I have a hard time finding anyone who reacts as strongly to insect bites as I do. Last month, it was black flies. This month, mosquitoes.
Three nights ago I wore long pants and a long sleeved shirt while mini-golfing. The mosquitoes managed to find places on my feet, my wrist, and my back (through a tank top and a long-sleeved shirt people) to bite me?!
The one on my wrist is bad. I totally had cellulitis (but certainly not as bad as the photos on the link). It was red, raised, warm, bumpy. Not pretty. This morning, I finally decided it was time to invest in benadryl. It has occurred to me to take an oral antihistamine when I have particularly bad bites, but I never actually have. I have had bites that take weeks to heal, even if I am being good and not scratching! At the end of my trip to Africa, I had three REALLY infected bites on my feet (and the scars to prove it). So today I took matters into my own hands. I took the low dose of benadryl alllll day, had antibiotic ointment on it while at work, took an anti-inflammatory towards the end of the day because it was still inflamed, and put calamine on it when I got home to dry it out.
Now it is barely pink and the only bump is where the darn mosquito actually bit me. Nothing like aggressively treating a mosquito bite!
6 comments:
Ouch.. I've never reacted toward bites like that but if I did I'd reach straight for the hard medication I imagine. I don't have a lot of pain tolerance. Good for you for dressing up; it's the only way to stave them off.
LOL... Darn bugs!! I wouldn't leave the house without having soaked in Deet for about an hour prior to leaving.
I'm with Ron about the Deet. So is Schmoopy. And, here's what the Times has to say about bug bites: apparently some people just get bitten more than others.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/exercise-invites-mosquito-bites/
Aurora, seriously. It isn't so much pain as itch and I am REALLY bad at not scratching.
Ron, and to think I almost brought bug spray but though, "No, I'm covering all my skin with clothes..."
KHC, according to that article I should exercise less, drink less alcohol (sadly), and wear white. Huh. Bug spray (and sunscreen) is one chemical I am okay with putting on my skin!
Jenski,
If you used the bug spray you could have not even worn the clothes and been ok...
OK was my ploy for nudity a little to obvious there? Darn I knew I should have been more subtle. LOL
That is a very severe reaction! At least you know how to treat yourself once you've been bitten. I had a friend who used to say "I have lots of blood - I wouldn't mind sharing some of it with the mosquitos if they didn't have to make me itch!"
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