Please help bitten and dont know what could caused it

[Godly]

So not sure if this is appropriate here in this forum but I recently was bitten by an unknown spider or some sort of insect. Ive seen a spider in my room once before months ago that maybe the culprit it had a red bands on its cephlathorax and a black background and hairy body all I can remember also it was about 2in at the time I saw it. It was over 4-5 months ago when I discovered it randomly one night when I was watering my b. emilia but it looked like a funnel spider but with red bands or triangle square or some sort of shape hard to remember but clearly was not a widow or a spider I recognized at all haven't seen anything exactly like it yet. I tried to get a picture but it moved very quickly which bothered me. Haven t seen it since but have noticed since I went on a 2 week trip that a horizontal web was made in a undisturbed corner in my room where a lot of mayflies were caught. I had my window open and I grow carnivorous plants which require lots of water which they must have bread and got out of control while I was gone. I vacuumed immediately and try to clean the area but the first night back I was bit three times on my right hand which caused enough pain and itchy to wake me up and I slept in a different room. Upon waking noticed three bite marks one had what looked like two puncture wounds while the rest looked like mosquito bites. I thought nothing of it they had minor swelling like a typical mosquito bites but the two puncture wound had a white center but only itched very badly. On day 2(today 7/2/2013) upon waking up my hand swelled up immensely and had a traveling swelling up my arm running closely to brachial artery line all the way up to my arm pit which all kept getting more swollen but no pain, cramping, no functions affected except for insane itching fatigue and headache the last two symptoms developed today. Went to physician which did not know the cause or what to do gave antibiotics injection in my arse and oral medication(clindamycin 300mg) both of which have not done anything to the site. Asking if anyone is familiar with this or maybe an allergic reaction to a bite of some sort waiting couple more hours before heading to ER. Again if anyone can help it would be great hopefully I'm not about to lose my arm or something.
I know it doesnt help that I cant ID the spider or what caused it but any advice will help Im fairly certain its a spider of some sort. Most recent are the ones with permanent marker.

 

[Godly]

I live in north USA in minnesota and dont really have any pests or seen any brown recluses, widows, or any other typical dangerous spiders around area or house even. Any other information I can give to help will be done.

 

[The Snark]

The red streak means it has gone systemic. Travelling up the veins towards the heart. IE, GET YOUR HINEY TO AN ER NOW! As for what the cause is, it more resembles an active angry bacterial infection than a bite. Staph, Cat bite fever (Pastuerella Multocida) or similar.

Nomenclature. It MAY be a bite, but the symptoms aren't specific to a venom. The concern is cellulitus, lymph system involvement, and potential blood poisoning (the red streak). These are all indicative of a bacterial infection. Bacterial infections with these symptoms are MUCH WORSE and MORE LIFE THREATENING. Be prepared to get a massive dose of broad spectrum antibiotic(s) IV and a possible stay in the hospital.
You have no symptoms of an allergic reaction. Spider bites do not, as a rule, go systemic like that. What is missing, and what is going to make it hard to diagnose, is lack of indicators at the site of injury such as pus. The only spider bite that comes to mind that would possibly resemble your symptoms is phoneutria and they just aren't happening in your neck of the woods.

 

[Godly]

As I feared.... it has only gotten bigger as well. Im off to the ER wish me luck mates Ill report later if they find the cause of it.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

As I feared.... it has only gotten bigger as well. Im off to the ER wish me luck mates Ill report later if they find the cause of it.

You need a big shot of antibiotics. Best to you.

 

[Godly]

Well blood work came back normal they are running more tests I'm being ived fluids steroid cream and peptin Claritin visceral. Nurse practitioner didn't know what it could be their contacting infectus disease control to see if their doc's can help. Also I was in Argentina for two weeks that's when I returned I got bit so maybe something came with. One suggestion was chagaswhich is like the kissing bug but my face isn't swollen and eyes. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[The Snark]

Sounds like you brought home a tropical disease or infection. Fingers crossed. Last I heard they have only fully identified about 15% of the estimated tropical diseases. I'm glad that they haven't moved to the flagyl augmentin cocktail. That in itself is promising.

 

[The Snark]

If you would, and please don't think of it as idle morbid curiosity, could you toss an update our way every now and then? A friend of mine, a physician of many years, has gone back to school studying tropical/3rd world diseases and he hounds me constantly for field reports. And BTW, am really hoping it isn't chagas.

 

[Smokehound714]

Looks like a spider bite, to me. looks like inflammation caused by a swollen lymph node, which is VERY common with any sort of spider bite.

dont take my word for it, though. I could be wrong.

---------- Post added 07-04-2013 at 02:09 AM ----------

Looks like a spider bite, to me. looks like inflammation caused by a swollen lymph node, which is VERY common with any sort of spider bite.

dont take my word for it, though. I could be wrong.

 

[tODDski]

I am a MD whom usually works in 3rd World Countries - I donate my time and degree. With the info and pics that you've given, I will say almost without a doubt that you have Chagas. I've seen thousands of Chagas cases. Good news is, you're still in the acute phase; at least, from what I've seen. You need to contact the CDC immediately if your physician hasn't. Only they have the vaccine in the US.

