I have been bitten twice by brown recluse spiders here in Texas. Neither time did I notice the bite as anything usual until tissue necrosis set in. It could have been a mosquito or ant bite for the first few hours – I never had any significant pain. The first time was on my arm, and I swelled up in my face to the point my left eye swelled closed. The swelling was more on the same side of the bite. I was treated at the emergency room for an allergic reaction with a Benadryl injection. The swelling and ill feeling cleared up. Later, I got the classic black sore ringed by red. It never hurt even though multiple layers of skin dried up, decayed, and fell off. I kept it covered and doused with antibiotic ointment. I could easily see the layer of fat underneath the skin when it was at its deepest. It took a while to heal, but left no scar. My skin loss area was never bigger than a 50-cent piece. The next time I got bit was on my nose. My reaction was about the same, but the skin loss was only the size of a nickel. My doctor said I would need a skin graft, but my nose healed with only a minor divot that I don't think is very noticeable. It healed much faster on my nose than it did on my arm. So, in my case the bites were not so bad.

I was bitten on my thumb *IF YOU ARE BITEN DO NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY.* My thumb doubled in size and numerous puss filled boils began popping up. I went to see a surgeon and he performed surgery the next morning. He sent me home with the thought that I could potentially lose my thumb because I had waited too long to see him and the venom had set in the bone. I have arthritis and my thumbs are a little crooked. HOWEVER, the thumb that was bitten now looks like the numeral seven. It actually bends that far over to the left now. The doctor said the spider probably had bitten me in or around the joint forcing a break in the mid joint. I didn't mention how painful this whole thing was too from the bite to post surgery. This has been a nightmare.

I was bitten by a brown recluse a week ago. It started with a big red circle that itched like crazy, then started to sting and puff up. By morning it was bruised in the center and getting quite painful. I went to my doctor and she prescribed Keflex and prednisone. I read a lot about home remedies as well and started using activated carbon from the fish department at Walmart). I crushed it and added just enough water to make a paste. The Internet said to bandage the wound with this and change several times a day. I also read to take 50 mg of Benadryl four times a day. This makes me feel like a zombie but is has improved the bite drastically! I went back to the doctor on Friday for her to check it and she was amazed at how much better it looked. I go back Thursday, she said she to keep doing what I'm doing because it works! Just wanted to let everyone know about what has helped me, hoping it may help someone else. Thanks.

I was bitten by a recluse spider about two days ago. It just started out as a red bump like a mosquito bite, then it started to swell and looked like a boil. Then I started getting the fevers, chills, and hot painful red areas around the bite. I went to the doctor and got an antibiotic. This is my third bite. I also live in Michigan and have had this issue.

The bite started out as a painful small red bump with a small black dot in the middle. It kept getting bigger and color changed from red to purple to black with the center of it growing into a blister. My doctor informed me that if I had waited another 24 hours for treatment, there would have been some bone loss because the venom was sitting on top of my leg bone. I was bitten while sleeping and was not aware of the bite cause until after surgery three weeks later. I had to pack the wound three times a day after three hours of surgery plus endure whirlpool physical therapy for six months until it healed. I took a wide range of antibiotics and the final cost of treatment was about $13k. Who knew the damage a small spider could cause?

I was bitten on my wrist by a brown recluse. Eight hours later my hand was three times its normal size went to my plastic surgeon and he explained that I was going to have a skin graft. I went home and my friend told me her grandmother's home remedy, which was to soak this in Epsom salt as hot has I could make it. I did this for 24 hours almost every two to three hours then soaked gaze in the salt water and applied to effected area. The next day bite started to drain and swelling subsided and look healed, On the 3rd day went back to plastic surgeon, he laughed and wanted to know what I had been doing, after I explained, he stated I was going to put him out of business. This truly works, I was bitten a second time repeated process same results. Good Luck!