Bites and itchy reactions

[BecauseMyRingBurnsSheila]

As I've got older I react more than I used to to being bitten (I also get bitten when others don't which is annoying )

I take an antihistamine (cetirizine) and rub antihistamine cream (Anthisan) on but they are driving me mad!! Only ice cubes or ice packs calm the itching.

Is there anything I can do proactively to avoid being bitten? Other than spray literally day and night. (Recent bites have been a couple overnight with window open, a couple when outside in a public green space, another visiting a friend so no pattern to them)

And are there better things to relieve the itching other than what I'm using? The ones on my legs are infuriating!! Any skirt falls just on them and any trousers are just hell!

And no that's not a nipple that's my bite 🤣

I live where there are a lot of them. You should net your windows. Use the spiky side of velcro, then the net pushes on (mind your fingers). Be especially careful to use repellent near water and at dusk.

Oh, a different antihistamine can work better too, I prefer loratadine (Clarityn).

No idea. I refuse to tackle our forget-me-not patch because it's riddled with ants and I felt the after effects of the last time they bit me for a full year. I can't take cetirizine (wipes me out) and I took loratadine for maybe the last time, this year, after it triggered a migraine.

Try taking two of your antihistamines rather than one.

Saliva 😀
Sea water or salt water
Rubbing alcohol, when I was on holidays this lady gave me a bottle of stuff, dunno what it was but I was desperate. My bites got infected. I think it was rubbing alcohol, smelled like petrol though

Over the counter antihistamine tablets & hydrocortisone 1% cream

patient.info/skin-conditions/insect-bites-and-stings-leaflet

how about spray with Jungle Formula?

you need to wear long sleeves and long trousers and avoid the woods and long grasses

You can take up to 3 anti histamines and use steroid cream like Eumavate. I had a very bad reaction a few weeks ago and had to have anti biotics.

I don't know how to stop getting bitten altogether but Avon SkinSo Soft moisturiser is good apparently it is used by the Army.

Apply ammonia as soon as you notice the bite. Or, ahem, pee. It’s like magic, and in fact the main ingredient in the afterbite sticks.

Not everyone agrees with this but there is some suggestion that vitamin B helps prevent the bites. Might be worth trying?

My bites remain itchy for literally weeks afterwards, so i cover mine with plasters. It stops material from clothing rubbing them, and means that if I do scratch the bites then it’s through the plaster and doesn’t break the skin/get infected.

Crazy but it works. There's science behind it

OMG I'd need another treatment to stop the irritation of listening to that dickhead mansplaining

😂😂😂

But it works. Some folks use hot spoons that works too

Thanks everyone! I got up in the night to put ice packs on them 😂

The problem with nets and sprays on my skin and long sleeves/trousers is that I'd have to have them 365 days a year because there's really no pattern as to when I get them. Sitting inside at a friend's house on a wet day (possibly fleas but would be rude to ask!), outside at an outdoor event when it was cool and sleeping inside on a hot evening.

I take a multivitamin supplement with vit B in already but anything else I can fit into my routine is helpful. I didn't know I could double up on antihistamines so I'll look into that. We have 1% hydrocortisone for my youngest so I'll try that too. Ice packs seem to work best for me but when I'm on a day out with the DC they're supposed to be keeping the packed lunch cold Plasters would help with the rubbing I think. And I have loads of those round ones you get and never use!

I'll resist the pee but how do I get hold of portable ammonia? If it came in a lip balm type stick I'd be over the moon

I'll look into Avon SkinSo soft as a preventative. Great advice on here thank you!

OK just burned my leg. Let's see if it stings when the burn dies away!

Well. Mansplaining berk though he was it worked! No itching since the hairdryer trick.

Hats off to @justasking111

Try Anusal, or any other cream for hemmeriods, it's the only topical cream I've found that works.

Also, I've found since I developed horrid hay fever, and started taking antihistamines every day from February to october, I still get bit, but don't react as much.

And if anyone can briefly explain the mansplainer gist up thread, I'd be grateful.

@user1471453601

Try Anusal, or any other cream for hemmeriods, it's the only topical cream I've found that works.

Also, I've found since I developed horrid hay fever, and started taking antihistamines every day from February to october, I still get bit, but don't react as much.

And if anyone can briefly explain the mansplainer gist up thread, I'd be grateful.

Do you mean the man in the YouTube video link who spends 2 minutes basically saying 'heat them with a hot hair dryer'?

Thanks @BecauseMyRingBurnsSheila, that says all I needed to know.