Is it possible to be bitten by some poisonous insect in your own house in the UK?

When I woke up this morning I was gently bleeding from three different places - two on the hand, one further down. The three sites have remained painful - like a piercing needle without let up, my hand has been tingling for much of the day, and now I've noticed swollen glands.

I thought this was a safe and temperate little island where we didn't need to worry about such things. Does anyone know?

Can this remain a picture free thread please? No bites or their potential causes to appear as visuals. Thanks.

If it happens in bed, it could be bed bugs.

Then again, some spiders can give you a nasty nip. I've been bitten by them on more than one occasion.

Also, centipedes can stab you with a venomous needle.

A Devil's Coach Horse beetle can carry a nasty bite.

There are also some flies that can stab you with their proboscis.

According to Wikipedia, bed bugs often produce a line of three bites. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug

I don't have bed bugs!

Could be a false widow spider bite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis

Cooties?

Some kind of spider bite x3 makes sense. If it was one of the other suggestions it would've happened last night as well and it didn't. I was really ill last night due to this - shivering but hot.

You'd have to think about when it might've realistically happened.

I'm guessing in the night, but think back.

The symptoms sound very like a false widow, which have become more common in the UK in last decade or so.

Painful rather than itchy with accompanying nausea/fever-like symptoms.

I'm betting you've dared not look at the wiki link I provided because you're such an utter fanny, but they don't look all that different from the common 4-spot golden orb weavers you get spinning large webs across autumnal gardens (large, b*lbous bodies marked with brown spots, small thorax and not overly long legs).

The only thing is:

1) It's still unbelievably rare (despite Daily Fail-like stories of infested primary schools).
2) They're very docile and shy and only bite if squashed, pinched or generally attacked.
3) The idea that one (or even more!) would bite you multiple times is stretching credibility beyond reason.

I'll have to wait to fire up the laptop. I can't look at ugly pictures of things on my iPad because the clarity is so good and it's closer to my face.

I wonder if it might be twice rather than three times. The third (second on hand) site could conceivably have been done half asleep with a nail when I reached to examine myself with the good hand. That third area is flat. The other two are still swollen like an actual bite.

Without being entirely specific as to the off of hand site, let's just say I had to forego underwear yesterday after quickly realising that knicker elastic was causing extra pain and pressure.

I was definitely asleep in bed when it happened. It could have bitten me on the hand and then run off down the bed under the covers - perhaps I turned over or something, and hypocritically thinking it was being attacked, it struck again.

I do still feel vaguely nauseous. Less feverish but aching, stiff joints.

Another 'in the night' hand related trauma.

The other morning I woke up with a freezing cold right hand. It was so stiff I couldn't stretch it out. As it warmed up, an unbearable tingling began, and it keep heating up, beyond all reason.

When I tried to fill the kettle later in the morning, I dropped it in the sink when a searing shooting pain shot through my arm. It's definitely not a heart attack, because it's my right hand/arm.

Swollen and inflamed, and now in burning agony, I called the doctor, the pharmacy, and the NHS - all f***ing useless.

Swelling reduced, some discoloration still apparent. Bruising has begun to spread under the nails. It's so hideous I've had to apply red nail varnish, which I don't normally wear. I've just removed it to check, and been forced to reapply - if anything the bruising has only darkened.

Did you cut off the circulation, in your sleep, by laying on it?

The Call of the Wendigo wrote:

Did you cut off the circulation, in your sleep, by laying on it?

That was my first thought, but that sensation usually goes quickly and doesn't normally end in swelling and discoloration!

No, it was on top of the duvet - I wasn't on top of my hand, my hand was on top of me. At first I just thought because the heating was totally off, I'd perhaps been a bit tightfisted regarding the electricity bill. Then matters progressed as they have.

As ever, my great fear is leukaemia, but it also crossed my mind to wonder if it was possible for a particular body part to die while the rest of you remained alive. Rigor mortis and livor mortis would explain much.

I am concerned by the bruising under the fingernails. I would be back on the phone to my doctor's surgery/111 if that's still there in the morning.

cosmictanya wrote:

No, it was on top of the duvet - I wasn't on top of my hand, my hand was on top of me. At first I just thought because the heating was totally off, I'd perhaps been a bit tightfisted regarding the electricity bill. Then matters progressed as they have.

Might be chilblains. If the flesh under the nails swelled up, it might cause it to bruise.

My doctor is working on the initial assumption that it was caused by either RSI, or my hand being elevated above my heart for an extended period of time.

Like a nazi?

Nightjar wrote:

Like a nazi?

Exactly like a Nazi. I'll have to find a new way to greet people so this doesn't happen again.