Bit By A Snake Unawares?

[wpcoe]

Do you think it is possible to incur a bite from a golden tree snake without being aware of it? Bear with me, I have a thought process behind my paranoia.

Behind my townhouse in Hua Hin is an open field full of typical wildlife, including snakes. Over the six months I’ve lived here, I’ve had five (I think ... I’ve lost track) snake sightings in my kitchen. My kitchen is sealed off from the rest of the house. Each time I observed where they exited, and my landlady had the exit routes sealed. Last week involved removing a wall-mounted exhaust fan and replacing it with a pane of glass. Also, the fire department recommended putting a two meter stretch of metal (aluminum?) across the top of the wall, since snakes apparently can’t climb metal. That was done a couple days ago.

This past Tuesday I had a strong, but dull headache that would not go away. I took 50mg Tramal at night and again in the morning when the headache was still there. When the Tramal wore off, the headache was mostly gone. I still have a very slight dull sensation, but it’s ignorable.

I go to a gym every Mo/We/Fri for a two-hour workout. I sweat a lot even when at rest, and when I work out, I get absolutely drenched.

Friday, about 40 minutes into my workout, I stopped sweating. It was bizarre: I could feel my skin dry up and I felt warm. I stopped my workout as I feared heat stroke if my body cooling was shutting down. After I showered and dried off, I *stayed* dry, when I normally continue sweating for several hours. My usually oily face stayed dry that evening. I was lethargic all evening.

Today (Sat.), I went to have blood drawn in advance of a meeting with an endocrinologist on Monday for my four-month check-up as part of testosterone therapy. The routine nurse's check as follows:

Body temp: 37°– my normal body temp is 35 to 35.5°, so I was running a mild fever

BP: 138/79 – my normal BP is 110/75 to 120/80, so I had elevated BP

I came home and slept most of the afternoon – the lethargy continues. Then, when leaving for dinner, I picked up my keys off a small bookcase by the door. When I was locking the door from the outdoors, I heard something fall (“plop”) on the floor. I almost continued on my way, but something made me go back to see what I had knocked off the bookcase. It was another snake, this time in my living room – the main part of the house. <sigh> My optimistic working theory is that this snake was in my home before the fan was removed, and has been trapped in here for the past week. My lovely next door neighbor thought it was cute to plant in my mind that I might have a family of serpents living inside my home.

I recall seeing on TV a report about some dangerous venomous snake (in Malaysia or Indonesia?) that would bite people as they slept. The people slept on the floor, and would roll over onto the snake and it would react by biting. The bite would not wake them, and when they awoke they didn’t realize they’d been bitten until it was (usually) too late.

What are the chances that I might have a snake bite someplace that I can’t see? I know golden tree snakes are "mildly" poisonous – their fangs are in the rear of their mouth and the venom "drips" down. I read they’d have to gnaw on a finger for some time to do any real damage, and even then it wouldn’t be lethal. I can’t find the symptoms of golden tree snake venom online.

Barring that, I am at a loss to explain <a> a sudden, albeit temporary, stoppage of perspiration and oil secretion, <b> headache & lethargy, and <c> elevated body temp and blood pressure.

(I debated whether to post this here or in the animal forum. Mods, if you think it is better suited over there, please feel free to move it, with my apologies!)

[Shurup]

Being bitten and not wake up - sounds like a mystery to me, but I am no snake expert so wouldn't know. I am sure though if you were bitten, you would find marks on your body and I am also sure the bite area would be sore or swolen, so take your closes off and check your body, use mirror if needed.

If you can't find info about golden tree snake, try looking for Chrysopelea Ornata instead.

[Sheryl]

I gather you do not find anywhere on your body bite marks. That rules out the possibility that this is due to a golden tree snake bite, as you know they have to bite quite deeply to inject any venom. You'd have felt it, asleep or not, and you'd have visible marks.

The golden tree snake in any event is not poisonous to humans.

The symptoms you describe (fatigue, headache) sound more like a virus. Dengue being oine possibility.

You should have a complete blood count including platlets. Any hospital cab do this.

[grumpyoldman]

OP I work out a lot too, and although never have had the lack of sweat symptoms you describe, have had the other including extremely bad cramping in the middle of the night in my legs.

A year ago I started to take some multivitamins along with making sure I slug at least (usually more), a large bottle of water everyday, as well as keeping water by my bed that I drink at night.

Everything has gone away, I think before there were minerals I was sweating out and not replacing.

Anyway, good luck and follow Sheryl's advice.

[wpcoe]

Thanks for the reassurance!

About this possibly being viral, and even dengue, I thought dengue would be debilitating. Are there might be "degrees of" such things? The headache is now just a dull, vague shadow of its former self and I don't feel quite as lethargic. However, before the endocrinology appointment tomorrow, they will again take my vitals, and if my temp and/or BP are still elevated, I will bring it up in my consultation.

And, yeah, that part about getting a snake bite at night and not feeling it -- even after awakening -- was an eye-opener for me, but the documentary was clear about it. Maybe that particular type of snake has fangs that are uniquely suited to do that. Kind of like how you don't feel a mosquito biting, when you do feel even a small bee stinging? <shrug>

The most puzzling part of my past week was the sudden stop of perspiration. I keep well hydrated while (and before and after) exercising.

[seekingfriends]

OP I work out a lot too, and although never have had the lack of sweat symptoms you describe, have had the other including extremely bad cramping in the middle of the night in my legs.

A year ago I started to take some multivitamins along with making sure I slug at least (usually more), a large bottle of water everyday, as well as keeping water by my bed that I drink at night.

Everything has gone away, I think before there were minerals I was sweating out and not replacing.

Anyway, good luck and follow Sheryl's advice.

hi grumpy . whats your work out routine. what gyn do you use, ? james