-----Original Message-----
From: Robert L. Wells <[email protected]>
To: silver silver <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 1998 7:19 PM
Subject: Emergency help needed with diagnosis!!
What you describe sounds like a spider bite. I was bitten by a brown
recluse spider some years ago. I didn't even notice the bite at first. I
first noticed a flu-like illness. I felt rotten and stayed in bed. Later
noticed a large reddened area with small blisters in the center. The
reddened area was pretty large - about as big as my fist with many tiny
blisters.
Because of the breathing difficulty, I believe that steriods were
warrented. I think your daughter is having an allergic reaction to spider
venom, which should clear her system soon. When I was bitten the doctor
didn't know what caused the reaction but gave me steriods and I got better.
It is possible that it is Lyme, though the rash sounds more "angry" than
the average Lyme reaction. With Lyme disease, acute symptoms usually begin
with red circular patch that appears usually 3 days to 1 month (an average
of 7 days) after the bite of an infected tick at the site of the bite. The
patch then expands, often to a large size. Common sites are the thigh,
groin, trunk, and the armpits. The center of the rash may clear as it
enlarges, resulting in a bulls-eye appearance. The rash may be warm, but it
usually is not painful. The lesion may be warm to touch and described as
burning or itching. The patient may also experience flu like symptoms such
as fatigue and malaise, arthralgias, myalgias (backaches, stiff neck),
enlarged lymph nodes, fever and malaise. Most people do not develop all
symptoms and the symptoms may be mild and therefore unremarkable. Some
people will not develop a rash and asymptomatic infection can occur.
Lesions fade after about a month without treatment. With antibiotic
treatment lesions resolve after several days.
Allergic reactions to tick saliva usually occur within a few hours to a
few days following the tick bite, but usually do not expand and normally
disappear within a few days.
I hope this helps, it sounds like you are doing everything possible to care
for your child. Stephanie Dallam, RN, MSN, FNP
>Valerie has been writing an urgent plea for help on the Lyme
>newsgroup since yesterday. She has a daughter who is very
>ill from an apparent insect bite. I am going to post pieces
>of her various posts below. If you have any ideas, please
>contact her directly at the addresses she gives:
>
>You can email me through this address of [email protected]
>until the 13th -
>then you'll have to email me through the [email protected]
>email address.
>
>Hello,
>
>I'm writing to see if anyone here can give me some
>help/information. The
>story... so far...
>
>May 3 - daughter's arm - bug bite looking mark.
>May 4 - daughter's arm - bug bite turns to "ringworm" look.
>May 5 - daughter's arm - ringwork look fills in, becomes
>VERY RED, hard and
>begins to sweel, looks "bubbled".
>May 6 - daughter's arm - the "bite area" now has doubled in
>size, the area
>around it looks "whelped" like an allergic reaction, her arm
>looks like a
>huge knot. We take her to the emergency room - shortness of
>breath (already
>an asthma established patient), stomachache and of course,
>her arm hurts.
>
>The ER doc thinks its a Spider Bite - and puts her on Keflex
>antibiotic, and
>60 mg of prednisone in the ER.
>
>May 7 - afternoon - my daughter is worse, hard to walk
>around without
>shortness of breath, headache and bad stomachache. Slight
>rash around the
>"bite area" - she looks like she hasn't slept, but thats
>about all she's
>been doing.
>
>Doctor says its just an acute allergic reaction to some sort
>of bite, though
>he doesn't know what bit her. Says to discontinue all
>Medication, except for
>Benadryl, but puts her on a 5-day dosage of Prednisone, for
>her asthma.
>
>I discontinue the med's, and within 12 hours, she's worse
>and so is the bite
>area. I put her back on them, over the weekend. Saturday she
>sleeps most of
>the day away, headache and stomachache, arm hurts and
>shoulder hurts. We
>keep icing it, antibiotics, etc etc. Sunday she seems
>better, until
>nightfall.....
>
>May 11 - Back to yet another doctor (#3 to be exact) - this
>one is concerned
>about LYME Disease! Scrapes her arm for a sample, says its
>definitely not
>ringworm. We begin blood-testing for Lyme Disease, and she
>has to have
>another blood test in two weeks to determine???? Tomorrow
>morning, she has
>an appointment with her Pediatricain (Doc #2 - who seems to
>have thought
>this was nothing).
>
>Daughter's head hurts so bad, she says it hurts worse when
>she lays down.
>Her neck hurts her, her should and arm hurt and down to her
>wrist now. The
>bite area is still improving - but she looks worse and feels
>worse. We're
>still on Keflex, neosporin ointment, one more Prednisone
>pill, and of course
>Benadryl. Tylenol no longer makes her headache feel any
>better at all, so
>we've switched to 200 mg Ibuprofen per Doc #3's request.
>
>Anyone - comments, help, suggestions, pictures of the
>bite/rash (I've only
>found one on the net so far, but I've just started my
>search!). I have
>little time to spend on my own research at this moment, as
>she wants and
>needs my time and attention. I'd appreciate anyone who can
>help me,
>please.... she's the only little girl I've got - and even
>so -
>unreplaceable at any cost. I feel like these Docs are a
>bunch of quacks,
>except for possible the one we saw today - so why did she
>refer me back to
>quack #2??!?!
>
>Signing Off, With hopes that my prayers will be answered -
>by
>answers/help/comments from anyone out there who reads
>this... my sincerest
>of thanks in advance....
>
>Valerie, Mother of Amanda-age 11
>
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