<p>DD has always been the type of person who gets eaten alive by mosquitos. We can all be in the same spot and the rest of us are fine and she will be covered in huge swollen bites that drive her wild. This weekend she went (unexpectedly) to a rural area and no one had any bug repellant and she had no way to get to a store and she has 49 very red, inflamed bites. The internet is rife with treatments for bites --everything from windex to onions to green tea bags. Cortisone cream isn’t doing much to help and neither are antihistamines. Anyhow, I trust the collected wisdom of CC more than the internet at large. We hear Avon Skin so Soft helps prevent them (anyone know if they make a “wipe” version that can be kept in a purse?). I know this is a common problem so I thought we could pool our collected wisdom.</p>
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<p>Primarily due to higher skin temperature and skin secretions of CO2. Mosquitoes are attracted to warmer bodies – 1 degree can make a difference. Prevention by covering (long sleeves/pants) and carrying repellant is the choice.</p>
<p>Skin so Soft does come in a wipe version but I tried it on a recent trip fly fishing in Montana and it didn’t work at all for me. I ended up using a spray that had DEET and fortunately I was wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt so was able to mostly spray it on my clothes. </p>
<p>As for treatment after she is bitten, I strongly recommend Tiger Balm. I lived overseas for many years in countries with loads of mosquitoes and wouldn’t have survived without Tiger Balm. I remember once counting 40 mosquito bites on one calf after an outdoor wine tasting party. My method was to slather the bites with Tiger Balm and then place the affected body part directly in front of the air conditioner.</p>
<p>For relief after bites has she ever tried ‘After Bite Itch Eraser’? It’s always worked well on really bad bites for us. </p>
<p><a href=“http://m.drugstore.com/after-bite-the-itch-eraser-for-insect-bites/qxp13120[/url]”>http://m.drugstore.com/after-bite-the-itch-eraser-for-insect-bites/qxp13120</a></p>
<p>Benadryl spray works well for stopping the itch.</p>
<p>OP: You said she took an antihistamine, but was it Benadryl? That is the only antihistamine that works for itching. Since it tends to knock me out, I take the children’s liquid version so that I can fine tune the dose so that it works without making me too woozy. My daughter was once given the rapid dissolve version after a bite swelled up to the size of a golf ball, but it made her so woozy that she fainted while singing in a concert, so the wooziness factor is a thing to watch. (Fainting while singing is relatively common, but when it happens to your kid who is singing halfway around the world it is a bit unnerving.)</p>
<p>I’m another mosquito magnet. I now take Zyrtec daily during mosquito season. Having it in your system prior to being bitten appears to lessen the reaction to the bites (less swelling, etc.) and it also helps relieve the itching. In the past, when I had a number of bites I used those little round bandaids on each of the bites. It was the only way I found to prevent myself from mindlessly scratching and making matters worse.</p>
<p>Thanks, she will take Benadryl tonight. I was incorrect - she hadn’t taken an oral antihistamine yet because she also didn’t have that with her. Right now she is using a maximum strength cortisone cream. She happens to be at my house and I think I might have a prescription cortisone cream somewhere that she can try and I’ll tell her to pick up a couple of the suggested remedies at the pharmacy when she leaves. The odd thing is she’s away from the source now but new reactions are still showing up. When she was a kid, she’d come home from camp looking just awful. One year her eyelid was completely swollen from a bite.</p>
<p>Not to scare you, but I was bitten so badly in Sanibel at sunset once I had to get a cortisone shot at the doctor 2 days later, as the bites were starting to spread & multiply.</p>
<p>^^
Are you allergic? I think she might be. We were in Italy together once and spent five minutes in a garden and she was bitten so badly that we went to a pharmacy. In Italy the pharmacists are able to give out prescription medications – or at least certain kinds – and they took care of her but it was so bad that strangers in the street commented on the way her legs looked. Maybe she should not have an outdoor wedding when she gets married. She went to one recently and got all bitten up.</p>
<p>I too am a mosquito magnet. My bites always swell up nice and large, take a while to appear, and stay for a long time. Windex honestly works wonders. Spray repeatedly right after being bitten anywhere and everywhere a bite may appear. The bites go away a lot faster and aren’t as inflamed (my mother’s bites would be gone by the next day).
