“There’s something wrong with me,” I said to Jack in the middle of one night last week.
“What is it?” he asked, snapping awake.
“My lips are tingling, and so are my hands,” I said. I hadn’t wanted to wake him, but I was scared. It probably wasn’t a heart attack or a stroke, we decided, so the mystery malady could wait for the doctor and the morning.
The night before, as Jack and I sat on the sofa watching an episode of the BBC’s Robin Hood on our imac, I’d felt a flash of intense pain in my ankle. I’m talking ten-on-a-scale-of-ten pain. I examined my foot, but couldn’t see anything. Nonetheless, the area felt tender and began throbbing. “What the hell could it be?” I asked Jack, as I swallowed an aspirin and limped to bed.
An Internet search for possible causes turned up some possibilities I didn’t like too much. And the doctor ordered a plethora of tests, but the diagnosis came from an unlikely source: a girlfriend.
“That sounds like an insect bite, ” she said.
“Wait a minute!” I said. Jack found a scorpion in here the other day!”
Sure enough, the area was swollen and red, and Jack found the puncture mark. Back on the Internet, I found, under scorpion stings, that reactions can include tingly lips and hands. Just to make sure, I called a friend here who’s an entomologist. “Sounds like a scorpion sting to me,” he confirmed. “But don’t worry,” he said. “in Costa Rica, there are no deadly scorpions. Whew.
It could have been worse, I tell myself. At least it wasn’t a botfly. Those nasty little critters leave the gift of larvae behind when they bite. Gross! I’ll take a scorpion sting anytime.
Your experience reminds me of the time I woke my husband with what seemed to be an allergic reaction to mussels in Brussels. A double dose of Benadryl put me to sleep, and when I finally woke up in mid-afternoon the next day, all was well. I hope your scorpion sting is all better by now.
Who would have thought I’d be relieved to have been stung
by a scorpion?
i am glad to hear that was all it was. not good, but identifiable!
Hi Betty Ann,
Yes, I’m fine. When I woke up the next morning, my hand was still tingling, but that only lasted a day.
Alas, there’s no way to keep them out. In fact, I just found a small one in the bathroom. Luckily, I saw him first!
Myra are you all right now ? and what do you do for that?and how can you keep them out of the house.