suggest. They aren't nearly as deadly as BR, but can cause numbness, paralysis, even in an adult. I talked to a woman once who was bitten by a BW, and the hospital (after she finally went in-like your hubby) told her there was an antivenom, but they only give it to children and old people? Why???

She said she had been gardening and it bit her. I told her that she probably needed to use those high yellow rubber household gloves from now on, and she said that's what she had been using!! I would hire a gardener after that incident.

Don't brown recluse bites "kill" the tissure surrounding the bite until the whole area is "dead"? Oh, I'm getting queasy...

 

[lightningcoach]

Unless he was lifting something heavy I would get him checked out. I thought heart problem too. My DH recently came back from camping and they had major tick problems. And in Florida ticks carry lyme disease. Not a pretty thing.

 

[elemusing]

Hey -

This is weird cause I was just going to do a search on this. BUT to clarify - I don't have any numbness in my arm or anything!

When we went on vacation earlier this summer, we stopped at a road stop in AL. I got bit by something there on my pinky. I made two small welts and had two very clear bite marks. It itched like crazy and swelled up with two bumps. It went away after a week.

Well, now I have the exact same thing on my right forearm. I have never seen anything like it. Two distinct places side by side and itchy and swollen. I don't think they are spider bites, though. I think spider bites usually begin to rot the skin, no just swell up?

Well, if anyone has any other explanation, please let us know!

Thanks!
Angie

 

[meandtheguys2]

My bil had something similar, and did wind up infected and with blood poisoning. I know you will keep a close eye on it. Best thoughts,

Michele