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Poecilotheria fasciata

quinquestriatus

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
86
A while back I bought my first tarantula. Poecilotheria fasciata. She was only about 3/4" long.The people at the pet store told me she was to small to bite me. They also warned me that she will become aggressive when she gets bigger. I handled her nightly and after haveing her for about 3 days I took her out and she seemed cool so I let her sit on my hand. She sat there for about 15 min. When I felt a very faint pin prick on my hand. I didn't know what it was so I left her alone...... Well, needless to say I felt it two more times on my hand and it freaked me out, so I put her back in her cage. Maybe 30 sec. later my entire hand lit on fire. from my wrist down. I went out side and stuck my hands in the snow. Since that day I still pick her up I'm just a little bit more careful to watch what she's doin'.
 

Lars

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
2
So my MF bit me 10 days ago. She had gotten out and was on the wall, and I hurriedly tried to get her back into her cage since I was in a rush to get out. I handle her all the time, and she seems fine with that. This time, she seemed a little bit different, and was not wanting to go onto my hand. I finally get her on it and she tags me on the size of my pinkly finger. I had at least two holes, but maybe 4, it was hard to see them. I squeezed it, and nothing came out.

There was stinging, numbness, pins-and-needles, and swelling. It was scary thinking of how much pain I would be in for, but the pain was minor, so minor that I deleted the log I had made of the bite since nothing really came of it for two days. interestingly, I still have this stiff, arthritic feeling in my finger. More of interest is that it caused my knee to start to hurt as well. They also will both get noticeably warmer then the rest of my body, and both at the same time. My calf also cramped up really badly once for no apparent reason, but I'm not sure if that is related.
 

Lars

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
2
So she bit me again, this time on the other pinky finger. It looks like she has it out for me now. Symptoms were about the same at first, though I don't remember any pins and needles, but I went to sleep soon after, so I may have just not noticed. The pain might have been worse then before, I'm not sure. I went for a walk the next day, and my legs started to cramp up with muscle spasms, it got really bad, bad enough that I found myself in contorted positions on the sidewalk with people wondering what was going on. They hurt pretty bad too, it as like one of those electronic muscle simulators, but if it were to get stuck on and dialed up too high. I popped some prescription muscle relaxers, but they mostly seemed to just make me drowsy. I had painful muscle spasms for a few hours in my calves and feet. I think it was the walking that caused it since I barely had any issues with other muscles. My advice is to avoid physical activity the day or two after you get bit by one of these.

I didn't get the arthritic feeling in my pinky finger for nearly as long this time, only a week or so.
 

IHeartTs

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
435
It had to be a pokie. It was about a 7 inch adult female. I was doing some maintenance and checking on things and she got spooked for one reason or another. It has never happened, she always stayed put but today was different. She somehow made her way INTO the bathroom counter and I had to rip the base board off to get her out. The space she fit through was maybe 3/4 of an inch. She came scurrying towards me finally. For some stupid reason I can attribute to nothing but instict, I stuck my hand out to grab her and she nailed me, and continued to flee. I felt the pain instantly but I pulled my rubber band on that hand tighter so I could get her into the enclosure and I did.

Initial bite was a stinging and burning sensation. My thumb immediately began to twitch but the pain remained nicely local. 20150329_052046.jpg . There was some minor swelling at the site and in my fingers. I immediately took 2 benedryl, 2 dilauded and 1 oxycontin, grabbed some ice, and laid down. The drugs maybe scratched the surface of the pain which was a 10/10 at this point. I fell asleep finally.

9am
hand felt like it was stuffed with cotton and cement but not many other symptoms. Urination was diffucult snd it took a lot of work to go. Went back to sleep after another dilauded and some food.

12 PM
after rolling around in bed, I had to grt up and go to work. Dizziness set in at this point and the pain in my hand was still severe. I began having shakes that resembled the chills. Motor function of my hand was pretty much compromised from swelling.

2pm
dizziness because more severe and nausea , vomiting and blurred vision started. By blurred vision, i mean it felt like my eyes couldn't focus and images were becoming doubled, for lack of a better word

3pm
Vomitting, shakes, dizziness and vision problems worsened. Slight muscle cramping began to occur.

5pm
had to leave work and decided I should see a doctor at an immediate care clinic to avoid the ER. They told me to go to the ER. At this point, i was becoming dehydrated from vomiting ans not being to keep anything down. Swelling worsened and pain in the hand was excruciating.

6pm
arrive at ER and was seen right away. Muscle cramps in my legs became almost unbearable. They ran labs and found that CK levels were elevated which is indicative to muscular injury and breakdown. I was given morphine, atavan, valium, antibiotics and Zofran for vomiting. Because elevated CK levels could raise and cause kidney failure, they wanted to admit me but i refused. 20150329_212842.jpg

10am 3-30-15
Entire body feels incredibly stiff and crampy. Chest pain is new. Nausea, dizziness, blurred vision still occuring. Pain in hand however, is subsiding and the swelling is going down. Body aches and cramps are about a 9/10 on the pain scale.
 
Last edited:

IHeartTs

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
435
3-31-15 920am
Pain medication taken night before relieved some cramping and aches. Woke up with sudden nausea and vomiting. Dizziness still persistent. Feel very weak and drowsy and having difficulty staying hydrated

115 pm
vomiting finally subsided for the time being after 2 doses of prescription antiemetic.
 

IHeartTs

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
435
Alright guys this is it. Just wanted to be as thorough as possible
4-3-15
had a chicken skin looking rash on my hand and arm for a few days. Itch relieved by hydrocortisone cream. Still having joint pains, aches and occasional cramps in my feet, legs and hips. Painful to walk still but not as bad as 2 days ago. Both hands still feel extremely arthritic and the hand where the bite occurred is still slightly swollen. Ibuprofen can easily manage any residual pain. I expect these symptoms to last another week or so possibly longer.
 
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