 

[Smokehound714]

I highly doubt it is trypanosomiasis. While it looks similar, with the red line, I doubt it's chagas, because the symptoms would be far worse.

There is no such thing as a vaccine for chagas disease, considering trypanosomiasis is a parasitic infestation, and not a viral infection.

You sure you're an MD? or are you a webMD, instead?

 

[tODDski]

I highly doubt it is trypanosomiasis. While it looks similar, with the red line, I doubt it's chagas, because the symptoms would be far worse.

There is no such thing as a vaccine for chagas disease, considering trypanosomiasis is a parasitic infestation, and not a viral infection.

You sure you're an MD? or are you a webMD, instead?

You should read more, the vaccine was developed this year. Igor C. Almeida, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences, has developed a fully protective vaccine against the parasite that causes the disease – Trypanosoma cruzi or T. cruzi.

 

[Smokehound714]

Forgive my ignorance regarding this matter. Vaccines are useless when you have symptoms already.


Still aint chagas, though

 

[Godly]

Well after a night in the ED getting pumped with fluids and bunch of antibiotics they never were able to determine what caused the problem or what it could be besides a bacterial infection. My entire arm still itches like hell but inflammation has gone down and the creeping red line has stopped creeping which has made me less worried thankfully. It was 4 fingers away from auxilla(arm pit) which is a danger zone for obvious reasons. I have couple of follow ups coming up in couple days here with infectious disease control and more doctors. The cellulitis has gone down but very slowly my hand is still pretty swollen looking and has even spread a little past the lines but not up my arm. The medication they gave me is a muscle relaxer and antihistamine so Ive been extremely fatigued these past days reason I haven't been updating even today been pretty hard to do normal activities. Ive been trying to spot the culprit but still no luck it may have just been a mosquito carrying some sort of aggressive bacteria? Just a hypothesis still. Overall Ive been recovering but still feeling weak and crappy as hell my arm itches like crazy and all the medication must have helped even though it didnt feel like it.

Also they went over chagas with the infectious disease doctor who reviewed where we went over Argentina which certain areas did have bad outbreaks of chagas and malaria but lucky I would be very very very sick if I had either of those and if I had symptoms that strong that quickly more then likely I would be a dead man. Basically they said if it came out that pronounced its a bad sign. Also only way to cure it is to catch it early and fight it with a beneficial bacteria or some sort my mother explained it she is native to Argentina.

On a side note Ive noticed my B.Emilia has been standing on her tippy toes if that means anything which is quite strange behavior.

I also appreciate the concern and advice y'all gave. I'm still kinda concerned about sleeping in my room now I sleep in a different room far far away.

 

[Roktman]

I hope all goes well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[The Snark]

Well, it sounds like a bacterial infection. Actually, your symptoms are identical to when I got a cat bite. I was fortunate in a way that they were able to extract and culture some pus. It still took around 7 days for them to get it down to the exact bacteria. In your case they may never find out I guess as you are responding well to the presently used AB.

Providing it's bacterial here's what you probably can expect. The red streak will just fade, The cellulitis will become more diffuse and spread a bit more but will become thinner. The farking itching can take weeks to go away but hopefully it will be sooner. That's actually anaphylaxis which can remain until every last bit of the symptoms are gone and the cause eliminated. The rest of the symptoms just fade away, usually in a 2 to 3 week time line at the most. Am really glad symptoms are in regression. Please keep us posted?
PS Cute critter.

PPS I'll give you a black comedy anecdote here. After I had the cat bite 8 hours later it was one angry intensely sore infection. I went to the ER. At the time I was a nurses aid at that ER as well as a paramed ambulance attendant that used that hospital. Anyway, the infection was really angry, cellulitis 12 hours after bite. Red streak. Whole arm in agony. They had me check in and loaded me with antibiotics IV push. Well, the kicker was the doc didn't clue the lab about the mechanism of injury. So the lab spent 3 days just coming back with gram negative. After a week in the hospital it finally came back Pastuerella Multocida. Their broad spectrum ABs had knocked the infection down a bit and I wanted out of that place. I mean, up in that docs face LET ME OUT!
Well, the doc didn't know me. He was an E.N.T. the ER usually never had contact with. He wants me to stay for another 10 days on the specific antibiotic. Fark that feces. I dragged my arse down to the ER to my favorite doc and told him my predicament. He had the nurse call social services and the big mama of SS and the QA queen of the place arranged my discharge.

You see, some docs schedule procedures and stays in the hospital according to the patients insurance policy. That's where the QA department comes in. The insurance abuse docs tend to walk on eggshells around them. This doc knew my insurance carrier was solid gold as it was the hospitals and his practices carrier. PFFTB! Anyways the ER doc literally had the nurses load me up with an armful of IV sets and the antibiotic and sent me on home. Nothing quite like do it yourself repair job. Better than another 10 days staring at the ceiling down on the floor.

 

[Godly]

Ha I work in the healthcare field so I completely understand most of these doctors and can predict usually how they will respond. One of the only benefits for working at the hospital. When I was a child I had a cat bite that got infected as well didn't quite let it get a red streak but I went to ED within 4-5hrs of being bit I had extreme fatigue and had to stay there for about 5 days. Reason why I could relate to the cat bite but I knew for a fact that this wasn't one.

