Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it normal for people to get hives 4-6 days after being bitten by a crotalid and treated. I was bitten about 2-3 years ago and about 5 days later I got hives from the histamines leaving my system and my top lip swelled up like a duck. None of it hurt it just itched like crazy.

Thanks,

Jeremy

but I'm sure that adverse reactions of many kinds, be it due to the serum or the venom itself, are probably quite common in bite victims of Crotalids (as well as others)...I've heard from people that have been bit that itching at the bite site is quite common, and can even last residually (off and on) for years later.

AP

If you were treated with anti-venin it seems you have what is commonly referred to as serum sickness. Itchiness, hives, swelling and redness are all symptoms of this, and may last for a few weeks. They often do not show up for several days. You should contact your doctor in case some additional intervention is recommended, if for nothing more than some other meds for personal comfort.

Yeah that seems to be the time frame excpet the ithching and swelling were only there for a couple days. The reason I am asking is because I was wondering if it might be a sign of developing an allergic reaction to AV the the venom it's self.

Thanks for the help,

Jeremy

Oh now that I think about it when it gets cold I lose a lot of circulation to the finger that was bit and it turns white. I didn't put 2 and 2 together until just now but that must be why it does that. Any ideas about that?

I was bitten by a cooperhead a few years back and had very simular results but I recieved no a.v. My upper lip swelled like a balloon and the bite area was extreamly itchy . It still itches from time to time . Hope this helps .
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1.0 gaboon viper
1.1. Red tail boa
0.1 FWC
1.0 western coral snake

Accually when I looked at the bill for the medical charges I couldn't find anything saying that they gave me AV. The bill was only about $140 which seems pretty cheap for getting AV treatment. I think I'm gonna call and find out.

Thanks,

Jeremy

if you're hospital bill was only $140, you recieved no antivenin. Actually, I can practically guarentee you that you didn't, and if you indeed did, I want to know what hospital is giving you crofab for $140! A vial of Crofab usually runs around the $700 range...typically, AV isn't given for copperhead bites, but since you didn't mention the seriousness of the bite, I assumed some could have been administered. In all actuality, they probably didn't do much. Did insurance cover any part of the bill? Was the $140 only what was left over after insurance took care of it? If that was the total amount, I would suspect they did little for you but make sure you were stable.

AP

Accually I cannot remember if I had insurance or not. I am pretty sure that the hospitals around here use the Wyeth antivenin but I may be wrong, I need to check. I dont know if that would drop the price much or not. Anyways in my opinion the bite was not that severe compared to many other bites. I had a good amount of swelling and lots of pain for about 5-7 days after the bite but I never ended up going back to the hospital for a check up and everything turned out fine.

Jeremy