Bad Start to the Day
This morning, I got stung by this little f*cker in the shower
I have been stung by fire ants and bees and wasps but nothing hurt as much as this sting. Right now, my entire foot is pins and needles (not numb, but the painful feeling when your circulation returns) and the toe that got stung really aches. I also have other weird symptoms like dry mouth. I also have pins and needles on my tongue and everything I eat or drink tastes funny.
I am lucky -- my wife got numbness and pins and needs all the way up her thigh from a sting on the foot, and she didn't regain full use of her leg for three days.
I know I will get commenters encouraging a call to poison control. We have called before. There is nothing to do short of just gutting it out (unless one goes into shock, where there is an anti-venom but there are downsides to using it).
Update: The pins and needles have moved halfway up my calf. This reminds me of those adventure stories (e.g. Lonesome Dove) where one of the characters has gangrene moving up his leg and there is great suspense as to whether they will get to a doctor in time before it reaches his torso.
Update #2: The tingling is up to my knee now (remember, the sting was in my little toe). My whole mouth has that acidic taste, like biting on aluminum foil, and my vision is a bit jumpy. Given the trivial volume of venom that I received, this is nasty stuff.
Update #3: Up to mid-thigh now. My teeth have pins and needles too. Is that even possible?
Update #4: Walking is interesting. Think of the worst pins and needles you ever had after regaining circulation, and how it hurt to move that limb at first, and that is what walking feels like. It's odd to me that a toxin can mimic the exact same feeling as that of circulation returning. I suppose some medical type might be able to explain this. By the way, though it does freaking hurt, I am trying to treat this with levity because I know it will go away eventually. I don't want to insult people who deal with true disabilities or chronic pain by whining too much.
Update #5: My hands now have pins and needles too.
Update #6: Its now 10 hours after the fact. My entire leg is still all pins and needles but the pain at the spot where the sting occurred is greatly reduced. My hands still are both tingling and my eyesight is still jumpy
Final Update: When I woke up Saturday morning, I felt vastly better. However, I still had tingling in my stung foot as well as both hands. The tingling finally went away entirely about 30 hours after the sting. Unlike other kinds of bites or stings, once the tingling went away, there is no after effect of any pain or even itching. I was lucky -- my wife's arm remained numb and tingling for three days after she got stung on the wrist.
