RE: bug bites

[Guest guest]

Diane,

I have been bitten by a Brown Recluse at least twice. I am severely

allergic to spiders!! But they have never started to swell twice. Either

you didn't have a spider bite, or one bit you in the same exact place???

Maybe it's time to check with a Dermatologist. It should be pointed out that

these things always happen when your child is scheduled for surgery. I have

a running joke with God, " Lord, did I ask you for patience, because I know

better than to ask??? "

Sandi, 's Mom

[Guest guest]

Diane:

I got bitten by something once, like you I never saw or felt it. I just had a

dime-size red bump one morning which increased to quarter size by noon, then

here comes the red streak running up my arm!!!

All I remember is getting abx and that arm being terribly stiff and painful

for a few days.

(mom to , age 3. Currently has polysaccharide antibody def,

previously had transient IgG, IgA, t-cell & other defs)

[Guest guest]

Diane,

My bites did get black. They did not itch, but were very painful. Also,

large in diameter and red, hot. Let us know what your Doc says. Stress can

do so much..like I said when your child is scheduled for surgery.

Sandi, 's Mom

[Guest guest]

Sandi, I looked on the internet about brown recluse spiders, and I

really don't think I have a bug bite at all. I never felt one bite me,

and I would think that with a brown recluse you would definitely feel

the bite, and I never saw a spider. The er doc told me it was a spider

bite. While the interenet site I looked at said that a recurring sore

can happen it is rare, but they showed pictures and it doesn't even

remotely look like a spider bite of any kind in my opinion. Did yours

have a blister or where the skin turned black get raw? Mine does not

itch, and there is no open sore of any kind and no blister. I do have a

doctors appointment in a couple hours so I'll pop in and let you know

what she says. It is extremely sore though. It actually looks more like

a picture I saw of Lyme's Disease, and yet, we don't have infected ticks

in our area at all (absolutely no reported cases of Lyme's anywhere in

my state). Plus, what would be the odds of getting bit on the right hip

twice in exactly the same spot? And I am noticing that these things

happen right when a major thing happens with Kody! Today my husband woke

up with a very sore swollen tooth so he is on his way to the dentist as

we speak. I am obviously failing the patience test.......

Diane, Mom to Kody

[Guest guest]

Dear Diane

You have definitely had more than your fair share of troubles lately.

But--you are not whining--you are justifiably just sick of being sick and

caring for someone who has a chronic illness. It sounds like you need to

give yourself credit for being such a good and loving caregiver and mother.

It also sounds like you might need some time for you just to get your own

body back to good health. Kody sounds like such a sweetheart but it must take

a lot of energy and patience to deal with all the uncertainty, anxiety, pain,

medication and doctors. Take care of yourself.

Martha (mom to Chrissy IgA deficiency etc.)

[Guest guest]

Well, it isn't a spider bite. I feel like marching down to the er and

telling that doctor " I told ya so! " . The doctor today said it was

definitely an abcess, and pretty infected one at that. He said he was

amazed that it went away at all by itself last year (obviously it didn't

go away entirely) and that I didn't get really really sick from it. He

gave me some antibiotics, Keflex, to take and then I have to go back

next week to have it lanced and drained. Looking forward to that like a

hole in the head. It is so sore, and it is right on my waist line so

wearing pants is excruciating. Ugh, if it isn't one thing it is another!

Isn't it hard to be the patient and to do the things to take care of

yourself when you have kids like ours? I feel like I am just whining

away and being a big baby! And it is so hard to sit here with the

heating pad on doing nothing while I watch flush Kody's ears with

the vinegar water. That is my job! Talk about control issues! LOL

Diane, Mom to Kody

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Martha. Sometimes you are just too close to a situation to see

if you are doing all the " right " things! I appreciate so much your

encouragement!!

Diane, Mom to Kody

[Guest guest]

What I found out when I researched brown recluse bites after AMY was bitten

is that different people have different reactions to a brown recluse bite.

Some people have extremely bad reactions, some - like my mom - have a

reaction like it was a minor insect, it heals quickly and they are never

bothered by it again. Sometimes the level of reaction may be due to the

species of brown recluse (there are several different species) and,

possibly, the age of the spider.

Though it doesn't happen every time, or even most of the time, It is not

uncommon for a brown recluse bite to apparently heal and then re-occur as

if it were a fresh bite. I'm pretty sure that I am remembering this part

correctly, because, even though her reaction was relatively mild, it caused

me to re-check AMY's arm every couple of weeks for over a year to make sure

that it didn't start back up. The bites can cause fever and/or mild to

severe nausea, I *think* they described the symptoms as being flu-like.

