Please help bitten and dont know what could caused it

[The Snark]

Godly, you could use a good wap upside da head. Please read or refresh yourself with Darwin's 'Voyage of the Beagle' wherein he first describes the triatomines which munched upon him. A while later Doc Chagas comes along and associates T Cruzi to the critter and the rest is hysteria.

Yes, kissing assassin cone-nose bugs are highly beneficial. They just pose a minor problem to homo sapiens which are not that beneficial. Unlike the spider, they are capable of scoring several hits every 24 hours which often results in the death of the victim. They also aren't particularly fussy as to what they jab. From isopods to erectus, everything is fair game.

 

[Galapoheros]

tODDski, could you verify that you are an MD?, somehow? It's the www after all, we are mostly strangers and I'm having doubts, it's normal today concerning the www.

 

[josh_r]

Cone nosed assasins are fairly common in the southwest around pack rat nests. Fortunately, chagas is not common in the southwest. I never really worried about then when I lived in Arizona, but now that I am living in Peru... I worry about them. I don't want to get chagas. This thread was a good read as it got me thinking about this kinda stuff again.... Something I need to be aware of while cruising the jungle.

 

[Godly]

Sadly went to infectious disease doc whom is an endocrinologist but had no idea again and seem to have doubts of being T.Cruzi. He made repeated suggestions of mites and or lime disease but clearly its not that but he did respect my wishes and did blood drawing. They said it takes about a week to get results because its not tested at the hospitals lab. Now all I can do is wait. Also he told me to stop taking all the medication and how the first doctor was a retard(not his words) and maybe use a steroid typical cream for the itching. More updates will come as I know them. Overall bite wounds are still large and stick out only the faint red streak left on my arm where it itches the most no other symptoms yet really. Had some stabbing chest pain days earlier when I would wake in the morning but that seems to have dissipated same with the migraines still have headaches though.

Also Ive started reading Darwin voyage of the beagle and we share a lot of the same symptoms/problems maybe Ill be able to publish work as highly regarded as his someday. I'm more fascinated with the brain and chemicals aka neuroscience/biochem.

 

[Smokehound714]

Something tells me you have a splinter embedded in your hand.

 

[The Snark]

When it comes to diseases outside the box, we need to keep in mind that modern medicine knows the most common ones. Some microbiologists estimate there are probably millions or even billions of diseases and most will never be accurately identified. The theory roughly goes that at any given time every person on the planet may have several hundred active viruses.

Back on this planet, I got bit an hour ago by critter unseen. All of a sudden I had two plaques on my ankles, itching ferociously. Now the itch is all but gone. Flea? Tick? Ant? Bug? I'll probably never know.

Anyway, the point is diagnosing some diseases, especially ones from under developed countries, can be almost impossible. To misquote Tom Stoppard, like a pair of blind men looting a bazaar for their own portraits.

Has anyone else noticed that many average MDs that get moved about an inch and a half out of their field of specialty turn into Homer Simpson?

 

[Godly]

So this is day two Ive noticed that in bowl movements have black specks like pepper in it. I watch what I eat since I was bitten and prior because I thought I was suffering from malnutrition and I know I was not eating anything that could look like it. My BM's range from green-tan brownish almost normal color but much lighter and the black specks float. Possibility of parasite eggs? The endocrinologist suggest Lyme disease can that be one of the symptoms anyone with any info on this would be appreciated.

Also I do not take any supplements like iron and try to balance my diet. No history of anything chronic like this at all. Also BM go through a cycle of lose to hard(usually only once every couple of days) but mostly are lose. Ive stopped taking probiotics. My BM's also have foam white froth like. Ive started to put traps on the ground in my room by taking two heavy objects and putting tape between them. Also have some pit fall traps that have an open hole but Vaseline on the edges so makes it impossible to crawl out depending on what it is. Also have found webbing in corners that disappear a day after before I can do anything they look like the stereotypical web about 1 foot in diameter.

 

[The Snark]

A follow up pathological report/diagnosis is in order. Parasite eggs are microscopic, not visible to unaided eye.
Stereotypical web? You need to catch that critter.

 

[McGuiverstein]

Fark that feces.

