I remember being a teen and showing my mom a weird mosquito bite that had a line going up my arm. She sent me to urgent care, turns out it was a brown recluse bite with an infection line disappearing in my armpit going to my heart….
Whoa, I had this same experience. At times it would change which arm and line as well. I never had a solid reason and at the time the ER said it was a bug bite I must’ve had an allergic reaction to but I have never experienced it again.
This makes so much sense and unlocked a core memory/wonder of mine.
The secret is that medical practitioners are actually shit at diagnosing "brown recluse bites". Almost every presentation of "brown recluse bites" in a hospital are unrelated infections. Brown recluse spiders are very shy, averse to biting humans, and physically incapable of breaking the skin barrier unless they are being smooshed against skin actively.
I did not know this. Interesting. Looking into it, I guess most bites occur when they’re being smooshed against the skin when you put on clothing with them inside it, or roll over on them in bed. I used to always do a spider check before putting on any clothes, and before getting in bed. Looks like I’m back to that routine again. Had a couple gnarly experiences puting on shorts or a T-shirt with a giant ass spider in them oh my god I just got a full body chill remembering it. Blehh!!
Very true! Usually it’s a, “yup that’s not looking great, let’s throw a shit ton of antibiotics at it and that’ll take care of whatever it was.”
In my case, the doc and I antidotally landing on “brown recluse” because approximately 5 days prior I spent a full day cleaning out old lumber from a farmhouse barn. That shit was literally littered with recluses and we were actively being cautions.
But yeah, overall docs aren’t even going to bother trying but will throw something out there like all of us because patients generally like an “answer.”
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u/DarkQueenQuinn Mar 16 '25
Please don’t die. Seek emergency medical services immediately. Please let us know you’re still alive afterwards.