What a Spider Bite Taught Me About Trauma, Immunity, and the Nervous System

I was 20. Away from home. A spider bite that turned serious fast. Three days in ICU, and on top of it, an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics that were meant to help me.

Even now, it still feels surreal, like it happened to someone else. But my body remembers. Looking back now, I understand why it took me so long to feel like myself again.

Nobody connected the dots at the time

An immune system that had been through the wringer. A nervous system that had experienced real trauma. At the time, nobody put those two things together. I wasn't given any real explanation for why I didn't quite bounce back the way you'd expect a fit 20-year-old to. I was simply told I was fine, physically, and sent on my way.

But being told your symptoms are in your head, or being met with no explanation at all, is one of the most dismissive things a person can experience.

Your symptoms are real, even when the tests come back normal.

Standard testing is designed to identify disease or deficiency once it's detectable. It isn't designed to tell us how resilient your nervous system is, how you're recovering from a significant health event, or whether your body is still adapting after a major stressor.

That space between "nothing's technically wrong" and "something still doesn't feel right" is where so many people, especially women, find themselves for years.

Your body keeps a record, even when nobody is looking

I didn't understand this at 20. I understand it now.

A serious illness or medical emergency doesn't simply disappear the day you're discharged from hospital. Your immune system has responded to a major challenge. Your nervous system has registered a genuine threat to your safety.

For many people, recovery isn't just about healing the original injury. It's about giving those systems time, support, and the right conditions to settle again.

This is part of why I think about health so differently now.

It's rarely just about the immediate event. It's about what that event may have changed beneath the surface: how it influences the nervous system, how it shapes the immune response, and how it affects sleep, energy, digestion, and resilience.

Sometimes those effects settle quickly, and sometimes they don't.

If nobody ever asks about the event that came before the symptoms, it's easy to miss the bigger picture.

Trusting your body, even without a clear explanation

If there's one thing I'd want you to take from my own experience, it's this:

You know your body.

Trust that, even when nobody else is offering an explanation that fits what you're actually feeling.

Standard testing has an important place, but it doesn't answer every question. It can't always explain why someone no longer feels like themselves after a significant illness or traumatic experience.

If you've been through something major, physically or emotionally, and you've never quite felt the same since, that's worth taking seriously. Not because a test told you to, but because you know.

This week I shared Chapter 2 of my own story, the one about the spider bite, the ICU, and everything that came after.

It's taken me a long time to look back and connect those dots myself. If you're still waiting for someone to connect yours, please know you're not alone.

I'd love to help you explore the bigger picture and support your recovery. And if I'm not the right practitioner for you, I hope you find someone who will take the time to listen, ask questions, and see you as a whole person.

This post is part of my "This Is My Story" series, a look at the health experiences that shaped how I practise as a naturopath. You'll find Chapter 2, along with the rest of the series, over on Instagram and Facebook.