returning insect bite

[cridomanda]

I have asked this question to several doctors, the answer I receive is always something like this: It's odd or I have never seen it before.

 

Here it is: Over 4 years ago I was bitten by a yellow and black insect (could have been red and black I do not remember well) on the arm. It was very painful for a few hours and than it was itching for several days. Since then, at the site of the bite, an itching new bump comes up every now and then (last time 2 weeks ago) and lasts a couple of hours.

 

After four years it is becoming really annoying expecially since two years ago after the birth of my third child I started to developing several symptoms that point to an autoimmune disease despite the fact that the doctors after a lot of tests, can not diagnose anything specific yet.

Syntoms are: aches and pains, livedo reticulatis in legs and arms, ear ringing, some diziness, coughing up blood. Syntoms are mild and not always consistent.

 

Could the bite have anything to do with my strange undiagnosed health condition?

Can one insect bite come back over and over again for years?

 

Thank you so much to anyone who have some answers for me.

Cristina

[C_Sagan_Returns]

I’ll start off by saying I’m not an expert (as you might have guessed). So, the big question is, "what would cause something like this to reoccur?"

 

A. Toxin – If the insect injected you with a toxin than that would be the likely culprit for the initial symptoms. Eventually though, this should be expelled from the body.

 

B. Infection – If the insect mediated the transfer of bacteria into you system (i.e. Lyme disease), they could produce toxins, except, like in the first situation, the bacteria would likely die after treatment with antibiotics or just die out over time.

 

C. Virus – This was the first thing I thought of when I read your post. Viruses enter our systems through a wide variety of means including insects and bacteria. Lysogenic viruses like herpes integrate into the chromosome of the cells they infect (skin cells) and rather than just hijacking cells, replicating, and killing the cell (lytic viruses), they lie dormant until awakened. Virulent viral genes will sit there in the chromosome for years, never translated. Then, something (like cellular stress) causes the expression of these genes which leads to symptoms.

 

My Dad suggested it might be Lyme disease which is especially difficult to diagnose. Maybe if you found a specialist, they could help you. Even if it isn’t Lyme disease, there’s a good chance they can help you better than your standard physician.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

 

Check out the picture. That’s a black and red insect.

 

Hope we helped,

CSR

 

P.S.: Where were you bitten (i.e. Country, State, County, Forest/Wet Lands, etc.)?

Edited November 29, 2008 by C_Sagan_Returns

[Irishka]

Why didn't you visit doctors the same day you were bitten? "yellow and black insect" could be poisoness. I do believe though that your symptoms are not caused by this bite of 4 years ago, on the other hand it could be a hidden invection passed from the insect and comes back when you imune lowers. It could be cured by special atibiotics prescribed by the doctors..

[cridomanda]

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestions.

I was bitten in northen Italy and the insect was not like the one in the picture rather a flying insect.

I was tested for lyme disease in 2006 (after about 1 year) because of several symptoms (muscle twitchings, aches and pains, diziness, low energy). The test were Lyme AB IGG/IGM (ELISA) and were negative.

 

I was also bitten by a tick about 6 years ago when I was in Southern Germany but I did not have any rush. I brough the tick to be tested but they lost it (military clinic).

 

Doctors to this day say that I have somekind of autoimmune disease because symptoms improved using Prednisolon.

 

Thanks again,

Cristina

[khelben1979]

I'm not a doctor here, but I can give you some links which might help you out?

 

MedlinePlus and this one.

[Dak]

Here it is: Over 4 years ago I was bitten by a yellow and black insect (could have been red and black I do not remember well) on the arm. It was very painful for a few hours and than it was itching for several days. Since then, at the site of the bite, an itching new bump comes up every now and then (last time 2 weeks ago) and lasts a couple of hours.

 

Are you sure you're not just being bitten again? Is the bump over an easily-accessable artery?

 

some itchy bumps do reoccour, e.g. scabies, herpies, poison ivy (they're all iirc btw) tho i've not heard of them reoccouring in exactly the same place. (IANAD)

[cridomanda]

NO Dak,

It is not new bites. Is always the same only one spot in the forearm not on an artery. When that bite returns there are no other bites or bumbs or itching spots in other places.

Thanks,

Cristina

[Mokele]

How about something simple - the insect left some sort of stinger or proboscis in you which broke off. Your body would get used to it, possibly encapsulating it in connective tissue. Whenever that tissue capsule breaks, or your immune system gets hyperactive, it attacks the embedded foreign tissue all over again, and you get a reaction.

 

Not for sure, but a relatively simple hypothesis.