Brown recluse bites are not necessarily painful. Sometimes there will be a

mild tingling at the time of the bite, but usually the actual pain starts

several minutes to several hours after the bite occurred. If you are

sensitive to their bite, it is nothing to mess around about. I know a man

who ended up having abcess after abcess due to a brown recluse bite, ending

with the amputation of his leg below the knee. Infected abcesses are not

uncommon in people who are more sensitive to the spider. I'm not trying to

frighten you, but I want you to realize how serious this bite can be for

some people. It can lead to months of not years of corrective surgery.

What you are describing actually does seem to fit the profile of the

reactions that some people have to a brown recluse bite. It is good that

you are having it treated and cared for. Please be sure that the doctor

understands that the initial diagnosis of the problem was a spider bite,

with necrotized (which is what the " turned black " sounds to me like. It's

when the skin shrivels up and turns dark, like the infection is eating away

at the skin) skin at the site of the bite.

We were lucky about identifying AMY's bite because we found the spider and

took it to ER with us. I think in a previous email I mentioned that the

doc said that it was the biggest recluse he'd ever seen, what I didn't say

was that the nurse insisted that it wasn't a recluse, then the doc said

that it was and left, and a few minutes the nurse came back saying they'd

looked it up and it definitely was NOT a recluse, so they just marked the

diagnosis as an insect bite. I had already gone on-line and seen for

myself what they looked like, so I was pretty darn sure the nurse was

incorrect, but took it to a local pest control company. They gave it a

definite ID and actually asked to keep it because they needed one to be

able to show their customers what a brown recluse looked like. I don't

know if they actually updated AMY's file, but since I was already reading

about the long-term possibilities, I called up the ER and asked that they

update her file to show that the spider was a recluse so she'd have an

accurate history on file in case of later complications.

(Of course, brown recluses are not found in the western region - I think -

of the U.S., so your location could determine whether or not a brown

recluse was the actual culprit.)

You may want to hop on-line and take a look at some of the info. I found

all kinds of info by doing a web-search on " brown recluse " . Or, if you

don't have time, send an email and I'll check to see if I still have the

sites book-marked and I'll send them back to you.

God bless,

W

At 06:09 PM 07/18/2002 -0700, you wrote:

>Well, it isn't a spider bite. I feel like marching down to the er and

>telling that doctor " I told ya so! " . The doctor today said it was

>definitely an abcess, and pretty infected one at that. He said he was

>amazed that it went away at all by itself last year (obviously it didn't

>go away entirely) and that I didn't get really really sick from it. He

>gave me some antibiotics, Keflex, to take and then I have to go back

>next week to have it lanced and drained. Looking forward to that like a

>hole in the head. It is so sore, and it is right on my waist line so

>wearing pants is excruciating. Ugh, if it isn't one thing it is another!

>Isn't it hard to be the patient and to do the things to take care of

>yourself when you have kids like ours? I feel like I am just whining

>away and being a big baby! And it is so hard to sit here with the

>heating pad on doing nothing while I watch flush Kody's ears with

>the vinegar water. That is my job! Talk about control issues! LOL

>Diane, Mom to Kody

>

>

>

>This forum is open to parents and caregivers of children diagnosed with a

Primary Immune Deficiency. Opinions or medical advice stated here are the

sole responsibility of the poster and should not be taken as professional

advice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Very early on after diagnosis I had a mosquito bite turn into

cellulitis, which had to be treated aggressively. I'm still in good

health with quite good blood numbers, so I don't, personally, think

it has necessarily to do with the stage of illness one is at. It

does seem a strange phenomenon with this disease. Not sure what to

make of it.

Sharon

I can only assume it has to do with inadequacies in the immune

system. Would this mean the people who are more ill have a greater

reaction to bug bites that those who are on W & W?

Any thoughts?

[Guest guest]

I'm fairly certain it has to do with some aspect of immuno deficiency some of us have developed. But since in most cases it is not very debilitating, not very much attention has been paid to it, hence they do not really understand the cause.

Again a reminder: Posting to the group works again. Sorry, my fault.

[Guest guest]

Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember there is s " B " vitamin

deficiency which will result in attraction of bugs...Is it B6??

[ ] bug bites

*Wear loose fitting clothes to help prevent mosquitoes from reaching the skin

and to retain less heat.

*When ever possible, wear long-sleeved clothes, socks and long pants.

