Personal experiences with snake or spider bites

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G'day HeadsUp,

I got bitten by something just before new years day while out bush which created a large swelling on the side of my backside at the bite sight. A few days later that swelling spread from the bite site down to my groin. The whole area around the bite was extremely itchy and hard to resist not to scratch and to get a good nights sleep. Pain killers did little to ease the itch and my wife suggested anti-histamine which I did have in the cupboard but due to its old use by date I was reluctant to take them so I continued to suffer.

A week later my wife noticed puss at the bite site so I used some Betadine cream on the bite, which was only a month over its use by date, and after the second week of this month (January) the infection and the swelling at the site down to the groin started to subside. However the urge to itch just now 21 days later is just about gone but the reddish colour at the bite site still exists with a small black scab at its centre. Even now to touch or move a piece of clothing across the site can create the urge to scratch once again.

I have been bitten several times in the past by tiny bush ticks which have produced a similar reaction BUT this reaction to this bite was the largest I have experienced so far, not so much the 3 week time period for it to subside and the itch to continue, as has my previous tick bites, but the size of the swelling at the bite site and leading down to the groin.

I can still only think this time it was from a larger tick that injected more of its toxin into me before it dropped of as I have never found a tick embedded in me but only a bite left behind with my body's reaction to it.
 
Hi Rush,

I had the same sort of reaction from a March fly bite on my lower leg. Lasted about 4 weeks and travelled up and around my leg. Finally nailed it with anti-histamines just before my good bits went under.

Well prepared this year with anti-histamines at the ready.
 
I wouldn't worry about used by date's on anti-histamines with a bite like you described Rush give them a go or get a new packet.
 
RM Outback said:
I wouldn't worry about used by date's on anti-histamines with a bite like you described Rush give them a go or get a new packet.
Click to expand...

Yes RM Outback, exactly what my wife said to me whom I should have listened too and bit the bullet or bought a new packet. I will do now in hindsight in case this happens next time after out detecting. As madtuna said the anti-histamines did the trick so will now keep them at the ready to see if they can reduce that intensive itch sensation that ticks have caused to me.

Why bush ticks only bite me then drop off is a mystery to me although they have done the same to my mates at times although some have buried themselves into them. Some of the ticks are so small, about the size of a pen dot on your skin and others larger which may have something to do with the time or season of the year.

Have read about the the so called lime disease from ticks however from the amount of tick bites that I have received over the years I have not had any of the symptoms that lime disease is supposed to cause.
 
Rush said:
RM Outback said:
I wouldn't worry about used by date's on anti-histamines with a bite like you described Rush give them a go or get a new packet.
Click to expand...

Yes RM Outback, exactly what my wife said to me whom I should have listened too and bit the bullet or bought a new packet. I will do now in hindsight in case this happens next time after out detecting. As madtuna said the anti-histamines did the trick so will now keep them at the ready to see if they can reduce that intensive itch sensation that ticks have caused to me.

Why bush ticks only bite me then drop off is a mystery to me although they have done the same to my mates at times although some have buried themselves into them. Some of the ticks are so small, about the size of a pen dot on your skin and others larger which may have something to do with the time or season of the year.

Have read about the the so called lime disease from ticks however from the amount of tick bites that I have received over the years I have not had any of the symptoms that lime disease is supposed to cause.
Click to expand...

Ticks are waiting for a warm blooded body to pass close by and drop onto it (this is called hosting) and then they generally go for a warm and/or moist spot on the body.
I did the Mt. Bushwalker track here on the South Coast a few years ago and coming back through the scrub several paralysis ticks dropped onto me and made their way to warmth and moistness, midnight that night I was in emergency having them removed and once gone, recovery was very quick. Nasty little critters.

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/walking-tracks/mount-bushwalker-walking-track
 
Just to add to the first aid kit thread, who has been bitten bitten by a snake or spider?
care to share your experience?

I have been bitten by a red back and a brown widow spider.

The red back when I was 16 yo, the brown widow around 2014/15.(in my late 40's at the time.

The brown widow - quite common here in the Darwin area. like out door furniture, dark places, like letter boxes or pool pump areas. looks like a red back , but brown. Still has a red stripe on its back. Web makes it easy to identify, has a spikey egg sack, will post some pics later.

BW got me on the way to work one morning. Checked the letter box, felt a scratch on my wrist, bit of pain, but not terrible. Thought it was a bit of tin or a screw that i rubbed up against.
Later in the morning, it became terribly itchy. I noticed that it had a red ring around it, and small blisters were forming. It was also quite wet, like it was weeping.
By lunch time it had started to swell, and was really painful to touch, and by 7pm it was like a half golf ball size and really painful.

by 9pm it I felt like I had a really bad hangover, and after a vomit, took myself off to the hospital.
The doctor informed me I had shingles.
, which i thought was just plain wrong. He wrote me a script for anti biotics, which i ignored.
Next morning, I felt much better, but the lump was still there, and it was painful to touch, and was rock hard.
I checked the letter box again, as I was waiting for a letter. It was then, i remembered the scratch the day before. I opened it and had a good look, and found the web and egg sacks. thats when i knew.
I went to my GP and he told me it was just an infection, not a spider bite. I was convinced it was a brown widow bite, and consulted Dr Google, who pretty much agreed with me.
The pain stopped later that day, but the lump remained for about 2 weeks and a red scab at the bite site lasted a little longer.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url...ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOCsu8yZxfACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url...ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOCsu8yZxfACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAK
 
Some people got a scare yesterday on there walk close to me

1620876703_image000000_5_copy_128x256.jpg
 
ive been doing it for about 12 years now and love it, my favourite to catch are browns, i love the challenge and the adrenaline hit is a blast.. i was told from when i was a kid onwards that i wasnt all there and this prob proved them right..
 
haven't had many snakes down home in Vic this year either, only 3 browns this season and all before November. First one was mid September!

We've a billabong out back thats absolutely chockers with red belly's, only ever seen one black up around the house and it was a monster too. When I saw it there was also a brown about 10 ft away, I recon they were about to have it off when I disturbed them. Both took off in different directions. They say black's will kill browns but sadly that day I never got to see if there's any truth behind it
 
youll have red bellies at the water source because they are predominantly frog eaters but will eat most things including smaller brown snakes.. Your billabong you will have 1 big resident red belly, thats a female, she will be huge, ive caught some monsters here at close to 6 1/2 ft long and about 2 1/2 to 3 inches round and the others are mainly males moving in and out looking for some loving and also food...they are amazing creatures, they might not seem like it cos theyre "snakes" but when on the hunt or eating they are brilliant to watch..as for the milking part theres labs that do it now because unless you have a licence to do something like catching its illegal to touch any snake in Australia as they are protected species..there use to be allot of farmers years ago milking taipans and death adders up this way also a lot of farmers dying from it for getting it wrong too..
 

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