 

Mokele

[Sayonara]

I tend to agree. A part of the insect itself, or some sort of non-motile parasite.

[profescher]

I think the other replies sum it up quite well.

Your initial reaction will almost certainly be due to a toxin and in warmer european countries there are many insects that leave parts of thier body behind when they bite and then the insect dies. This can facilitate the spread of germs and occasionally larva are transferred, but without identifying the insect there is no hope of an answer there.

 

Other possibilities include viral infection, i see lysogenic viruses have been mentioned and can i just clarify this... Herpes infects NERVE cells not skin cells, it does this because the body will not mount an immune attack on the nervous system and the herpes virus has dormant stages, it is unlikely it is herpes but perhaps a virus with a similar modus operandi. Another possibility is an immune hypersensitivity reaction to a part of the insect left behind.

 

In any case science is about facts and knowledge obtained through vigorous tests, the best thing to do (As you cannot be sure that this and the immune disorder are or arenot linked.) is to wait until it flares up, then go to the doctor, request he/she takes a sample and sends it to both microbiology and biochemistry, the former will look for infectious agents and the latter may be able to determine what sort of immune molecules are present and this could give clues as to the cause. Lastly if it were a hypersensitivity reaction allergy tables should effect it such as piriton (Discuss this with the doctor before rushing off to the chemist!) Good luck and let us know if you find anything out.

 

Remember science does not claim to hold all the answers, it is about finding them out accurately.

[cridomanda]

Thank you,

I'll print out all these suggestions and I will try to find the correct specialist. I will post any relevant findings to this thread.

I sure need answers or, at least, a competent and comprehensive research for answers.

Sincerely,

Cristina

[tayrosie]

About 4 years ago, I was bitten several times (by mosquitoes and little green flying insects). All of the bites went away except for one on my leg, which ended up staying for a couple months. Every few months it comes back for a couple hours at a time and is very swollen and itchy. I've asked doctors too and they hadn't heard of it before either. I've been looking on the internet but can't seem to come up with an explanation that fits. If you find out anything...let me know.

[Roamer]

Often a parasite needs to breathe to survive as well,

you can look around the bump for tiny airholes.

[QTNC77]

Hi cridomanda,

 

This is very curious, my symptoms present the same as yours.

 

In 2010-2011 I visited Costa Rica with the family, and got an insect bite on the inside of my left foot. The bite took easily 3 weeks to resolve, incredibly itchy. Every several months the bite comes back and itches a lot, same place every time.

 

After the birth of my 2nd son, I progressively got ill. Severe chronic fatigue, dizziness, neuropathy in my arms & legs, terrible digestive issues, nausea, the feeling like I was drunk while walking, and the list goes on. The fatigue was so bad, I crashed as soon as I got home, and after 11-12 hrs of sleep, I would still be exhausted.

 

Since I've been diagnosed with 2 autoimmune issues, CIRS and hashimoto's. I am fairly stable healthwise, since I have put the hashimoto's into remission, but my health tends to wax & wane.

 

I would like to talk to you and see what you have found out since. Last post was in 2015. I am happy to share my email address - nancy.chincholi@gmail.com

 

Hope all is well ... I am astounded at how similar our health situation is/was. I am fairly certain we are suffering from the same illness.

 

Nancy

[Lord Antares]

Hey Nancy, you didn't mention visiting the doctor at any time. Did you do that?

Also, none of you mentioned a parasite which may have laid eggs. I know it's unlikely, but those are usually the symptoms that persist. I've watched some ''monsters inside me'' and your symptoms roughly match up with the ones the others were experiencing.

 

Can you go check that?

[QTNC77]

Yes, I was shunted around to several specialties for a good part of 2 years. As you can see, I had multi-organ issues going on -- our medical system is set up for acute medicine, not chronic issues.

 

I then decided to take things into my own hands and demanded food sensitivity testing. It's a rather long story, but I ended up with a Functional Med doc who found out I had tricothecenes in my system (poisons from mold spores). Several rounds of binders, nutrients, dietary interventions etc. have left me rather stable, but I always tend to slip into the fatigue state. As I am now -- tired all the time, non-restorative sleep, etc. Neuropathy (feeling like hot water is running down my leg) in my right leg is now coming back -- this is the opposite leg from the bug bite.

 

At my last appt. with Functional med. doc. I told him that I feel like we are missing something. I'm sure the toxicity from the tricothecenes caused havoc on my immune system, but those tests are coming back negative now. Today the bug bite flared up, and every inch of me is telling me - "something is not right with this". We know our bodies well, and I'm trying to listen. It is the same bite location every time. I just can't seem to figure out what this could be.

