Recovering from a black widow bite....

[GNguy]

Well, I got bit by a black widow spider....I would not wish this pain on anybody, it had to be the most pain filled 8 hours of my life till I got to the hospital and they drugged me the hell out. I thought I would be able to ride out the pain but after 8 hours of it just getting worse in the middle of the night....I finally went. Literally there is no break from the pain, the venom attacks your major muscle groups like your chest, entire back and legs and the chest pain can be mistaken for a heart attack. I didnt think it would have been that serious but it was horrible nonstop pain. haha oh well, better look before I put on my shirts next time...and if anyone gets bit go to the hospital immediately, trust me...

 

[KILL4PEACEUSMC]

Been There! Got nailed by one at the lake miles from from nowhere. Damn thing was in my life jacket! Here in Arizona we have em everywhere. I feel fro ya Bro! Get better!

 

[GNBRETT]

Eeeeek I hate spiders! Especially ones like that. Where do you live and what did they treat you with?

 

[GNguy]

Well, they have an antivenin but if you take it theres a possibility of breaking out in hives a few weeks after using it and I guess you can only use it once in your life or something like that. After the dr. said that to me I said i dont want it. I cant remember what they used but they put 3 bags in me with an IV. I live in California and I have found a bunch around my house...time to spray.

 

["Turbo-T"]

We had them when I lived in NC. Used to find them in some of the equipment I would work on. Never got bitten though.

Now I'm in MO and we have brown recluses.

I'm guessing you must have put on a shirt that hadn't been worn in a long time?

I did up some research on both the widow and the recluse. Neither are aggressive, and both like cool dark undisturbed areas. They have been known to also hide in your bath towels and in shoes, not to mention in clothing that hasn't been worn in quite some time.

Since then I have made it a habit to check my bath towels before drying off after a shower. Once I did find a spider in my bath towel, except it was an orb weaver. Good thing I looked before using the towel.

 

[turbojimmy]

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

If I lived where I had to check my shirts for black widow spiders I'd move. Immediately.

Jim

 

[SS_Sean]

You dont want any part of a brown recluse or a hobo...the hobo will cause your flesh to eat away!

 

[VictoryTrans86]

You dont want any part of a brown recluse or a hobo...the hobo will cause your flesh to eat away!

A couple years back my dad got bit by an unidentified spider on his leg. There was a black area the size of a baseball that literally began to decompose and rot away. It was truly horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. After a couple of minor surgeries it STILL looks disgusting

 

[Junior Samples]

Yeah that sounds like a hobo Vic,

I was cleaning out the gretes at the motorpool at Ft Sill when a BW scuried up my arm and almost got me...it was real big too, i got lucky that day

 

[turbojimmy]

You dont want any part of a brown recluse or a hobo...the hobo will cause your flesh to eat away!

Okay, add the recluse and the hobo to the list of things I don't want to have to look for in my shirts. How about anything with more than 2 legs?

There are brown recluse spiders around here. A friend of mine got bit by one in his attic. I've got A LOT of seemingly harmless spiders in my finished basement, which I tend to tolerate because they eat other bugs. I'm also told that spiders are a sign that it's not too damp down there, which is a good thing too. Some of them get pretty huge. I just put a small rodent in a squirrel trap to catch 'em and then let them outside.

Okay, they're not that big.

But I do scoop them up and let them outside. Part of letting them live is out of respect for all life, and another more important part is not having to scrape spider guts off of whatever surface I whack them on.

Jim

 

[Boost231]

man that sucks. sorry to hear this.

 

[Project TNX]

I found my first one in my area a few weeks ago clearing out some brush, they are rare up here. Son of gun squared up on me though, spooked me actually. Down at Bragg they were everywhere, we were looking at a momma with a couple hudred little baby ones, the babies are totally red, when my buddy started swatting at his neck. We all thought he was joking around.....he wasn't. He took 5 bites to the neck, the spiders on him were no bigger than a pin head, he swelled up immediately and was in the the hospital for 3 days. Upon getting back we had a night exercise and he jumped for cover right into a fire ant hill, I counted 31 bites on his arm alone...he was off to the hospital again, lol.

The black widows didn't freak me out like the recluses though, their bites are disgusting, my Sergeant got bit in his sleep and by the next morning it was a huge purple ball of puss. The bitch of it all is we all react differently, some people get by with just a bump from them, he wasn't one of them, he had a huge indent there for the entire time I knew him.

 

[notacarlo]

I found one (BW) in our families boat. Right where the rear passenger would put their sun glasses/wallet, etc. Since my wife was in the boat, and she would have given birth without being pregnant....I picked it out and quickly threw it in the water. It was stupid, yes - but I would rather get spiked by a black widow than have my wife go into hysterics.

On another note: DO NOT EVER PICK UP A BLACK WIDOW OR ANY OTHER UNIDENTIFIED SPIDER - NO MATTER HOW NUTS YOUR WIFE IS.

I'm glad you recovered well and are feeling better. I got whacked in the back of my left ear when I carelessly put on my baseball cap - which had been on the lakehouse floor all night. Not a spider, but those East Texas yellow scorpions pack a punch. It was like a wasp was repeatedly stinging me on the head for 4 hours. I check everything now. Especially the tighty whities.

 

[1chance]

Well my dad said back when they had out houses, he had a uncle the got bit on his (sack) and he died. Just this week, a girl i went to school with had her 6year old girl get bit by one, and she live to the age of 17, but she had to have dyalisis 5 days a week, and all kind of problems, she died last week.

 

[GNguy]

thanks guys, yeah it really sucked. I am happy I got bit by a black widow instead of a brown recluse....those are horrible...watch your back with nature or it will bite you in the ass.

 

[corsair231]

There was an old song by Brownsville Station called "Red Backed Spider". What I can remember of the lyrics are: "There was a red backed spider on the toilet seat last night. I didn't see her in the dark till I felt her bite." There was also a line in the chorus that said something like "I get the feeling that the cure is worse than the disease".


Anybody say something about life imitating art??


Seriously, I'm glad you're better. I don't want to tangle with any of them 8 legged creepy crawly things. My father in law loves to go to a local Chinese resturant that has octopus on the bar. I don't mess with them either.
:biggrin:

 

[Junior Samples]

There was an old song by Brownsville Station called "Red Backed Spider". What I can remember of the lyrics are: "There was a red backed spider on the toilet seat last night. I didn't see her in the dark till I felt her bite." There was also a line in the chorus that said something like "I get the feeling that the cure is worse than the disease".

Or the Whos' "Boris The Spider"..lol creepy crawly
and last but not least Alice Cooper "Black Widow"

 

[turbofabricator]

Man! I HATE spiders! I am re-doing my siding right now and tore my front deck apart for a re-build at the same time. Dang spiders EVERYWHERE!!! BIG suckers, too. Black ones, brown ones and even white/tan ones! One was about 1.5", almost big enough to eat! (I saw a show in Nationa Geo. once that showed Amazon Indians EATING HUGE 8-10" spiders roasted over the fire! ) We don't have nasty ones around here, except Brown Recluses'. Never had an issue being bit by them, though. I did break out the bug spray and let 'em have it. Glad you only had to suffer for 8 hours. We all hate hospitals, but I hate pain more.