Anyone know about spiders - one bit me

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Jenny Green
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cevenol jardin wrote:Thanks Peter - that sounds like something we should have in the house in case of emergencies - if we have friends visiting who have anaphylatic responses to bees or whatever.
The symptoms your link gives:
The classic symptoms of anaphylaxis include hives, swelling around the eyes or mouth, and difficulty breathing or swallowing.

: are not ones i had thank goodness

I will find a doctor and go if the wound starts to look any worse though. Lavender oil and a frozen tea towl is doing the trick this evening.


You still need to be careful CJ. Anaphylactic shock often occurs on the 2nd exposure, not the first, so you could now be primed for a worse reaction next time.
I speak from experience. I'm allergic to mangoes (yes, I know :roll: ). Initially I just got itchy, now my entire head swells up. I terrify young children, so it could be useful, but not worth the discomfort to be honest!
Seriously, seek advice.
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Diane
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Blimey! Just reading this has made me itchy all over :shock:

Here, in Dorset, we used to have a little fly called 'the Blandford Fly'. It used to appear in the spring and bite people on the ankle if they were gardening, or worse still, if they were bending to weed then folk were bitten on the neck and face (it could only fly 18" high). It caused immense swelling, pain and fever.

It was around for many years and rumour was that it was a mutant which had been bred by scientists and had escaped and was living along river banks and had migrated into garden ponds. The 'folk in charge of river banks' sprayed the local river banks every spring for many years and now it seems to have disappeared. Many people were hospitalized in Dorset every spring.

....scratch, scratch, itch, itch ....
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Deb P
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Just reading all of this, it reminds me very much of the horsefly thread we had last year; my bite was horrendous and ended up black around the edges....wonder if it could have been....?
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sue-the-recycler
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When I lived in the Hebrides we had a particulary nasty little fly the local called 'clecks' They looked like horse flys. One year so many people in one village were bitten and ended up with realy nasty septic wounds and other gruesum reactions the local Dr organised an public health investigation. It turned out to be a horde of these flys had started life on a dead sheep found in a peat bog near the village. The fly was a native, it seemed to have picked up and carried whatever had killed the sheep - :shock: So sometimes things that are usually no more than irritating can get nasty. Sheep was disposed of and after a few weeks the 'plauge' went away.
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cevenol jardin
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Just back from the pharmacy - the lady was bit a gruff poked my leg till it hurt and proclaimed its a bite and packed me off with some noxious hydrocortisone cream.

Not too keen to use it as it clearly states not to put it on broken skin. Wound seems to be ok - rubbing a bit of aloe on it instead.

Deb - you can clearly see two puncture markes at the centre of the welt (made by the fangs of the spider i guess - yuk) did yours have any marks.

Will go to the doc if it is not looking better after the weekend. As some spiders can cause tissue death at or around the bite. So i'll keep an eye on it.
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Johnboy
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Hi CJ,
I do not want to alarm you but I suspect that it was a snake that bit you especially as it was on your leg. I actually knelt on a Grass Snake as i was getting down to do some weeding and as I put my arm forward I was bitten on the inside of the forearm.
Luckily it was a Grass Snake as we have Adders as well. My wife was bitten several times by large spiders but this has always been in the hands and arms and once on her neck. Snakes are unseen and they defend themselves when you tread on them. In undergrowth you may never see the snake.
I feel you should consult a Doctor or go to a Hospital for advice.
JB.
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cevenol jardin
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That is what i thought at first JB but my neighbour, who is an old cevenol, and knows these parts pretty well said categorically spider not snake. It didn't even occur to me a spider could make such bite on a human. The stuff i was clearing was waist height and some of the webs about were funnel shaped 40cm tall so a spider could have been that high. I was pulling and dragging armfulls of undergrowth so i could have given one a fright or hurt it.
I was out today in trousers with elasticated bottoms, not that i am paranoid you understand. I am sure i'll be back to normal in a week or so. :)
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Johnboy
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Hi CJ,
Well that is a relief. I hope you leg is progressing well with the treatment that you decided to use.
Where I got bitten by a snake is still visible and it is all of 20 years ago.
Today I can use my right hand so am typing a bit quicker. Still very sore though.
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Deb P
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cevenol jardin wrote:Just back from the pharmacy - the lady was bit a gruff poked my leg till it hurt and proclaimed its a bite and packed me off with some noxious hydrocortisone cream.

Deb - you can clearly see two puncture markes at the centre of the welt (made by the fangs of the spider i guess - yuk) did yours have any marks.



My horsefly bites also left two small marks in the center of the bite! Could be you know.... :shock:
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peter
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After my sons rugby tour last weekend, theme pirates, I now have, surplus to requirements, a wooden leg .......... :twisted:
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cevenol jardin
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Ah Deb - since when can a horsefly make two holes - i think you may have been ....wince yuk bit by a spider.

Cheers Peter - hope i won't be needing it :evil:
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Deb P
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Horseflies have a pair of mandibles that puncture the skin....see below, they are charming little critters...

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur ... n%26sa%3DN
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TonyF
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Hi Cevenol

I'm just down the road from you in the Dolrdogne and I'm covered in the bloody things. I've been working on two gardens which have a lot of leaf debris in them and the varmints seem to love laying in wait for any passing leg. Also, there seems to be a load of particularly vicious horseflies and ants around which also give a nasty bite.

It's too hot to garden in anything but shorts so have my legs out for the forseeable, no option when it's 30 plus for most of the day.

I'm using tea tree cream but I'm now seriously thinking of getting one of those sucky out things from my pharmacie - can use them for all sorts of bites and stings, sort of a small vacuum pump which gets the spider and any other sort of venom out.

Regards

TonyF 24220
TonyF

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cevenol jardin
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Criky they sound dread as well. But i couldn't find a picture of a bite - sounds like they cut a hole in the flesh. Did you see the horse fly bite you?
The main difference sounds like you feel it immediately with a horse fly and later with a spider.
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TonyF
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Much later usually, when I get warm at night. The itching and pain is so bad it has actually kept me awake or woken me up three nights this week.

I'm seeing my generaliste next week so will see whether he can recommend anything but tomorrow will have a chat with the pharmacist.
TonyF

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