oldtimer Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I know someone who was bitten on the face by a brown recluse. He immediately sought medical attention and the doctor gave him a massive dose of benadryl. He slept for a long time but there is no scar. This seems to fly in the face of your testimony Roger, although perhaps this particular spider did not carry mrsa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I know someone who was bitten on the face by a brown recluse. He immediately sought medical attention and the doctor gave him a massive dose of benadryl. He slept for a long time but there is no scar. This seems to fly in the face of your testimony Roger, although perhaps this particular spider did not carry mrsa? It flies in the face of nothing. All Benadryl does is help relieve symptoms of an allergic reaction, it would do nothing to counter act venom or MRSA. Trying to guess at what that particular Dr. was thinking without reading his progress notes is guess work only. The Physician in question may not have believed that the bite was from a Brown Recluse. Other factors like Kidney problems, liver problems and allergies come into play when considdering an antibiotic therapy. My own personal guess is that the Dr. in question may very well not of even known about MRSA in relation to a Brown Recluse Bite. There are many Physicians here that will correct me if what I am saying on this is untrue if they know what they are talking about, so I don't think that you have enough medical concept to diagree with me. I will further state the following as facts. Your friend probably went to the Emergency Room, unless he was seen by an infectious disease specialist, the E.R. Physician probably did not even know about the MRSA connection. There is just way to much information out there for anyone to know all of it, even a large portion of it, so if not specializing in that field, he probably didn't even know, this is why we consult specialists! Another true bit of information, most physicians have pretty limited knowledge regaurding Pharmokinetics and are litterally saved from doing damaging or even killing patients by Pharmacists on a fairly frequent basis. Did your friend get a large raised water blister and necrotic tissue?? As you said, he has no scar, and Benadryl would do nothing to affect a bite from either venom or MRSA, so I suggest that your friend probably was not even bitten by a Brown Recluse, but it is possible that a specific spider might not be a carrier of MRSA, which would only go to reinforce the statement that it is the MRSA, not venom that causes the tissue death, as all these spiders would have venom, and he obviously did not have necrosis of tissue or he would have a scar. I suggest you Google Brown Recluse bites and look at the type of damage I am referring to. I would encourage any of the physicians that are members here on this site that are not infectious disease specialist to chime in and state either yes I was aware of a brown recluse & MRSA tie, or no, I wasn't aware of any link between the two just to prove my point. I further would encourage a response from these same physicians to respond if they were aware of that it has been shown that the enziemes that maggots secreet in maggot therapy actually helps get rid of the MRSA?? Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I'm not arguing with you, only relaying a story told to me first hand. Here in Texas we are well aware of what a brown recluse looks like and what the bite can do. I personally kill them on sight with a fair amount of regularity in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I'm not arguing with you, only relaying a story told to me first hand. Here in Texas we are well aware of what a brown recluse looks like and what the bite can do. I personally kill them on sight with a fair amount of regularity in my house. oldtimer, What part of Texas are you from?? The few times I have been in Texas, I have seen plenty of scorpions and two varieties of Tarantula, but no Brown Recluse Spiders. I would assume that your friend saw the spider that bit him, and that spider was not a carrier of MRSA. It would suprise me that if your area is that heavily infested that the ER doctor was not aware of the coorolation unless young and unexperienced or even an intern. My sister lives in Kansas and bought an old mansion built in 1913. When I helped rip of the roof of the old garage there were litterally tens of thousands of old dead Brown Recluse bodies under the sheet metal. The Brown Recluse likes it dark and warm. They like basements, but prefer atticks and hide in nooks and crannies. My sister completely remodeled the old brick mansion, yet still kills two or three spiders a week inside. If you are frequently seeing spiders, there are many, many that you are not. I am sorry if I mistook your comment about "flying in the face of." I post the information as informative as what people are unaware of medically can kill them. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I'm in Denton as it says below my avatar, which is north of Dallas and Fort Worth. Yes, trust me there are a lot of them around here. They prefer garages and undisturbed places here more than attics. Less food up there I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Are your Spidey senses tingling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 i found out that i was allergic to rocephin after getting bit by a spider. as i was putting on my shirt in the doctor's office, she said, "did you have that rash when you came in here?