 

What do you mean by 'monsters inside of me' ?

[Lord Antares]

Eh, I don't want to scare you, but it might help you as well, so it might be worth saying it.

Monsters inside me is a show about people who were bitten by insects which have laid eggs or otherwise infested the human body. These people typicially lived with the insects inside them for years because it was hard to detect due to it not being a real disease and there not being anything wrong with the organs per se.

 

I'm not an expert on this, so take it with a large grain of salt, but your symptoms do correspond a lot with what I have watched people say about their experiences. Almost invriably, they are really tired and fatigued, they lack energy, they experience varying degrees of pain throughout their body. They also sometimes feel ''moving sensations'' in the body part they were bitten, something you reminded me of by mentioning the moving water sensation. They typically start with a walk through the woords or a trip to a foreign country followed by an insect bite as well.

 

Again, I'm not an expert so I would hate to give you any false alarms, but these things are typically hard to detect as they are one of the last things the doctors would expect. Can you go again to someone who is an expert and express your concerns? Even if I'm dead wrong, it shouldn't be right that you are experiencing pain and other symptoms YEARS after a mere insect bite.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Lord Antares

[QTNC77]

What kind of doctor deals with this sort of stuff? I know if I mention it to my Primary Care he will side-swipe it. Admittedly, I sound crazy when I say it outloud. How could the body not be able to deal with this after this many years?

 

The sensations down my leg are nerve senstations for sure. I had a ruptured disc in my back in my 20's and I know the feel well. It is neuropathy. It doesn't feel like it's inside my skin, it feels like, well, I peed myself.

 

 

[AnnaPiana]

Hi Cristina,

 

I hope your health issues have improved and that you have some answers.

 

I thought I would add to the forum as I have also had a returning insect bite - in fact two - and I also got them in northern Italy - Genoa to be precise. I've had plenty of mosquito and tick bites in my life and these have been different. The first bite happened right after I arrived, I was bitten in the night and the bite lasted about four months, flaring up every couple of weeks or so as you had described. This one went away but I then got another one and it has been about eight months now (intense itching unlike a regular bite that can occasionally last for about an hour - however the bite site itself doesn't look like much, just a small bump). I recently itched it so much that it formed a scab which I thought was probably a good thing because I figured I could squeeze the thing and coax out whatever might have been stuck in there irritating it. That was about a week or so ago. Of course I'm slightly concerned about your autoimmune problems and would like to avoid anything similar. However, I wonder if they might not be related. At this point, the bite is oozing every few days and I give it a squeeze (eww - sorry about the graphic details) it's certainly improved. I'm wondering why no doctor sought to open up your bite and drain it.

 

Anna

[Licia72]

I've had a similar experience. In April 2015, on a trip to Cancun group dinner in the sand I was bitten by sand flies (no seeums) on my ankles and legs, and arms. Those bites itches like crazy, began to oooze a Carmel-yellow clear fluid that would crust. It looked digesting. Clean it and it would ooze again. It dried up after about 2 days but continued to itch intensely. Last day of trip another dinner in the sand landed me with a few more bites. Get home and breakout in hives, large hives that are itchy the hives last a few hours then disappears. I have maybe 3 breakouts over a week and a half. The bug bites continue to itch for months. The two on my arm never go away and continue to itch off and on until maybe a month ago.

 

Fast forward to April 2017, trip to Aruba and another dinner in the sand lands me with new sand flea/fly bites. SUPER ITCHY!!!!! They begin to ooze. After a couple days they dry up and I breakout in large hives again only the hives are worse this time lasting a day and now my skin is ultra sensitive to everything! I was taking Benadryl then stated Zyrtec which helped but made me sleepy.

 

Went to an Allergy Asthma Immunology specialist June 12 he put me on a cocktail of Allegra and Zantac (1 dose of each 2times a day for 30 days). They can't test for things from another country but I'm also severely allergic to dust mites and roaches (mildly allergic to a few other things) which is no surprise to me because I've had a bug phobia since a child. Im always the person in the group when no one else is bit by something I'm bit multiple times. These bites as of today (July 10) on my legs and feet still itch like crazy! The 2 on my arms no longer itch and have flattened out completely looks like they are going away, after 2 years!

 

Side note I've been a Cancun, Aruba, and other island several other times haven't gotten bites and had no issue. Also, there were many others in our group that got these itchybites as well but don't seem to last as long as mine and didn't get the hives. I would like to get to the bottom of the problem and find out how I can get these itchy bites to go away and stop itching. Anyone else have any luck or have suggestions?

[hypervalent_iodine]

!

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