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Posted 10/4/2014 4:23 PM (GMT 0)
I got bitten yesterday lunchtime by a very large headed ant, at first I thought it was a Bullet ant which is the Mother of all insect bites! and for a moment I thought I was going to pass out with the shock, but after quickly looking online I discovered that this ant didn't have the "horns" which a Bullet ant has. It was very painful, but eased off over time, but then in the evening I had palpitations, GERD palpitations in fact, I have had them briefly before so I recognized them, although this was the first time I have had them all night long, so it must have had something to do with the venom I think. My Gardener, a local guy, took a look at the insect which I had placed in a jar, and he said I had nothing to worry about.

Coincidentally I have a chiropractor appointment this morning and I am hopeful that he might be able to help, as I still have the palpitations, but if not I may try taking an antihistamine tablet....any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Posted 10/4/2014 4:37 PM (GMT 0)
Did you take some benadryl? I think you should! Has the redness spread? I stepped in fire ants last weekend. It was very painful. I still have large red bites (though they finally stopped itching).
Posted 10/4/2014 5:45 PM (GMT 0)
OMG that's awful!!! I don't know if this will help a bite like that (never experienced an ant bite in my life) but Vichy makes this amazing spring water spray that heals all kinds of bites, and it works on all kinds of skin irritations, even canker sores in the mouth, burns, rashes, bites, eczema, etc...they sell it at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Posted 10/4/2014 7:33 PM (GMT 0)
Aren't you in Costa Rica?

Arizona has 318 species of ants identified so far. The most of any state. Even experts have trouble identifying ants.

Costa Rica probably has 3000 species of ants.

The fire ant is non-native and is displacing the harvester ant family in Texas which has the strongest venom of any ant in the US. I have Maricopa harvester ants in the yard and they hurt like hell. Worse than a bee string but not as bad as a bark scorpion. We have these tiny red ants that are really vicious and hundreds get on your feet and start stinging. Each sting isn't much but 50 at once hurts like crazy.Fire ants are bad because 50 sting you and the venom is pretty strong. Fire ant bait works really well on harvester and fire ants. They feed it to the queen and that is that. The queens are HUGE blobs and live for decades

You can't do much for ant, bee or scorpion bites unless you are allergic. If you were allergic you would probably have already needed to go to the hospital. Wash the bite and try ice or heat. Ice works on me some.

I live in the US county with more poisonous snakes than any other and lots of poisonous spiders but Costa Rica has us beat by a mile. I haven't gotten bitten by a poison spider or snake yet.
Posted 10/4/2014 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
One day ants will rule the world.
Posted 10/4/2014 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
Pink, I bought some benadryl and took some to be on the safe side. I am feeling better, actually the bite mark is hardly noticeable now, I think I was more stressed with the palpitations, but I think my chiropractor has sorted me out, I am so lucky to have him.
Pb4, Not heard of that product, I could probably get it on Amazon though in case I ever need it, it sounds like good stuff.
AZYooper, Yes I'm in Costa Rica, home to every weird and wonderful insect in the world, luckily I don't normally get creeped out, heck I like insects, but I think I got myself well and truly overly stressed out, which is probably why I had palpitations, I have never experienced anything like that before, ever. I also had trouble identifying this ant, as you say there are just so many of the little blighters its hard to give each and every one of them a name. The swelling has gone down now, so actually I think I came out of this experience not too badly.
Gary, well we certainly have more than our fair share in C.R that's for sure.
Posted 10/4/2014 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
I think my backyard is in Costa Rica.
Posted 10/4/2014 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Wow, I had no idea you live in Costa Rica Poppie, how exotic (but the bug issues kinda take away from that a bit I'm sure)...hopefully you can find it (or something similar) on Amazon...now that I know you're in Costa Rica I highly doubt you have a Shoppers Drug Mart lol.
Posted 10/5/2014 4:38 PM (GMT 0)

pb4 said...
Wow, I had no idea you live in Costa Rica Poppie, how exotic (but the bug issues kinda take away from that a bit I'm sure)...hopefully you can find it (or something similar) on Amazon...now that I know you're in Costa Rica I highly doubt you have a Shoppers Drug Mart lol.


Yes we get lots of bugs! I live at the very top of a mountain and we get a lot of tarantulas here, which tends to freak people out no end ha ha!...and I do have to buy a lot of things online, usually from Amazon, its a bit of a pain but necessary for a lot of stuff.
Posted 10/5/2014 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
How is the cost and availability of Mesalamine drugs in Costa Rica? Do you need a RX?
Posted 10/5/2014 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
I can tell you I pay about $150 for a months supply of Mesalamine, Is that cheap? I have no idea, I have no insurance and find I can just manage this. I am not sure whether I could get these without a RX as I always take in my prescription for them, I doubt it actually.

