Ever had a fire ant bite do this?

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
I woke up this morning with my left leg hurting. A 4 or 5 level. All the muscles from my ankle to my hip...felt like it would after a long hard run (not that I've done that in the last 20 years).

Then I saw...I had what looks like a fire ant bite on the top of my foot. It started itching later in the morning. About noon, I took a couple of benedryl, and both the pain and itch went away in about a half hour.

May not have been a fire ant, but something sure bit me. Anybody else ever have a reaction like this? I usually don't have much reaction at all to any sting or bite....fireants don't do much to me, yellow jackets and mosquitos usually dont leave a mark or welp.
 
Spider? Keep tabs over the next 24hrs and watch the bite site. If it grows consult a Dr. A trick in the army was to use a sharpie to outline the bite and outer redness ring and be able to track progression if suspected that it may get bigger. Biggest worry would be black widow or brown recluse in this area if red ants don’t typically affect you in this way.

Red ants for me are about a 12 hr delay and if bitten in vicinity of a joint (wrist, ankle, etc I'm usually expecting it to be swollen and locked up for about 24 hrs till the swelling goes down).
 
skyhighZJ said:
Spider? Keep tabs over the next 24hrs and watch the bite site. If it grows consult a Dr. A trick in the army was to use a sharpie to outline the bite and outer redness ring and be able to track progression if suspected that it may get bigger. Biggest worry would be black widow or brown recluse in this area if red ants don’t typically affect you in this way.

Red ants for me are about a 12 hr delay and if bitten in vicinity of a joint (wrist, ankle, etc I'm usually expecting it to be swollen and locked up for about 24 hrs till the swelling goes down).
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Also, if the bite site starts to darken or become hard get to a Dr. Immediately as that is typically a sign of necropsy and will soon lead to an open sore as the skin starts to rot away from the venom injection site.
 
kaiser715 said:
Or, I can tell you how I can be elbow deep in poison oak/ivy, and have never had a reaction.
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I hate you even more now.

But I did have a nice pork sandwich for dinner though so it balances out :flipoff2: :laughing:
 
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I was just in our master bath, and found a few little black ants, maybe a dozen total. Not fire ants. Never known these to bite, but they are there. Looked around, they were coming in thru an outlet. Went outside, and checked an exterior outlet that was very close to that bathroom outlet, and sure enough, they were going in there. Did some spray, and put out bait stations. Guess this dry weather has them going inside to look for water.

While hunting the ant source, found one spider, in the tub. Appears to be a black wolf spider. I doubt he was the culprit either.

No more issues since I took the benedryl. Bite looks the same, but doesn't itch anymore. I think some critter got in my boot while I mowed yesterday.
 
skyhighZJ said:
Also, if the bite site starts to darken or become hard get to a Dr. Immediately as that is typically a sign of necropsy and will soon lead to an open sore as the skin starts to rot away from the venom injection site.
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This is why I frickin hate spiders.
 
skyhighZJ said:
Also, if the bite site starts to darken or become hard get to a Dr. Immediately as that is typically a sign of necropsy and will soon lead to an open sore as the skin starts to rot away from the venom injection site.
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Brown Recluse is much like a snake bite, it will look like an infection and then start to rot the area of the bite. The Black Widow on the other hand, within an hour or so, you can't tell where the bite area is, and, no rot, but, the Black Widow bite gives you a big dose of Neuro-Toxin. It attacks the nervous system. The repercussions is that it seems every nerve in your body is attacking you. The best medicine is to get the anti-venom shot, and it works fast. Supposed to be given within 8 hours, but, I know for a fact it still works at over 24 hours of the bite.
 
upnover said:
Brown Recluse is much like a snake bite, it will look like an infection and then start to rot the area of the bite. The Black Widow on the other hand, within an hour or so, you can't tell where the bite area is, and, no rot, but, the Black Widow bite gives you a big dose of Neuro-Toxin. It attacks the nervous system. The repercussions is that it seems every nerve in your body is attacking you. The best medicine is to get the anti-venom shot, and it works fast. Supposed to be given within 8 hours, but, I know for a fact it still works at over 24 hours of the bite.
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Good to know and thanks for clearing that up. Army medicine isn’t known as being the greatest. Lol
 
skyhighZJ said:
Good to know and thanks for clearing that up. Army medicine isn’t known as being the greatest. Lol
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Unfortunately I learned this first hand(kinda) My former step daughter @ 14 yrs old was bitten at the crease between her butt and leg. ER give her Demerall (sp) Which is also close to the same toxin as the spider bite, which escalated and she spent 5 days in the ICU unit.
 
I was changing the oil on the truck in the driveway in shorts and a shirt when something stung my calf below my knee and I brushed it off. It felt like a electric shock and I looked and saw a small, black, slim ant the size of a termite crawling away.It was not a fire ant. 20 mins later my calf was stiff and cramping as walked around for a few hours. Weird the "shocks" would come and go all day. Took about 5 days for the pain to go away.
 
