Brown Recluse Bite
2014-06-28
I was bitten by what I think was a Brown Recluse spider in central Missouri. It was dark out, and I was walking
through the front lawn of a house in a small town. I felt a bite just above my sock line on my left leg, and thought it was a mosquito bite.
I reached down to scratch it right away, but there was nothing there.
I didn't think anything of it until two days later I noticed a half dozen dots in a semicircle around the bite location. I asked my family if they had ever seen a bite like that, and my Mom and brother said "Oh, that's a brown recluse." "I've been bitten by those a few times."
Timeline
Day 1: May 9, 2014. I was bitten in the evening.
Day 3: I noticed the semicircle of red dots around the bite. I started applying "triple antibiotic ointment" (OTC for cuts and scrapes) on it twice daily.
Day 13: The bite location can be seen in the center of the red dots.
Day 15: I stopped applying the "triple antibiotic ointment" for about 5 days around this time. I also tried Caladryl for one day, but that made the area worse.
Day 21: The affected area looked worse in the evening than in the morning.
Day 22: Saw the nurse at a Target Clinic. She diagnosed me with a skin infection and prescribed Cephalexin 500mg four times daily for 7 days. She said the affected area was swollen and about 5 inches by 6 inches. I took the first dose that evening. She advised me to stop applying the "triple antibiotic ointment" and also take Benadryl as needed, but at bed time for sure. She also advised me to cold pack the affected area.
Day 23:
Day 25:
Day 26: I saw a "real" doctor for the first time. She couldn't diagnose the problem, initially thinking it could be Lyme disease because of the "ring around a central bite". After discussing it with me for several minutes, she decided it couldn't be Lyme disease because of how short the bite had been (Lyme disease takes 24 hours to be transmitted from a tick bite). She ended up just extending my prescription by 3 days.
Day 31:
Day 32: Last day of antibiotics
Day 33:
Day 36:
Day 40:
Day 46: I visited another doctor. This doctor had seen Brown Recluse bites before, and said I was essentially fully recovered. He said I could expect peeling skin at the site for the rest of the summer, and that I would always have a red spot "to remind me".
I didn't think anything of it until two days later I noticed a half dozen dots in a semicircle around the bite location. I asked my family if they had ever seen a bite like that, and my Mom and brother said "Oh, that's a brown recluse." "I've been bitten by those a few times."
Timeline
Day 1: May 9, 2014. I was bitten in the evening.
Day 3: I noticed the semicircle of red dots around the bite. I started applying "triple antibiotic ointment" (OTC for cuts and scrapes) on it twice daily.
Day 13: The bite location can be seen in the center of the red dots.
Day 15: I stopped applying the "triple antibiotic ointment" for about 5 days around this time. I also tried Caladryl for one day, but that made the area worse.
Day 21: The affected area looked worse in the evening than in the morning.
Day 22: Saw the nurse at a Target Clinic. She diagnosed me with a skin infection and prescribed Cephalexin 500mg four times daily for 7 days. She said the affected area was swollen and about 5 inches by 6 inches. I took the first dose that evening. She advised me to stop applying the "triple antibiotic ointment" and also take Benadryl as needed, but at bed time for sure. She also advised me to cold pack the affected area.
Day 23:
Day 25:
Day 26: I saw a "real" doctor for the first time. She couldn't diagnose the problem, initially thinking it could be Lyme disease because of the "ring around a central bite". After discussing it with me for several minutes, she decided it couldn't be Lyme disease because of how short the bite had been (Lyme disease takes 24 hours to be transmitted from a tick bite). She ended up just extending my prescription by 3 days.
Day 31:
Day 32: Last day of antibiotics
Day 33:
Day 36:
Day 40:
Day 46: I visited another doctor. This doctor had seen Brown Recluse bites before, and said I was essentially fully recovered. He said I could expect peeling skin at the site for the rest of the summer, and that I would always have a red spot "to remind me".