Haha I'm loving your eloquent evasion of ABs profanity restrictions

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Chagas Disease Risk in Texas

http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000836

Texas and Mexico: Sharing a Legacy of Poverty and
Neglected Tropical Diseases

http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001497

 

[pannaking22]

Chagas Disease Risk in Texas

http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000836

Texas and Mexico: Sharing a Legacy of Poverty and
Neglected Tropical Diseases

http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001497

Good articles MrCrackerpants. A big thing to keep in mind with the diseases in these articles though is that they will mainly affect people who don't have the same income level as someone who may be living in a more affluent area. The most prominent example can be seen with Dengue fever. Unfortunately I'm drawing a blank on the paper I read it in, but incidence of Dengue was much higher in a Mexican city less than a mile from a Texan city and evidence was found that a large factor was presence/absence of window screens.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Good articles MrCrackerpants. A big thing to keep in mind with the diseases in these articles though is that they will mainly affect people who don't have the same income level as someone who may be living in a more affluent area. The most prominent example can be seen with Dengue fever. Unfortunately I'm drawing a blank on the paper I read it in, but incidence of Dengue was much higher in a Mexican city less than a mile from a Texan city and evidence was found that a large factor was presence/absence of window screens.

Yes, good points. Thanks.

 

[SquishyJumper]

I have Lyme disease and co-infections that come along with it. I am a Lyme advocate and have done much studying over the course of the two years I've known what my "mystery illness" was. I've been full-blown, i.e. those little suckers have taken over my body, for three years now.

What I can say is this: your pics don't look like Lyme. But they very well could be bartonella. There are more than at least two dozen strains of bartonella, and only a few of them can be tested for. I say this because testing is highly unreliable. However, most doctors wouldn't know any of the Lyme & Co. illnesses if it bit them in the backside. (Come find me on MDJunction's Lyme Disease Support Group--I'm a group leader there. It's surprising how much is NOT known in the mainstream medical community, and how so much of our illness is laughed off, even though when treated properly, people get better!)

I digress. I would strongly urge you to check out bartonella. (Cat scratch fever/disease is a strain of bartonella.)

Also, spiders, fleas, mosquitoes, etc., and of course as we all know, ticks, can carry any of these bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.

The chest pain, the headaches, the bowel issues... they are all very common in Lyme disease, actually. The black dots... I wouldn't wonder if that was flecks of blood, actually. Parasites typically would have (depending on the type of course as there are many) a lighter appearance in stool. Some look like sesame seeds in shape and color.

And as for Lyme, there are SO many instances of atypical rash, no rash at all, etc., from the EM, or bulls-eye, that anyone could be walking around with it and not know until it's too late. I was born with it. We never knew until I had 3 girls and they all have it. It wasn't till after we all got diagnosed that my parents got tested. Yep. They have it. Which I knew they did. Just the researching my life and the different illnesses... it all made sense. Anyway...

If you have any other questions for me, I'm happy to answer. If anyone has questions, especially on a board where our beloved little friends could have a detrimental affect on our health, i.e. bites that transmit illness... :-/ please don't hesitate to find me.

 

[The Snark]

In reply to both MrCrackerpants and SquishyJumper. Most informative. People in the modern (first) world have been lulled into an EXTREMELY false sense of security. The common local diseases have been identified and when you hurt and have a temperature you zap down to the local doc who shoves tubes in you and hands out a fistful of pills and done! All better.

The sad fact is modern medicine is extremely limited and diseases are legion. As far as treating them goes the saying poking a turd up a steep hill with a pointed stick comes to mind. What we take for competent medical diagnosis and treatment is mostly the highly profitable ailments for the medical and pharmaceutical businesses. The rest, the vast majority of diseases, is left for the NGOs and foundations to chip away at.

What is really sad, and honestly near criminal, is the common practice of burning out the very limited disease fighting resources, over dosing on antibiotics until ultra resistant strains are created. Take erythromycin. In S. E. Asia for years no matter what the infection, you get a massive bag full of the stuff. At one time the great new wonder drug and now even the most common minor bacteria are demonstrating a high resistance to it. Modern medicine has solved nothing. They've only made things worse in the long run.

 

[Ciphor]

In reply to both MrCrackerpants and SquishyJumper. Most informative. People in the modern (first) world have been lulled into an EXTREMELY false sense of security. The common local diseases have been identified and when you hurt and have a temperature you zap down to the local doc who shoves tubes in you and hands out a fistful of pills and done! All better.

The sad fact is modern medicine is extremely limited and diseases are legion. As far as treating them goes the saying poking a turd up a steep hill with a pointed stick comes to mind. What we take for competent medical diagnosis and treatment is mostly the highly profitable ailments for the medical and pharmaceutical businesses. The rest, the vast majority of diseases, is left for the NGOs and foundations to chip away at.

