I was bitten by a brown recluse spider. The bite felt like a little bee sting. It wasn't that painful. After three hours, though my arm was swollen and red. I went to the emergency room and they sent me home telling me it was a mosquito bite and to put ice on it. Eight hours later, my arm was in excruciating pain and it was terribly swollen. I went to a different emergency room and they told me the same thing and to put ice on it. I could not understand why the doctors kept making me feel stupid when I knew something was very wrong. The next say, my arm was paralyzed, so I went to yet another emergency room, where they did x-rays and gave me pain medicine and antibiotics. It worked for a little while and they sent me home. The next day was Monday, and I was able to go see my family doctor who immediately admitted me to the hospital. I am alive and well and able to use my arm because of my family doctor. I ended up at the hospital, where they kept me for four days and the doctor had to remove a piece of my arm. The spider bite was very painful and I would not wish this pain on my worst enemy.

I read a lot of article on the brown recluse spider, and not one said that they are found in my area. I live in western Pennsylvania and seven years ago, my daughter, then only a year old, was bitten and almost lost her foot. My brother also was bitten on two occasions and had to have plastic surgery to cover the area where he was bitten. I was told that the spider hides in mulch and comes out when the mulch is laid down. I took three trips to the emergency room and saw three different doctors before finding out what was wrong with my child.

I never saw or even felt the initial spider bite on the inside of my wrist. That night I thought it was just a mosquito bite. The next day it started to itch, so I applied cortisone. The next day it started to hurt somewhat, so I took some aspirin. The next morning my whole arm was swollen twice its usual size, and I had red streaks up to my elbow. I then went to the hospital where they did a blood test and determined that I was bitten by a brown recluse. They gave me medications, which helped with the swelling. The bite area became necrotic, about 1/4 inch diameter and about an inch deep. You could see the nerve tissues and bone. I treated the wound twice a day, and wrapped it with conform gauze. After 15 years I still have the scar. The doctor told me that there was a chance I could lose my hand, or have permanent nerve damage. The company I worked for at the time said that I was not covered since I did not report the injury within 24 hours. My lawyer said he would get me 2.1 million dollars if I lost my hand. Luckily it healed up okay after a couple of weeks with no loss of function.

A brown recluse spider bite definitely hurts. The first day it was not that bad, but the next day it started to sting and burn. The burning feels like a sunburn under the skin but intense. Then I would get sometimes shocks of pain every once in a while in the area. The bite looked like a bull's eye or a target -- dark center and then a red rash type ring around it. There was also itching involved. The doctor gave me a corticosteriod cream to help the tissue and ice eased the burning and pain.

Really horrible. Nearly lost my foot. Battled infection and was sent on a two year downward spiral of worsening health. Financial ruin didn't make it any easier. Glad to be alive after that experience. My advice, get treatment fast. This would be easier of course were you to have felt the bite right away.

I got bit by a brown recluse on my left cheek of my face. It must have happened while I was sleeping, because I never saw it. I thought it was a zit, because it hurt under the skin so I assumed it just hadn't come to a head yet. I squeezed and poked, but that didn't do any good. Right now my face is swollen about 3x the normal size it should be and I'm having constant muscle pains and fatigue, and I threw up right after eating. I'm not sure if I should go to a doctor because I have no insurance mainly, and because I still have a prescription antibiotic for spider bites from March 10.

Over 20 years ago, I was bitten on my butt by a brown recluse spider. I didn't know at first what had bitten me, but symptoms included nausea, weakness on the lower right hand side of my body, swollen lymph nodes, and the bite continued to get bigger. I was given antibiotics and an ointment for the actual bite. Every year it is as if I have been bitten in the exact same place and the nausea and bite actually appears. My lymph nodes are also swollen. The doctor in Florida told me that this would occur.