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mommucked said:
I was changing the oil on the truck in the driveway in shorts and a shirt when something stung my calf below my knee and I brushed it off. It felt like a electric shock and I looked and saw a small, black, slim ant the size of a termite crawling away.It was not a fire ant. 20 mins later my calf was stiff and cramping as walked around for a few hours. Weird the "shocks" would come and go all day. Took about 5 days for the pain to go away.
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That kind of pain description sound like a centipede. They are real bastards when they light you up. Got bit by one in Hawaii when we were out playing army camping. Hung my pants on a tree limb to dry after a day of rain and in the morning I just threw em on without shaking them first (young rookie mistake). All of a sudden my taint felt like a thousand fires and needles. Ripped my pants down to see a centipede crawling around looking for its escape route. They gave me some Benedryl and sent me on my way and I walked around like a bow legged cowboy for the next few days as I had a welt about the size of a baseball between my B-hole and dangly boys. Thank god I was living on MRE’s and didn’t have to drop the kids off as frequently!! Fawk that sheet!!!
 
skyhighZJ said:
That kind of pain description sound like a centipede. They are real bastards when they light you up. Got bit by one in Hawaii when we were out playing army camping. Hung my pants on a tree limb to dry after a day of rain and in the morning I just threw em on without shaking them first (young rookie mistake). All of a sudden my taint felt like a thousand fires and needles. Ripped my pants down to see a centipede crawling around looking for its escape route. They gave me some Benedryl and sent me on my way and I walked around like a bow legged cowboy for the next few days as I had a welt about the size of a baseball between my B-hole and dangly boys. Thank god I was living on MRE’s and didn’t have to drop the kids off as frequently!! Fawk that sheet!!!
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You should write a book about the army experience. Between the content you have reported and your writing style, your excerpts are awesome to read. I’m serious, not making fun. You are hilarious. I lol’d on this one.
 
benmack1 said:
You should write a book about the army experience. Between the content you have reported and your writing style, your excerpts are awesome to read. I’m serious, not making fun. You are hilarious. I lol’d on this one.
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Its helps if he's a few beers in. No more, no less.
 
skyhighZJ said:
I’ll try to not be accused of imbibing too much so I don’t offend you like I apparently did benXJ
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Surely you know by now thats not a problem to be concerned about
 
benmack1 said:
You should write a book about the army experience. Between the content you have reported and your writing style, your excerpts are awesome to read. I’m serious, not making fun. You are hilarious. I lol’d on this one.
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I had some damn good times and some bad. My personality is to always look at things with a bit of a lighter side. Many people have often thought me crude to “make light” of the situations I’ve been through but I guess I see it as “ I’m here still (thankfully) and it’s how I deal with certain scenarios I care to talk about.” keeps my spirits up if I can talk about it on a lighter note when possible as opposed to always being dark and dismal.

Don’t want to keep clogging up this thread though. Maybe I’ll start some notes and talk to @Atla and share the spotlight of book writing fame 😂😂😂
 
mommucked said:
I was changing the oil on the truck in the driveway in shorts and a shirt when something stung my calf below my knee and I brushed it off. It felt like a electric shock and I looked and saw a small, black, slim ant the size of a termite crawling away.It was not a fire ant. 20 mins later my calf was stiff and cramping as walked around for a few hours. Weird the "shocks" would come and go all day. Took about 5 days for the pain to go away.
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I get bit/stung/whatever by these frequently - often times unnoticed until they crawl up my pants leg or into my shirt sleeve. I refer to them specifically as 'piss-ants'. You may just be more sensitive to them, but the sensation you describe is 100% spot on. I had one earlier this summer that lasted a couple days, but the rest have lasted only a few hours.
 
Hurley said:
I get bit/stung/whatever by these frequently - often times unnoticed until they crawl up my pants leg or into my shirt sleeve. I refer to them specifically as 'piss-ants'. You may just be more sensitive to them, but the sensation you describe is 100% spot on. I had one earlier this summer that lasted a couple days, but the rest have lasted only a few hours.
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Same here. I swear I can lay down for 3 seconds to get a stick out from under the truck, and a minute later one of this bastards will bite me on the arm or neck or chest.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Same here. I swear I can lay down for 3 seconds to get a stick out from under the truck, and a minute later one of this bastards will bite me on the arm or neck or chest.
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Yep. Use a foam mat whenever possible just b/c I'm likely to get bitten if I don't.
 
shawn said:
Yep. Use a foam mat whenever possible just b/c I'm likely to get bitten if I don't.
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Ain’t quite that fancy, but I’ll certainly use a piece of cardboard if I think about it.
 
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