To see a GP for this?

Was coming on to say exactly this and was also wondering whether its your first time abroad or first time bitten? You sound very anxious about what is a normal, albeit annoying and irritating, part of holidays or travel for millions of people. Its perfectly normal if you have been bitten a few times for some bites to be worse than others. Your initial photo just looks a normal bite that many of us experience every time we're bitten and take antihistamine and use steroid cream. I was in the South of France a few weeks ago and got some awful bites. I was told they have Tiger mosquitos there now which cause a bigger reaction so it may well be that Italy also has them. But yes, look for signs infection is spreading or cellulitis and then go to a Doctor if you have these.
As an aside, if you really cant afford an upfront fee to use your health insurance then you should apply for an EHIC card which give you free medical treatment across Europe.

You might be lucky too…some people do react to the bites much worse than others do.
Taking precautions is a good idea for everyone though.

Do you know your blood type IP? I have O negative blood and because that means you can't accept any blood type but your own your body can have a nasty reaction to a mosquito bite where it has previously bitten someone else with a different blood type. That may explain why one bite causes a huge reaction (which may or may not have turned infected) versus the others being fine. I have the same response as you to bites quite often but not always. Mainly when my AB + husband is around 🙄

Why would you pay to see a private gp? If she's got an infected bite she's worried about why wouldnt she seek help on the NHS? I say this as someone who hasn't visited the gp since 2015, so my threahold is pretty high for seeking help! If you are worried about something why on earth wouldn't you submit an ask my gp, you can usually upload pics and they will decide on whether to just offer advise, prescribe you something or if needed get you in to see either a nurse practitioner or the gp for them to take a look.

You are allowed to use the NHS when you are concerned about something health related!

It really is better to avoid bites in the first place. Next time use a proprietary anti mosquito spray on all exposed skin. Keep windows and doors closed at night, use a room spray to kill off any in the room. At dusk cover arms and legs with long sleeves etc. I travel all over the world and rarely get bitten by taking personal responsibility to avoid it.

Don’t be daft.

It always amazes me when people ask if a taxpayer asks other taxpayers if she should use the service she paid taxes for. As if a taxpayer should only use it when close to dying, as if it is dipping into the charity box, this unique and treasured experience. This and allowing a receptionist to triage you. Truly uniquely British experience.

Agreed, of course you can see a GP over this.

mine always look like that 🤷

Please don’t waste the GP’s time. If it becomes infected you’ll know about it.

It looks like you’re developing an allergy. They typically get worse every year. Mine started out like this a few years ago and now they are the size of an apple. I’ve never had an infection or been to the GP about it and the pharmacists in the UK are never concerned. I think it might be less common in Europe to react like this to bites.

Infected insect bites are covered under the pharmacy first pathway so visit your pharmacy.

Her bites are healing. She would only need to go to the GP if they were getting worse.

Definetly go to the GP - I had an insect bite that I thought was ‘just an allergy’ and ended up needing 4 courses of antibiotics after it was actually infected.

Another person with nothing better to do than make a big drama out of things. Rushing to the GP. Next they will say they were blue lighted to hospital.

As a pp says. All you wanted is for someone to tell you to bother the GP.

@togoornottogoto please ignore @RosesAndHellebores as she is being ridiculous! Her "this is not ....." is exactly what the NHS is for! Every person who pays taxes, already pays for the NHS. Just because the NHS is falling apart at the seams, does not mean that anyone who is entitled to use it, shouldn't.

You have a health worry, our GP's are general practitioners, which means that they are there for our general health worries. You have a genuine health worry OP, you are not calling an emergency ambulance to take you to hospital because you have discovered an ingrowing hair, you will just be attempting to get an appointment to see your general practitioner, about your health worry. As it happens, skin infections can become very nasty, so that is an added reason for you to see your GP. 💐

I just found this at 9.12 in the morning, on Friday 4th September! Sorry, but I don't know why it didn't post, maybe I forgot to press 'post'? Hopefully you are all sorted out now, and completely well.

Nurse here. That photo doesn't look particularly concerning (although it's very different from your description) especially as you say the bites are calming down now. They would be healing after 4 days anyway so you have no way to be sure it was the antibiotic lotion.

If they continue to heal you have no reason to see a GP. Maybe speak to a pharmacist before you go away again and they could advise on preventative measures.

If they are not healing or they start to get worse and show signs of infection (swelling, increasing redness, heat, increasing pain, fever, chills etc) then it would be worth speaking to GP.

This is utterly ridiculous. The point of going to a GP is in part preventative, in case this develops into something much more expensive for the NHS to treat. Many GP practices now work on the basis of a triage system so that minor issues can be dealt with by nurses or other junior staff, so NHS resources are used as they should be.

The op did not intend to see her GP about these prevailing bites as she is presently out of tthe country. She suggested a GP appointment to discuss why she reacts badly to bites. Many people do, we manage it, usually with otc remedies, including antihistamines. That is what I think is inappropriate use of GP time.

I react badly and with an infected, tracking bite, usually involving half a limb, of course I've sought oral AB's, formerly from a minor injuries unit with a nurse practitioner, nowadays via a UK pharmacy. The op's pictures that I have seen do not indicate that level of severity.

I would not waste my GP's time discussimg why I react badly to bites. It's well documented from reliable sources on the internet.

How are you today?

if the redness is tracking and getting bigger, you need to see your gp, or go to a and e. That’s an emergency and needs strong antibiotics.

First time this happened to me I had three bites that had blistered to the size of a 50p coin. I went to the doctor and they gave me all the paraphernalia to pop and dress the blisters, 45 years on I can’t see them doing that! Like others I now take antihistamines a couple of weeks before i go away but I’m now starting to react badly to being bitten here. In fact I went to see a pharmacist last week because I had three tiny bites that had caused a welt across my leg. He thought the bite may have caused cellulitis and gave me antibiotics.

Thing is by the time you get back home the bites will have healed so going to see a gp is pointless as there’ll be nothing to see. I think from here on you will need to take more precautions to avoid being bitten and ensure you have antihistamine creams and pills with you when abroad.

I get like this when I’m pregnant. I’d go see a pharmacist - they can prescribe more in Italy than they are allowed in the uk

Any GP will tell you that they'd rather see a dozen false alarms than miss one dangerous bite

Of course it's what the NHS is for. It's a service we pay to use if we think we have a medical issue.

No, you're ignoring people who disagree with you.

Risk of cellulitis. See a pharmacist and if they think its appropriate, a doctor.