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I stopped wearing shirts tonight. I am cold, but rash free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Are your Spidey senses tingling? I was just thinking the same Spiderman thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'm in FL, and we don't have the Brown Recluse. But we do have a "brother" of it, which is what they think I got bit by. But, luckily the little brother is nowhere as potent as big brother. I couldn't handle the antibiotics they gave me, so went in today and got something else. I'll take it with dinner, and see how it makes me feel. The other stuff made me really dizzy and vomit........ no good! the wound is looking a lot better though. It's getting smaller, and has stopped bleeding. I should be good to go in a few more days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Shmoe Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Speaking of side effects.... before I went through chemo, my oncologist gave me a choice of which chemotherapy to use. I could have chosen the regular version or go on a clinical trial which involved a more agressive approach utilizing more chemo drugs at one time. They gave me a folder which listed each chemo drug & all the potential side efffects. I can tell you that was quite the decision to make. There were around 8 different drugs with a ton of side effects for each! I expressed my frustration & concern to the Oncologist about the extensive list of side effects including blindness, heart failure, death, rectal bleeding, nerve damge, etc..for each drug & he said that "if it happens once, they have to note it as a potential" BUT that more than likely I would not have to worry about most of them. As it turned out, I did get a few side effects, but nothing like some of the stuff they had listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I don't know about you guys, but that "oral thrust" side effect would have me gagging. Oh........ Wait........ It was oral thrush. Nevermind....... Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Slammin Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 The little brown guy's are no joke. Take the meds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I hope that wasn't you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Florida is a great place to experience bug bites..... LOL!!! Over the years, many, if not most folks get bitten by a variety of "bugs" and eventually develop some immunity to the venom. My first "black widow" bite taught me to wear gloves whenever I am digging in wood piles, etc. Been bitten a couple times since by various weird looking "recluse types", a scorpion (painful but no ill effects) and I generally get zapped by jellyfish at least once a year off the coast in the summer. Immediate cleaning, extracting the venom, some benadryl, etc., generally works. Topical antibiotic at the wound site, and watching for any "effects" for a couple hours usually suffices. The worst bite I've ever had was a pygmy rattler that moved into my building a couple years ago. It latched on to my "social finger".... After a stern discussion followed by the obligatory stomping the mortal crap out it for biting me..... I went to the ER. Painful, very, very painful... Cannot find the bite mark any more without really looking for it. Except for the Dr. Strangelove thing with my hand..., the triple vision, and huge hairy warts growing out my back, I'm ok now....[:|][][] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Well, I couldn't handle the meds they gave me. They kept making me sick and really dizzy. So I went back, and they gave me some different ones to start today. The doc said my culture came back as............... I don't remember what it was called, but it's pretty serious. The military will be "tracking" it. Like, checking up on it periodically. He said I have to go to the hospital next week to get blood work done to make sure the new meds are killing the infection. It looks a lot better, and I told him that, but he said that at the drop of a hat, it could turn around and get really bad. He said that no matter what, even if the new meds make me sick, I HAVE to take them. No questions about it. I'm starting them in about an hour. I'll let you know what happens......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 That's some bad stuff you got there TB. Is that Doc at the base hospital or civilian hospital? I've had some bad history with mil docs in the old days. they have a reluctance to prescribe things and always want to wait for some test or whatever while you are slowly dying.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Military hospital; civilian doc.......... He seems prettty good compared to some of the "docs" I've had in the past at military hospitals. Ya, he kind of scared me when he was describing the infection to me. I was "ordered" to take the meds, no matter what, so........ Like I said, the would looks great, so I showed him, and he still insisted that I take the new meds. So I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 the would looks great, Wound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I was afraid of this. Y'know you cannot let an aggressive or resistant infection go for long. Ever watch them grow in a petri dish? Jim Henson died from a bacterial pneumonia that was entirely curable. He just waited too long before starting treatment. Now we have designer pathogens that can be real buggers to knock down. Tommy Boy, you stay on top of this. If they cannot get on top of the infection they may have to start cutting off pieces to stave off things getting worse. It is no joke now and it was no joke from the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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