In a forest, wear clothing that helps you blend in with the background.

Mosquitoes hone in on color contrast and movement.

*Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays, lotions and soaps which

attract mosquitoes.

*Reduce your risk of exposure by staying indoors during peak mosquito feeding

hours (from dusk until dawn).

_______________________________________________

Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com

The most personalized portal on the Web!

[Guest guest]

,

Good memory on the B vitamin/bug connection. It's actually thiamine

(B6), and here's the ABMD board link from 2004:

abmd/message/40011

Tom

>

> Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember there is s " B "

vitamin deficiency which will result in attraction of bugs...Is it

B6??

>

>

> [ ] bug bites

>

>

>

> *Wear loose fitting clothes to help prevent mosquitoes from

reaching the skin and to retain less heat.

> *When ever possible, wear long-sleeved clothes, socks and long

pants.

> In a forest, wear clothing that helps you blend in with the

background. Mosquitoes hone in on color contrast and movement.

> *Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays, lotions and

soaps which attract mosquitoes.

> *Reduce your risk of exposure by staying indoors during peak

mosquito feeding hours (from dusk until dawn).

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com

> The most personalized portal on the Web!

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> >

> > Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember there is s " B "

> vitamin deficiency which will result in attraction of bugs...Is it

> B6??

> >

> >

> > [ ] bug bites

> >

> >

> >

> > *Wear loose fitting clothes to help prevent mosquitoes from

> reaching the skin and to retain less heat.

> > *When ever possible, wear long-sleeved clothes, socks and long

> pants.

> > In a forest, wear clothing that helps you blend in with the

> background. Mosquitoes hone in on color contrast and movement.

> > *Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays, lotions and

> soaps which attract mosquitoes.

> > *Reduce your risk of exposure by staying indoors during peak

> mosquito feeding hours (from dusk until dawn).

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I was just checking to see if anyone was paying attention :-)

Yes, thiamine is B1, not B6.

> > >

> > > Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember there is

s " B "

> > vitamin deficiency which will result in attraction of bugs...Is

it

> > B6??

> > >

> > >

> > > [ ] bug bites

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > *Wear loose fitting clothes to help prevent mosquitoes from

> > reaching the skin and to retain less heat.

> > > *When ever possible, wear long-sleeved clothes, socks and

long

> > pants.

> > > In a forest, wear clothing that helps you blend in with the

> > background. Mosquitoes hone in on color contrast and movement.

> > > *Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays, lotions and

> > soaps which attract mosquitoes.

> > > *Reduce your risk of exposure by staying indoors during peak

> > mosquito feeding hours (from dusk until dawn).

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the laugh and the information. My bug-bitten prone girls

take multi-B's and I noticed one has gotten rid of her attraction to

bugs for the most part but the other is still a magnet. Where can I

find the upper limit to the amount of B's a child can take? B's are

water soluble right?

Thanks!

Wyndie

> > > >

> > > > Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember there is

> s " B "

> > > vitamin deficiency which will result in attraction of

bugs...Is

> it

> > > B6??

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > [ ] bug bites

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > *Wear loose fitting clothes to help prevent mosquitoes

from

> > > reaching the skin and to retain less heat.

> > > > *When ever possible, wear long-sleeved clothes, socks and

> long

> > > pants.

> > > > In a forest, wear clothing that helps you blend in with

the

> > > background. Mosquitoes hone in on color contrast and movement.

> > > > *Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays, lotions

and

> > > soaps which attract mosquitoes.

> > > > *Reduce your risk of exposure by staying indoors during

peak

> > > mosquito feeding hours (from dusk until dawn).

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

B2, Riboflavin.

[ ] bug bites

*Wear loose fitting clothes to help prevent mosquitoes from reaching the skin

and to retain less heat.

*When ever possible, wear long-sleeved clothes, socks and long pants.

In a forest, wear clothing that helps you blend in with the background.

Mosquitoes hone in on color contrast and movement.

*Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays, lotions and soaps which

attract mosquitoes.

*Reduce your risk of exposure by staying indoors during peak mosquito feeding

hours (from dusk until dawn).

_______________________________________________

Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com

The most personalized portal on the Web!

[Guest guest]

>

> Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember there is s " B "

vitamin deficiency which will result in attraction of bugs...Is it B6??

I have used B1 for a few years to eliminate bug bites, it works very

well for me. In the summer, I take about 1000mg per day. Off season

I take 500mg per day. This is in addition to B100.