What is really sad, and honestly near criminal, is the common practice of burning out the very limited disease fighting resources, over dosing on antibiotics until ultra resistant strains are created. Take erythromycin. In S. E. Asia for years no matter what the infection, you get a massive bag full of the stuff. At one time the great new wonder drug and now even the most common minor bacteria are demonstrating a high resistance to it. Modern medicine has solved nothing. They've only made things worse in the long run.

To me the issue is not medicine, it is a fundamentally flawed belief that we can control these natural checks and balances that exist. Help slow them down, yes, we should, but action without thought is often the stem of a fruitful spiteful plant. Diseases exist for a reason and thrive because they are meant to. They must exist. I think if our aim was understanding and slowing down we would fair better then trying to abolish. Abolishing diseases has only brought rise to worse diseases and I don't think I'm the only one who feels like a massive pandemic is over-due.

/over-simplified response

It is much more complex an issue then I just made it appear.

 

[The Snark]

As our local mosquito expert is constantly pointing out, the flying hypodermic needles are giving inoculations, undoubtedly helping us ward off far more diseases than they carry. But one tiny example.
To over over simplify, humans are looking extinction dead in the face from trying to control the world around them instead of learning to live harmoniously with both the 'good' and 'bad'.

 

[Ciphor]

As our local mosquito expert is constantly pointing out, the flying hypodermic needles are giving inoculations, undoubtedly helping us ward off far more diseases than they carry. But one tiny example.
To over over simplify, humans are looking extinction dead in the face from trying to control the world around them instead of learning to live harmoniously with both the 'good' and 'bad'.

Couldn't agree more. Yin/yang, tolerance, understanding, and forgiveness.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

I keep checking this thread for two main reasons: to see how Godly is doing and to see if tODDski is really an MD. I hope you are better Godly. :biggrin:

 

[Stan Schultz]

... 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 don't know anything about infectious diseases or how to treat them beyond running to the ER. But, I do know a little about tarantulas, and that cage is a bit weird. Normally we keep B. emilia in an arid (i.e., desert or semi-desert) cage. There's a lot fewer "things" that can infest a dry cage than can infest a damp cage with moss and such. Also, all that fluffy plant stuff must be making it Hell for the tarantula to walk comfortably. Maybe it's on its tippy-toes because every time it tries to settle down something jabs it in the belly?

Just a thought.


POP QUIZZES DAILY, YOUR LITTLE 8-LEGGED YODA WILL BE GIVING YOU!

 

[Godly]

Wow quite the information! I still havent yet recieved word of what the results were yet of the tests from the doctor reason why I havent posted since then. I have been feeling a lot better atleast a lot less fatigue almost feel like myself but every morning I have had chest pains on the right side in the middle of my sternum feels like needles jabbing also still have quite more frequent headaches that have progressively getting less frequent but always seem to peak at night luckly I usually try to nap/sleep them off. The black dots have disapeared from my stool been having more regular and normal bowel movements which has made me less worried. Still have not had any signs of the creature in my bedroom the mysterious webbings still appear at night and dispear by day. Havent seen much more horizontal webs only the webbings I have noticed were in corners behind window shades which I vaccum every time I spot them. I have aquired seven more T's, &two scorp's not that its going to help but has help my mind to be distracted. Been keeping up with a healthy diet drinking plenty of fluids and watching what types of foods I ingest. I will investigate more about bartonella. Just been pretty stressful balancing these things ontop of keeping up with normal life. Lots of bills are starting to appear. My family and animals and fourms have helped immensly just wanted to let all you guys know thank you very much wish I could show my appriecation more then just words.

My B. emilia is in a large 20g tank with fake top colored long spangum moss which looks like real moss the rest is coconot with a raised layer of upsidedown plastic squares almost like tupperware but just the bottom while undernearth are rocks(for secure and weight) its all for superior drainage and keeping unwanted microrganisms out of the actually soil/terrian. Ive also noticed she must have been on her tippy toes because she loves to dig and has been tunneling every since she got comfortable its just rare to see her dig like that it also looked like she had something in her mouth/mouth arms like carrying dirt outside of her layer. Underneath the little wood decore is her underground layer Ill take some pictures of it I made it specifally in a corner and wrapped it with orca paper(11 mil thick) so one day I could see the tunnel system. She has matted down most of the areas where she likes to sit with her silk. She likes to haul all the dig up tunnel remains outside of her layer and throw them in a little pit I made out of plastic sqaure. I basically set the tank up for a tree frog but ended up using it for her since she will more then likely outlive it reason why there is lots to climb/hide in the tank and I wanted a more realistic type tank.
Also have gotten more orchids bromelaids and violets to add has help distract me.
More updates will come when I get them.