Brown Recluse Bite

[khd]

We've been seeing them for years in my house but never really paid attention untill about 3-4 years ago when I caught a large one and decided to look it up in the sider book...yep recluse. This summer we have caught 3 more so my wife got a little spooked and started an e-mail conversation with an entomolgy professor at UCLA who is a recluse expert. He jumped up and down saying there are no recluses in Michigan and if it was one then it would be an extremely rare event.

Well, they continued to exchange e-mail and she sent him a picture taken through the glass of the jar. He said ...maybe and could actually be a mediterranian recluse which is more "whorish" in its movements. While all this dialogue was going on we caught two more. When they all died about a month ago she boxed them up and sent them to him. Got an e-mail a couple of days later confirming that they were indeed all mature male brown recluses. He is now preparing them for submission to the American Museum of Natural History in NY. He is now wanting us to send a live specimen to him.

Breaking News.....

Wife got up about a half hour ago and called me to the bathroom....sure enough a little one in the corner. Its now in the jar.

Been here for 15 years and thinking back over the years and knowing what I know now we have always had them. No one has ever been bit. My BIL owns his own pest control business and says he would move and we're all going to die...(LOL). He has lined up a guy to come in with some heavy duty stuff to go into the crawl and eridicate everything but I am not sure I want to kill off an extremely rare "colony" of them.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[bill177]

"extremely rare colony" of them????

You have been there 15 years and no one got bitten???

Luck!!!!!

I would not think twice about the safety of my family. The spiders would be killed off immediately.

You might as well be bedding down in a snake den that is filled with radio active gas while planning your next meal of raw spinach.

My family comes first - ALWAYS!

So much for my rant!

 

[MDM]

The wound appears to be healing slowly. It looks like I will have some sort of abcess once the scab falls off. Swelling is going down a little each day, and the redness does not seem to be as intense. The antibiotics seem to be working as I am on my 4th dose. I'm glad too, because I was going to have to go on an IV if it didn't show improvement by tomorrow.

I usually stay out of the woods during bow season after I set up my stands until around November 1st. I'm going to spray around our basement and set off some bug bombs when we leave for vacation in a few weeks. My wife has always been petrified of spiders, but they never bothered me. Now, I will probably be swatting hysterically at them. I will let you guys know if things are better in the morning.

 

[IslandTractor]

The antibiotics are actually for prophylaxis not primary treatment of spider bites. If there is necrotic tissue due to the venom then the skin is more susceptible to bacterial invasion and that is why the doctor put you on antibiotics. Bactrim is not typically used in this setting as it has no real activity against streptococcus ("the flesh eating bacteria" and has no advantage over the more commonly used cefazolin (Keflex) or dicloxacillin. It is two antibiotics as you point out but they are two antibiotics that work on the exact same bacterial pathway so it is no broader coverage than the other single antibiotics for something like this. No problem so long as the lesion is healing and you don't see an expanding area of redness or general worsening. If you do then revisit your doctor without delay.

 

[1bush2hog]

MDM -

I would urge you to seek a second or third opinion, if indeed you do suspect a brown recluse bite. Many, I repeat MANY medical doctors have no experience with treating BR spider bites. You may also want to go to a dermatologist too -

BR Spider bites seem to effect people differently, but do have common symptoms. I was one of the lucky bite victims based on some of the cases I saw and read about. It took several months for the original bite area to heal, however, periodically, I had several areas surface on different parts of my body that seemed to emulate the original bite for a couple of years thereafter.

People have suffered significant pain and loss resulting from these BR Spider bites. I would urge everyone on this board to educate yourself as much as possible on everything about these spiders. Arm yourself, your family, and friends with awareness and information on how to avoid the areas these spiders inhabit and how to recognize them.

You will not kill all of them - No matter how much you spray - Don't kid yourself.

 

[ducati996]

We've been seeing them for years in my house but never really paid attention untill about 3-4 years ago when I caught a large one and decided to look it up in the sider book...yep recluse. This summer we have caught 3 more so my wife got a little spooked and started an e-mail conversation with an entomolgy professor at UCLA who is a recluse expert. He jumped up and down saying there are no recluses in Michigan and if it was one then it would be an extremely rare event.

That teachers sound like a jerk - they are all over the place including Long Island new york....How they got here is anybodys guess but just like any non-native species they hitched a ride and now established themselves here. They are here, and I would immediately think with a high degree of certainty that they would be in Michigan.

As for living with them peacefully? just search the net on the horror stories...all spiders must die - no quarter for spiders here LOL

 

[1bush2hog]

I hear the bitten area will rot and cause a "crator" in your flesh.

I have a "crater" on the side of my thigh from the bite.

The problem with BR spider bites - there is no antivenom

 

[MDM]

The antibiotics are actually for prophylaxis not primary treatment of spider bites. If there is necrotic tissue due to the venom then the skin is more susceptible to bacterial invasion and that is why the doctor put you on antibiotics. Bactrim is not typically used in this setting as it has no real activity against streptococcus ("the flesh eating bacteria" and has no advantage over the more commonly used cefazolin (Keflex) or dicloxacillin. It is two antibiotics as you point out but they are two antibiotics that work on the exact same bacterial pathway so it is no broader coverage than the other single antibiotics for something like this. No problem so long as the lesion is healing and you don't see an expanding area of redness or general worsening. If you do then revisit your doctor without delay.

So what antibiotic is typically prescribed for streptococcus?

 

[dancer]

I was bitten by a BR about 25 years ago in the web between the two middle fingers of my left hand. I was alone miles away from civilization on top of the Uncompagre Plateau in western Colorado. By the time I was able to drive myself back to an emergency room, my arm was swelled to "twice its size" and I feared I would lose it. Turned out the direct effects were fairly shortlived and now I can't even find a scar.

But the indirect effects from the antibiotics that I was prescribed were severe and I am reminded of that every day. The treatment eliminated all of the necessary beneficial bacteria in my gut and life was very unpleasant for weeks with unrelenting diarrhea. Yogurt with active cultures of bacteria was the only food I could eat comfortably, and you will want to start doing that now if you haven't already. The longest term effect, though, was that I developed lactose intolerance which persists to this day.

Ask your doctor's advice about protecting yourself from unwanted effects of antibiotics, if possible.

 

[Bird]

I was bitten by a BR about 25 years ago in the web between the two middle fingers of my left hand.

About 50 years ago, my paternal grandmother, who wasn't afraid of almost anything, killed a spider on the wall in her house with just her hand. It turned out to be a black widow that bit her in the web between the two middle fingers of her right hand. When that hand started to swell and hurt, she took the spider in a jar with her to the doctor. She thought for awhile she might lose that hand, but eventually recovered. However, she had a marble sized knot almost like an extra knuckle on that hand the rest of her life.