Jean, Did you ever finish this story? I was looking forward to the finish but may have missed your post. - Steve N
-----Original Message----- From: Jean Baugh [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 12:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: CS>Brown Recluse Spider Bites Hi, This story might or might not apply to a tick bite. About 8 months ago I was bitten 4 times by a Brown Recluse Spider. On the bottom of my foot arch, between the fore and middle finger and twice on my right inner knee. It was actually two bites close to each other on the inner knee. I was soaking my feet and left shin (infection), in Epsom Salt water or I would not have known heat and drawing would help at all. When the first bites happened, my knee itched intensely and I thought it was a chigger bite because I react strongly to these and this was all I could compare it to at the moment. I put 7% iodine on the four bites, thinking it was chigger bites because I'd been working in the weeds on an electric fence, and then working by night lights, brushing cob webs off with a 10 foot long cob web brush. Wrong thing to assume! I soaked my feet and left shin shortly after this in Epsom Salt water and this means my bitten foot and right hand were soaked in Epsom Salts and very hot water. I did not do anything to my knee area. Two hours later my gigantically swollen knee was throbbing in intense pain and I could not sleep for the horrific pain. I decided to use Epsom Salts on the knee the next day but it was too late to change most of the end results. I also used the Epsom Salt water on the foot and right hand twice a day from the beginning. No fan of most doctors, it didn't enter my head to see a doctor until over a full day after this, when I realized I needed a second opinion. The doctor diagnosed it as Brown Recluse Spider bites and by now the knee had blistered and broken open, and was draining. I had a bandage over it. I asked if Epsom Salt water would help. Yes, was the answer. I also had to take two weeks of antibiotics, which I absolutely hate to do, then deal with the most awful pain from the bites, the knee being far and away the worst. The doctor said the drainage was staph and to be very careful and avoid touching the fluid. I was also told more than likely I would have to have the bites surgically cleaned out later. The center of the inner knee bites was a glowing red 2 inch circle and the outer circle was 4 more inches, or a total of 6 inches across. I had no idea if the swelling would keep going or not. The pain stayed intense on the knee for perhaps 2 weeks. The other bites did not blister and break open, because in my opinion, I had treated them nearly immediately after the bites and they responded to the heat and drawing. Not that they weren't painful and swollen but nothing like my knee! In the end, my finger and foot arch bites resolved slowly and were alright. The knee swelling and redness began to recede very slowly and at about week three, after keeping on with the Epsom Salt soaks and antibiotics (until used up), the bite began to take on a black look where the terrible red look was. I wondered if this would have to be scraped out but I think the Epsom Salt did the work and it finally disappeared. It was a very painful, long tedious time of wondering how it would end. No one should ever have to live through this kind of bite and I'm wondering why no one has ever found a cure for it before this. We have a thunderstorm approaching so will close down and continue the story of the next two Brown Recluse Spider bites in the next letter. Jean -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: [email protected] Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
