Covered in bites and reacting badly...

[KiwiPanda]

Hello lovely MN-ers, desperate for some advice.

I am COVERED in bites. About fifty of them. I don't know what the cause is - I slept with the window open the night before last when most of them appeared so was assuming mosquito, but they are clustered together so I don't know if that would tally. Some of them even seem to be places I can't understand how any insect would get, like my back (I sleep on my back, and was wearing PJs...). People have suggested bed bugs: but is it likely I would be covered but DH not have a single one if it was an infestation? Do I just taste much nicer?

More urgently, I've come up in hives around the bites themselves - should I just take anti-histamines and grin and bear it (am going slightly demented through pain/itchiness) or should I go to the doctor for something stronger than over the counter remedies? Barely slept last night for the pain, only bags of frozen peas on the sorest ones seemed to help. Topical cream does virtually nothing.

take anti histamine, strong one, piriton.
go to gp.

I wouldn't go for Piriton personally (unless you're pregnant since it's the only one any doctor will suggest a pregnant woman can take) - it can make you drowsy and you have to take several a day. I'd try one of the one a day non-drowsy ones like loratadine or cetirizine (you can get them pretty cheaply in supermarkets). And you could try applying some hydrocortisone cream (1% is available from supermarkets/Boots - you don't need to go to the counter, it's usually labelled something like "Bite and Sting Relief") and/or antihistamine cream. Keep an eye on them though - bad bites sometimes get infected.

My dh gets a lots of bites so he uses a lot of insect repellant! (even that isn't a failsafe but it helps).

HTH.

many thanks. I have tried antthisan cream but it only seems to work for a few minutes before itchiness/pain starts again. I've just made a doc's appointment though, got a lucky friday afternoon cancellation.

Mossies go around DH to get to me. Bites are itchy, swollen, hive like and they bruise so I look like I've been attacked by a very small but determined assailant overnight.

I take odourless garlic pills daily as that helps deter them (a bit) and have heavy duty anti-histamine and topical creams at the ready. Most anti-bug repellents don't seem to work sadly.

You have my sympathies though.