bites that just won't quit

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else have mysterious bug bites received at Baitcon that still haven't gone away?

I haven't been scratching them, and most of them have gone away but a few are still around, and one in particular took a turn for the worse today.

I *was* using hydrocortisone or lanacaine or after bite on it (depending on what was handy) and taking benadryl at night, but last night I didn't take any benadryl, and today I discovered that it had grown even larger than before! Not cool.

I can only assume that this one isn't a mosquito bite, since I've never had a mosquito bite that looked or behaved like this. :( What else was biting this summer at Baitcon?

Comments

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Tics, fleas, mosquitos and spiders - including black widows and brown recluses, at a minimum were biting, maybe ants, too.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

Did you or anyone else actually see black widows or brown recluses? The caretakers have never seen them around the site and would like to know.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

On that site, no not actually seen, but i have seen them in nearby Mass, and know them to be indigenous to the region. Had anyone been bitten by either variety, we certainly would know by now, especially for the recluse.

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

Somewhat thankfully, you'd almost certainly know about a widow bite as well. Speaking from personal experience, they are hard to ignore (narcotics are often needed to control pain), even though the cause may not be immediately apparent. So unless anyone had intense pain and muscle cramps lasting for a short while after the bite, you're probably all set on that issue :^)

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Good to know, thanks for the info; i'd never read anything about widow bites.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

Please see a doctor to be sure it is not a tick bite! See previous post on the Baitcon LJ about possible ticks/Lyme Diseases.

I got a few spider bites.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

I will probably see a doctor if it doesn't go down at least a little -- and I will mention the ticks concern. But I sincerely doubt it is a tick bite -- I was inspected Saturday night and again Tuesday, and no ticks were found. In addition, the really irritated one is on my breast where it is highly visible to me and anyone who likes breasts, since I tend to wear cleavage bearing clothes. I doubt a tick would have been missed. ;)

BTW, truthspeaker's tick was analysed and found to not be carrying Lyme Disease.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

I can verify that no ticks were found. I myself had a couple of mosquito bites that lasted a couple of days, so that could be it.

[elusiveat.livejournal.com]

Ticks don't tend to let go once they bite. I think it's unlikely to be a tick bite.

[atricilla.livejournal.com]

...until they have their fill (a few days later), whereupon they drop off. (Like the one I found behind my knee, which dropped off in the few minutes I took to madly search for tweezers & alcohol with which to remove it. I am still sure it was a tick, and a too-small-to-be-a-wood tick, at that. FWIW, yes, I did the antibiotic routine just in case.)

Then again, if the bite was in as prominent a location as is described, I doubt it was a tick. I vote for a spider, I had a line of bites a few weeks ago that itched madly for a couple weeks. There's still a mark where they were, but no itchies now.

[mytheria.livejournal.com]

I got a spider bite that is just now going down (I know it's a spider because I instinctively smacked it flat when I felt it)

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Did it hurt, or just itch?

[mytheria.livejournal.com]

sort of in between. It was a tender, and itchy/burning area about the size of a quarter on the back of my thigh. Might've gone down sooner if I wasn't sitting on it.

[nacht_musik]

I'm not a doctor, but a bite that gets more inflamed a week after the initial biting sounds like an infection. I'd get yourself to a clinic soon, especially if it gets even bigger.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

possibly too late, but can't hurt: swab a cotton ball with ammonia, and apply, hold in place a few minutes. cover. wait.

get something like "clearly calagel" (3 in one: pain, antihistimine, antiseptic), and try that. keep an eye on it, keep it covered so you don't itch it. pat it. not better in 2-3 days on the magic gel? tell a doctor.

it might not hurt, depending, to take an oral anti-histimine.

things that were biting there for sure, none of this FUD stuff:

o black flies
o mosquitoes
o horse flies - the large black kind
o yellow/black biting fly - small, slow, stupid, but hurt
o gnats/noseeums - your general purpose hurt and swell dudes...

o "sweat bee" - a biting fly, don't know the proper name, but they can leave quarter sized welts from their anticoagulants. hates them the most. generally the worst of the bunch.

if you were unlucky enough to get visited by a spider, well, that would suck. keep especial close attention to it.

you probably weren't bit by anything else obvious like a bee, hornet, wasp, etc - you'd have noticed.

there are other cuplrits as well, some less obvious, but i'll guess you weren't swimming or ...

and of course, i'm not a doctor jim, but i'm old and gotten bit, and take care of my own self, so, just my thoughts. your doctor isn't your final word either ;) but legally, well, they have the powers ;)

#

[lionessprite.livejournal.com]

I got stung by a particularly vicious little black ant - I saw it do the deed, no less. It caused a half-dimed-size welt on the back of my hand, which lingers still (and I take anti-allergy meds daily anyhows). Noticing, and digging out, the stinger (or mandibles, or whatever it was) helped a lot.

I could just be independently allergic to this ant. Or the toxin could be similar to that of bees, etc., which I am known to be non-systemically (thank goodness) allergic too.

[babasyzygy.livejournal.com]

The current theory we're working with is that it's chiggers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiggers).

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Benjamin (my three year old) had what looked like quite a few pretty nasty bug bites, but they are almost gone now.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Haven't looked at the other comments so pardon if this is a reapeat:

Go see a doc and get checked for lymes. NOW!

As someone who's had lymes and deals with the consequences every day, I recommend that you get checked. Remember, the tests aren't 100% accurate. There can be false positives and negatives. Get tested once and then again 6 weeks later and another 6 after that. If the tests suggest lymes, go get antibiotics.

[skreeky]

My husband's bites from Baitcon got very infected (he has a nasty habit of scratching when it itches) and have required not only topical antibiotic ointment but also a course of oral antibiotics.

Good luck!

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I didn't go to Baitcon, but a coworker of mine did. He just turned up positive for Lyme disease. Hie yourself to a doctor and have them test you for Lyme disease! Even now isn't too late.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up, and please thank your coworker for me. I'm back from the clinic where they took my blood. I won't get the results for another week or two, but hopefully my weird splotches had nothing to do with tick bites!