If turns out to be late for the Windex I second the ‘After Bite’ and antihistamines.</p>
<p>Good old-fashioned Calamine lotion really stops the itching instantly, but Benadryl helps with the swelling from an allergic reaction.</p>
<p>For prevention, repellent with DEET is about all that really works well.</p>
<p>I, too, am a mosquito magnet (I like to think I perform a public service by keeping them off other people), have strong reactions to bites, and searched for years for itch relief that really worked–none of the usual suspects did a thing (though After Bite does lessen the reaction if applied immediately after the bite occurs). I finally read about the following, and it has been a godsend: The application of heat will cause the histamines (which your body produces in reaction to the bite and which cause the itching) to chemically break down and dissipate, relieving the itch for hours until new histamines form. The best way I’ve found to apply the level of heat needed is to run the hot tap water until it’s as hot as it gets, hold a metal spoon under the stream for a few seconds, apply the back of the spoon to the bite, and hold it there for 5 or 6 seconds–then repeat. The water should be hot enough to be painful (if your tap water doesn’t get hot enough, nuke it), but not hot enough to actually burn–it may take some experimentation to get the right temperature. The bite will itch madly for a second in response to the heat, then the itching will subside and moments later disappear for hours-as long as 4 or 5. This method has enabled me to fall asleep when my ankles were covered with bites (is there anything worse than ankle bites?), and when bitten I just keep a trusty spoon in the bathroom in case I have to re-do the process in the middle of the night. The repeated application of heat will make the bite redder and angrier looking that it would otherwise appear, but when the bite heals, the redness disappears. Please have your daughter try this ASAP–it’ll will take forever to cover 49 bites (poor baby!), but with each one she’ll feel better and better, and she can start with the ones that are driving her the craziest. (Note if the relief isn’t forthcoming, the water wasn’t hot enough.) Please let us know how things go.</p>
<p>for prevention- limit the amount of sugar/red meat you eat.
wear light colors after dark.
[Malaria</a> - Practical Travel Health Advice](<a href=“http://www.travelhealth.co.uk/diseases/malaria.htm]Malaria”>http://www.travelhealth.co.uk/diseases/malaria.htm)
I don’t ever see many mosquitos but D often travels in countries( India/Costa Rica) with big bugs & doesn’t like malaria meds.
You can also take niacin to release histamine.</p>
<p>mimk6, I’m sorry about your daughter’s misery, and I hope the other posters’ responses are helpful to her.</p>
<p>I am one of those people mosquitoes hate. Everyone around me can be going crazy, swatting like mad, and I won’t even know the mosquitoes are around. I did have some land on me once, when we were in the middle of the Everglades, but they wouldn’t bite me. </p>
<p>I never understood why until I read this thread. Bluebayou’s post answered a lot of questions. When I get my temperature taken, it appears my body temperature is around a full point (usually more than a point) lower than the norm. The doctor tells me it’s not problematic, but I never realized it actually had an upside. Very interesting - thank you.</p>
<p>MommaJ, she was showering when I read your post – she doesn’t live here, this was good luck. She was rushing to get to a business meeting this afternoon, so while she sat putting on her make-up, I sat at her feet like a lady-in-waiting and followed your instructions. She was game for it since she said the hot shower helped some. Of course, it will take a few hours to know. She wanted to put Benadryl cream on after, but I suggested that she not so we could see if this works. She reported that some of them itched with the heat but the itching subsided quickly. I couldn’t get to all of them, but that gives us a comparison. She has the cream with her in case she needs it.</p>
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<p>Seriously!!! This is so interesting. I was about to respond to this thread with something that apparently works for me, and your post confirms it.</p>
<p>Whenever I get a ton of mosquito bites, it’s usually because I’ve been out working in the yard. And 90% of the time, after coming it, I either take a long hot bath (sometimes I shower) so I can sort of loosen up the muscles I’ve exerted while outside. When I get in the bath, I’m itching, itching, itching, and am always amazed that by the time I get out, the itch is gone! And I don’t put anything in the water.</p>
<p>Now it all makes sense.</p>
<p>Another vote for Tiger Balm. The most soothing and effective itch relief I have come across. They come as heat rubs in tin cans, easy to carry around, no spilling and last forever. I buy them at Costco by the dozen and throw them in my camping gear, emergency kits, medicine cabinet, etc.<br>
I am also a mosquito magnet, or as my husband likes to say, I am HIS personal mosquito repellent! Only DEET works for me as prevention unfortunately, so my options are, death from potential carcinogenic chemicals (DEET) or West Nile virus! Choice, choice…</p>
<p>Another mosquito magnet here! here’s a strange but true way to stop the itching…I find that my deodorant works great to keep any type of bites from itching. I use a gel deodorant and sometimes find when I get out of a very hot shower my bug bites are still itching, I use my deodorant and it keeps the itchies away for at least 4-6 hours. I think it has something to do with the amonia in it.</p>
<p>Just a little dab on the spots and the itch is gone.</p>