What has bitten me? It was not a sexy vampire.

March 4, 2015 6:45 PM

Last week, I noticed a small bite on my knee. It disappeared and I forgot about it. Yesterday, an identical bite was on my wrist. Googling "insect bites" is a horrible thing, and none of them looked like mine. More below the fold.

By the time I thought to photograph the last one, it had disappeared. The slightly reddened area was about the size of a pencil eraser, with a redder dot in the middle. Neither of the bites itched. I can't find any others, but they faded fast.

I have newish neighbors next door, and since their Xmas tree is still up I surmise they may not be the tidiest people. My own flat is very clean. Neither of my cats is scratching. Please help me a: figure out what these bites are, b: eradicate what is causing them and c: not completely freak out and lose my mind. (I lost my home and many possessions last year, and have a horror of those things, you know, the ones that live in beds, can't even type the word for superstition.)

Please help me approach this calmly. (Oh, I did find a silverfish in a cabinet last month, and put out the packets. Do they bite?)

posted by 2soxy4mypuppet to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

Response by poster: To clarify, the losing of my home was not because of insects. But I physically had taken pen in hand to sign a new lease when a friend who was sitting home googling called and screamed "That building is infested! RUN AWAY!" I really believe that, on top of the previous stress, if I'd had to deal with that particular problem then, I would have died.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 6:58 PM on March 4, 2015

Best answer: When I get odd bites like these, it's either fleas or spiders. If your cats are showing no signs of fleas, I'd guess it was a spider. The kind that bite me are not the big hairy dudes, they're the practically transparent little guys. A good vacuuming all around the bed and nearby furniture usually gets them. And, no, silverfish won't bite you.
posted by quince at 7:06 PM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I Am Not Remotely a Doctor, but I've been through mysteries like this more than once, and below were some of the questions I can remember that my doctor asked when I got in. You may find it very helpful -- both for your sense of control and therefore calm, as well as diagnostically -- to keep a journal of sorts so you can describe what's been happening in as much detail as possible. (That's IF you get another; fingers crossed that it was two-and-done! (Oh, and for what it's worth, these don't sound at all (to me) like they're from the things that live in sleeping areas.)) No matter what, try as hard as you can to stop googling. If you can, redirect that effort toward calming yourself, maybe with some hot tea, mellow music, a nap, doodling, playing with your cats, whatever helps center you.)

Anyway, just a few of the questions I can remember, for your journal:
1. Although your spots didn't itch, were they painful? Tender? Were they raised/inflamed at all?
2. Did they feel hot (either on their own or to the touch)?
3. Were the central red dots on a hair follicle?
4. Do the spots blanch under pressure? (Press down with a clear drinking glass and look into it to see if the pressure turns the spot white, or if it stays pink/red)
5. Have you been feverish, or runny-nose/sneezy/coughy, or had gastrointestinal trouble around the time of their appearance? Did you have any REALLY strong sneezes or coughs?
6. Have you spent unusual time outdoors, using new beauty/cleaning products, with a new sexual partner, eating something different, new exercise, painting, gardening, etc.?

Do take photographs if you see another, ideally with a ruler (or a penny or something) up close to it in the frame, and also circle the outside border with a pen so you can monitor any changes in size.

I hope these were just two weird but luckily not painful and quickly-disappearing bites from two totally normal and now-dead bugs, and that's the last you'll see or worry about them. Hang in there!
posted by argonauta at 7:58 PM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you both so much. I will make notes, but the marks were painless and, as weird as it sounds, almost pretty. Not raised or anything, and I feel fine. I just vacuumed the bedroom thoroughly, but my bed frame is huge and heavy ... I'll try to take it apart and vacuum under there this weekend.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 8:14 PM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Silverfish are entirely harmless.

I used to get the random inexplicable "bug bite mark" like yours. Random and non-recurrent. I'm suspecting a microirritant (tiny sliver off... something) that causes a person/microirritant-specific mild alergic Th1 reaction. Or it could just be a bug bite. Female mosquitos are the human blood-drinking kind. It's possible that mosquitos that mature at different times of the year have varying immunogenicity of their saliva proteins. I've seen some "winter mosquitos" already this year, but it's been a warm winter in the PNW.

The problem with spider bites is that the immune reaction to the venom is so strong that it can induce localized cellular necrosis that can cause scarring.
posted by porpoise at 8:45 PM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Sorry I swear I am trying not to threadsit but ... I recently got a wool blend blanket. I've had rashes from wool mufflers before, but they were RASH, not one small spot. Is it possible that this could be just wool-related?

I was bitten by a brown recluse years ago and that was pretty nasty. This is not that bite.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 8:52 PM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Probably totally a random scratch from your wool blanket. Your skin immune cells might have gone "ew!" and threw up a bunch of cytokines and got everyone hot and bothered. Metaphorically.

If it goes away in a day or three, no worries. If it persists or gets worse, go see your family doctor/convenient clinic doc.

Stress can cause the immune system to over-react, as can a lack of vitamin D.
posted by porpoise at 11:02 PM on March 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Here to say they might not be bug bites at all. About ten years ago I started cropping up what seemed to be bug bites, but turned out to be a condition called lymphomatoid papulosis. It's no big thing these days - I get a random little red spot somewhere that goes away on its own. I'm not trying to freak you out about a disease, I just hate to see you so upset about your environment when it might not be anything you can control.
posted by mibo at 3:49 AM on March 5, 2015

Best answer: It can't hurt to pull up your mattress and do a thorough search for bedbugs.
posted by pintapicasso at 4:43 AM on March 5, 2015

Best answer: FWIW, bugs of the bed variety tend to have distinctive bites: 3 in a row (usually described as "breakfast, lunch, and dinner") and spider bites generally make a small red ring (that can turn bruisy in color) with a lighter middle. Maybe an ant bite?
posted by sexyrobot at 11:58 AM on March 5, 2015

Response by poster: Thank you all SO much. I want to mark them all as best answers. Tore apart the bedroom and no sign of any critters, and no recurrence so far of bites or whatever they are.

Your responses really helped me grasp calm at a time when I was (irrationally, I know) panicking. Thank you.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 8:29 PM on March 15, 2015