My Colonoscopy if I remember rightly cost me about $325 which I think is cheap, from what I have read.
Posted 10/5/2014 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
Eweee, tarantulas!!!!! You must have really big slippers to kill those things when they creep into your house! But wow, you live at the very top of a mountain?!?!?! That's so wild...I just live in a crap town close to a big crap city lol.
Posted 10/5/2014 5:08 PM (GMT 0)

pb4 said...
Eweee, tarantulas!!!!! You must have really big slippers to kill those things when they creep into your house! But wow, you live at the very top of a mountain?!?!?! That's so wild...I just live in a crap town close to a big crap city lol.

I don't kill anything, not wanting to bore you, but I seem to have got some kind of insect attachment empathy issue..meaning I cant kill anything, I feel kind of ill if anyone kills anything around me, its blinkin exhausting being me I can tell you ha ha ha!
Posted 10/5/2014 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
Yes $150 is reasonable compared to US prices. Colazal is sometimes in that price range but all the others run $600 or more a month.

I was in Mexico and drugs like Mesalamine don't require a RX but no pharmacies seemed to carry it. Wasn't sure if Costa Rica required a RX but a clinic probably would be reasonable if a colonoscopy is $325.

I had a tarantula as a pet in college. A had a pet scorpion and a black widow spider.in high school The black widow was a mistake. It had babies and a bunch got out of the cage.
Posted 10/5/2014 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
I think finding drugs like Mesalamine in small pharmacies in Latin America is difficult, you have to go to the main hospitals here, they usually have them.

I think tarantulas are so very beautiful, I'm not so keen on scorpions though, which we also get, I always make sure I shake my shoes out before putting my foot in them because they do like to crawl into footwear....

I cant say I have ever seen a black widow spider, ha! I bet you were popular!
Posted 10/5/2014 7:57 PM (GMT 0)
I find it kind of interesting that "paradises" have their own hells. I guess for every Yin there is a Yang.
Posted 10/5/2014 8:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, the best thing for any insect bites is Baking soda mixed with a little water,
make a paste and put it on the bite or a sting.
it will take the pain away in no time no swelling either.
i had a wasp sting and my arm swell up so much i had to see my Doc.he told me the next time put baking soda paste on it right a way. this time i had to take prednisone 10mg for a week. that helped me both ways, the sting and my colitis.
Posted 10/5/2014 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
Akinom is correct, I wish I would have remembered to suggest the baking soda (also just watched a Dr. Oz episode a couple of days ago explaining the cornstarch can also aid with healing bug bites too) so if you have either on hand then all you're suppose to do is make a past with some water and leave it on the bite for about 10 minutes I believe.
Posted 10/6/2014 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
Gary....Actually the electrical storms are more of a problem for me than anything else, sometimes the house literally shakes, its pretty scary sometimes, and from my balcony I can actually look down on the clouds, which tells you how high up I am...but the weather is perfect most of the time, so I rarely complain.
Akinom n Pb4.... I will have to get some for sure, that's a real quick handy remedy as well! (pun intended) smilewinkgrin
Posted 10/6/2014 3:42 AM (GMT 0)
I am trying to figure out whether to go tropical jungle this winter or to Ireland or Scotland next summer. Haven't been to many places but my favorite trip was to Trinidad and Tobago when I was 10. My dad was looking after a research station in the jungle on Trinidad while everyone went home for month over Christmas. Giant toads and tree frogs. Lizards everywhere. That's in the house. Oil birds. Huge bats. And zillions of beetles and butterflies. I was thinking of a boat trip on the Amazon but it's really expense and I keep imagining dying if UC because of no medical care in a tent. Always wanted to go to Costa Rica.
Posted 10/6/2014 3:45 AM (GMT 0)
Wow Poppie, where you live sounds amazing...up in the clouds on a mountain in Costa Rica, minus the bugs and scary electrical storms of course.
Posted 10/6/2014 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
AZTrooper...I think Costa Rica is definitely worth a visit since it hosts more than 5% of the worlds biodiversity, and there are so many different places to explore, with people mostly gravitating to the beaches and parks. There is a National Park in Manuel Antonio which I have visited and that was a lot of fun, with sloths, monkeys etc. Actually my daughter headed off today to Puerto Viejo with some friends, a very popular place, lovely beaches, very tranquil.

pb4..Thanks, It is lovely, but honestly its not really "Pura Vida" all the time, like any place it can be quite hard living here at times, and whilst its true i love to open my curtains in the morning and greet the sun, sometimes I don't even venture outside, and the most exotic experience I have every day is drinking from a fresh coconut ha ha!
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