Here are more ideas

http://www.danasview.net/bugbite.htm

Dana

[Guest guest]

Wow...My son reacts this way to mosquito bites, but my NT boys do not.

RE:

My NT son gets baseball sized lumps from mosquitoes...its scary. I have to be so

careful with him. He also gets very very crabby for a few days until the

swelling decreases. I never knew anyone else who went through that.

[Guest guest]

Sorry for being so ignorant, but what does NT mean. I leep seeing this posted

and I have not heard the terminology.

Thanks,

>

>

> Wow...My son reacts this way to mosquito bites, but my NT boys do not.

>

>

>

>

> RE:

>

> My NT son gets baseball sized lumps from mosquitoes...its scary. I have to be

so careful with him. He also gets very very crabby for a few days until the

swelling decreases. I never knew anyone else who went through that.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It means neuro typical. I didn't know what it meant at first either...

From: agirlnamedsuess@...

Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:24:40 +0000

Subject: Re: bug bites

Sorry for being so ignorant, but what does NT mean. I leep seeing this posted

and I have not heard the terminology.

Thanks,

>

>

> Wow...My son reacts this way to mosquito bites, but my NT boys do not.

>

>

>

>

> RE:

>

> My NT son gets baseball sized lumps from mosquitoes...its scary. I have to be

so careful with him. He also gets very very crabby for a few days until the

swelling decreases. I never knew anyone else who went through that.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Ellen - the infected bites are unfortunately part of the package - I have a small getaway in PA, and get bitten constantly, no matter what product I use to try to prevent it - I try not to scratch (that's what usually causes the infection) and in 3-4 days it subsides. Exercise usual care, keep it clean, and eventually it'll go away.

It's that damned old immune system. Right now I'm taking care of FIVE open wounds on face and scalp (excisions, biopsies) of squamous and basal cell carcinomas. I spend 30-45 minutes a day cleaning and re-bandaging the various surgeries. Same thing. An immune system asleep.

I am not aware of much you can do about these things except taking normal precautions, dressing well, putting on Deep Woods or something, etc.

As long as your immune system is not working right, your bug bites will become federal cases.

In a message dated 7/14/2010 4:08:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, rhudy@... writes:

Has anyone on this list gotten a bacterial infection from broken skincaused by a mosquito bite, or scratch, etc..? What happened and whatdid you do about it? I should have remembered to totally disinfect thebite on my leg, now it's a little red and irritated, and I'm worried. Itake regular showers and thought nothing of it until today. Seems likewe ALWAYS need to remember that we immunocompromised, everywhere on ourbodies. I usually do, never touching doorknobs in public without atissue or using my clothing to grab them, and wash my hands constantly.I thought nothing of the little mosquito jab, now I'm worried.Thanks,Ellen

[Guest guest]

Be sure your reaction is not a cellulites infection - swelling that spreads under the skin becomes red, hard, and hot to touch. I killed the mosquito while it was biting me that left me with one that spread from fingertips to elbow. These need to be treated with a prescription antibiotic - usually keflex or augmenten,

PatOn Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 4:24 PM, <jb50192@...> wrote:

 

Ellen - the infected bites are unfortunately part of the package - I have a small getaway in PA, and get bitten constantly, no matter what product I use to try to prevent it - I try not to scratch (that's what usually causes the infection) and in 3-4 days it subsides. Exercise usual care, keep it clean, and eventually it'll go away.

 

It's that damned old immune system. Right now I'm taking care of FIVE open wounds on face and scalp (excisions, biopsies) of squamous and basal cell carcinomas. I spend 30-45 minutes a day cleaning and re-bandaging the various surgeries. Same thing. An immune system asleep.

 

I am not aware of much you can do about these things except taking normal precautions, dressing well, putting on Deep Woods or something, etc.

 

As long as your immune system is not working right, your bug bites will become federal cases.

 

 

 

 

In a message dated 7/14/2010 4:08:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, rhudy@... writes:

 

Has anyone on this list gotten a bacterial infection from broken skincaused by a mosquito bite, or scratch, etc..? What happened and whatdid you do about it? I should have remembered to totally disinfect thebite on my leg, now it's a little red and irritated, and I'm worried. Itake regular showers and thought nothing of it until today. Seems likewe ALWAYS need to remember that we immunocompromised, everywhere on ourbodies. I usually do, never touching doorknobs in public without atissue or using my clothing to grab them, and wash my hands constantly.I thought nothing of the little mosquito jab, now I'm worried.Thanks,Ellen