Also seems like you know quite a bit of what your talking about which is very appreciate consulting my mother whom which is a doctor as well just loves to let her imagination go and more or less freak me out loves to blame the plants I keep and the lovely critters that I love the most for the problem.

Updates will be coming when I know more.

 

[tODDski]

Well guys you make some valid points about healthcare, which is why when I became financially independent - I started doing what I want with my doctorate. The bureaucracy at hospitals is a bunch of poo these days.

To the vaccine comment - the vaccine in this case will stop further outbreaks down the road. Similar to shingles after chickenpox.

To the epidemiology point - you don't have to be in an out broken region with Chagas to get infected. Basic epidemiology can explain this.

To the symptoms - everyone has a different reaction to Chagas. Some die, some barely get sick, and some almost die; however, like I said before, I've seen thousands of Ghagas cases. The reason there's no puss, most likely, is because, the bacterial infection is Chagas. Modern antibiotics would have you in a different state right now for a common bacterial infection.

In the end, blood work will provide then necessary answers. From what I've seen in your pics, the info you gave, and the more recent info (Docs/PAs not knowing) it seems like Chagas. You're a healthy American living in America - far different than living in a 3rd world.

All the best guy

 

[The Snark]

Well guys you make some valid points about healthcare, which is why when I became financially independent - I started doing what I want with my doctorate. The bureaucracy at hospitals is a bunch of poo these days.

To the vaccine comment - the vaccine in this case will stop further outbreaks down the road. Similar to shingles after chickenpox.

To the epidemiology point - you don't have to be in an out broken region with Chagas to get infected. Basic epidemiology can explain this.

To the symptoms - everyone has a different reaction to Chagas. Some die, some barely get sick, and some almost die; however, like I said before, I've seen thousands of Ghagas cases. The reason there's no puss, most likely, is because, the bacterial infection is Chagas. Modern antibiotics would have you in a different state right now for a common bacterial infection.

In the end, blood work will provide then necessary answers. From what I've seen in your pics, the info you gave, and the more recent info (Docs/PAs not knowing) it seems like Chagas. You're a healthy American living in America - far different than living in a 3rd world.

All the best guy

http://newsuc.utep.edu/index.php/research-news/793-biologist-develops-chagas-disease-vaccine
I cannot verify that site as the country I am in has been blacklisted by them.

tODDski, with all due respect, your claim to be a physician places me in an uncomfortable position. As such you are an irrefutable authority which I cannot dispute from my professional positions that place me firmly under your authority. However, I would ask you to please keep in mind, the physicians authority has been sorely abused on a myriad of occasions.*
Be all that as it may, your opinion is indeed valid and the OP should relay it to the medical authorities he is seeing to wit, OP, a physician with field experience has tentatively diagnosed Chagas and your medical providers should follow up accordingly.

*As example, a licensed physician ordering me to release his neck when I was restraining his range of motion as a human C collar. The fact that he had a forcible trauma, a fall off a bicycle, and a fractured clavicle was irrelevant to him. The fact that he had an LOC of 5 minutes and his area of expertise being an endocrinologist fortunately gave me temporary superseding authority that possibly prevented his later discovered C2fx from compounding the injury. It never ceases to amaze me how often competent licensed physicians will automatically negate the opinions of lesser mortals such as paramedics, even when a paramed sees more of certain types of injuries in a few weeks than the physician will see in a lifetime, as, say, traumatic asphyxia.

PS Since I've got the bit in my teeth now anyway... I used to teach CPR. Among my students I had transient vagrants, criminals taking the course as an alternative to fines or jail time, illiterate menial workers and you name it. Without question, the very worst students that were the most inattentive and class disruptive, generally speaking, were medical doctors. As my fire chief often said, 'If you ever have a doctor at the scene of an accident, hand them a flare and send them 100 feet down the road to direct traffic'.

 

[Godly]

I have a follow up on monday for the infectious diease doctor who I will strongly suggest if not force them to do the test for chagas/T.Cruzi. Ive been researching T. Cruzi on CDC and boy is it making me nervous. I still have symptoms of headaches/migrains which are rare for me now I did use to have a histroy of strong migrains that would affect my schooling when I was younger and bowl movements have been green. Just started to take probiotics for the bowl movements. The red streak on my arm is still apparent and itches. The cellulitis is almost completly gone all is left are the puncture wounds/route of entry got me which are small bumbs almost like pus filled but are color toned. Visable are small puncture wound like a needle in the center of the bumbs which there are three total.
Also note that Ive been finding more fresh webs that are horizontal in my room about a foot/half a foot off the ground. Still looking for culprit and vaccuming up any suspcious spots. My plants havent had any luck getting the buggers.
A question I have for y'all Ive read in most of my CP(carnvious plant) books that assassin bugs are benficial and help control other pests that are common for my plants what I did not know is that they are the same as the kissing bug aka chagas carrying d-bag and could be the culprit? I havent spotted any yet but another hypothesis. Any more ideas/advice would be greatly apprieciated.