to be raging that i got bitten in ENGLAND

[scarednoob]

BASTARD mosquito got into the bedroom the other night. happily swooped onto profligate window-leaver-opener-and-therefore-all-his-fault-it-got-in-in-the-first-place DP, gave him one solitary lousy tiny bite, discarded him and moved on to feast on me. I have about 8 massive bites that have all swollen up and are driving me insane with itching and looking gross.

it's ENGLAND. I don't expect to be bitten by mosquitoes in my own home on a work night. surely that's the sort of thing that you expect if you go on holiday somewhere nice and hot and exotic and worth it?

bah. also, got any good remedies for ugly swollen mosquito bites on hands, wrists and ankles and legs, apart from lady of the night style long gloves and boots??

Shudder.

As for them being found in countries which are hot, Alaska, Siberia and other tundra-y places are ALIVE with mozzies in the summer. The poor reindeer get feasted on.

The Executioner is brilliant - and very therapeutic. DH hates gnats and used to use a rolled up newspaper to flatten them on the wall. Consequently our walls and ceilings were covered in black and red marks.....(he could never be bothered to clean up his kill...). It's been so hot lately we've been leaving doors and windows open. We wait until dusk, put the lights on full then run around with our executioners zapping gnats. Passes for fun in our house .....

Alaska, Siberia and other tundra-y places are ALIVE with mozzies in the summer

What???!!! I always believed they only lived in warmer places

Surely it's enough of a purgatory living in climates like that, without mozzies as well ...

The problem is that they all go out at the same time in colder climates.

I feel a bit bad about whinging about my bug bites - I'd forgotten that DS2 had a brush with Oak Processionary Moth caterpillars at the weekend and is covered in a horrendous itchy rash. Far worse than mosquitos apparently!

I've traditionally been the tasty one in the family but I've handed that baton over to ds1,it's great. On our holiday they all flocked to him.

Mosquitoes are known to be attracted to smelly socks (example: www.pri.org/stories/2011-07-13/latest-mosquito-repellent-smelly-socks). I also may have known the researcher who first found that out

Not sure what that says about your DS1.

I got that cream in Italy too Thumbwitches, it was the business.

Booked a holiday in the Scottish Highlands, then panicked and bought loads of anti-midge stuff: Smidge, Deet, scarves impregnated with repellent, wristbands, we had the lot. There were a lot of midgies, but they were more annoying than anything. When we let the dog out last thing at night, he brought literally clouds back in with him.

In the end, we devised Operation Airlock, whereby we had to shut the porch door before entering, but as there was only room for one person (or dog) in the porch, this meant we each had to enter separately. The locals must have thought we were crazy.

We did get bitten, although the Smidge worked when we used it. The bites were numerous, and itchy but quite small and did not last.

On our return, DH and I both got bitten (Midlands inner city back garden) by something that turned nasty, in Dhs case got infected and went a funny colour; painful, and incredibly itchy. My whole leg swelled up. Assume it was either a horsefly or a mosquito.

So yeah, one mosquito bite definitely worse than 10 midgies bites.

Avon Skin So Soft to keep them at bay was recommended to me by a GP recently. It works very well on Scottish midges too, I'm told!

What???!!! I always believed they only lived in warmer places Good heavens woman have you never seen a David Attenborough arctic documentary?

DH and I are covered in bites. We can't work out where the fuckers are coming from

Our bedroom is on the 3rd floor, and we have no standing water. We've checked drains, gutters, bins. We've made sure there aren't any buckets or plant pots with water, we've checked with neighbours if they are being bitten.

No clue as to where they are coming from but we are covered in bites. DH has started sleeping in socks after his ankles fot mangled.

Huge sympathy, OP. It is miserable

No sukey I missed the one about the Arctic - I really ought to get the DVD!!

And that clip is awful ...

I know. It makes me itch and squirm just hearing the noises.

Mosquitos don't seem to like me much. They bloody love DH and DS3, though - weird how some people are like magnets to them and others aren't.

I was bitten by a horsefly last summer - that was spectacular. I had a mutant arm - it swelled up like a balloon. DH seemed to think it was payback for all the mosquitos I've escaped.

I take antihistamine tablets an rub tea tree on the bite, still takes days to go down though, just be glad it wasn't a horse fly though, , I look like I've been hit by a cricket ball with the swelling and bruising

Sudocrem. I put some on after I'd scratched a bite raw. It still itched even though I'd made it bleed but the Sudocrem somehow made the itch stop. I now put it on as soon as I get bitten ( quite often. I reckon DH is too hairy and mozzies come to me instead)

I'd read about using white tiger balm before our Italy trip, so had taken that with me - didn't work. Made them worse, if anything!! But yes, the stuff I got there was definitely the biz! Can you remember what it's called, Miaow?

Apart from horseflies, which I think I've mostly avoided, the worst thing I've come across are sandflies. Fuckers!
Went to Indonesia some years ago, took mosquito repellent and anti-malarial tablets, barely got bitten by a mozzie at all. BUT the sandflies weren't in the least put off! Spent one night after dining on the beach (IDIOT!!) with my feet wrapped in a water-soaked sarong, because they were burning up. 20+bites on each foot, it was miserable. Got back to our friend's house, who lives there, and she gave me some calamine-based lotion, I think it's also used for chickenpox - that was SUCH a relief!!

I got bitten until my 20's. It stopped when I started sunbathing and went from milk bottle to light biscuit colour . I've always eaten marmite so I don't know it if helps.

I get bit loads here, every year. Even with repellents.
The only thing I found that worked for the itching, is cheap and every home has it in their bathroom. Toothpaste.

I have 4 bites at moment. 3 at the top of my arm and one on my other shoulder. I saw what I thought looked like a mozzie a week ago zuzzling round my light while I was reading. Two mornings later woke up with bites that itched like hell and are just calming down a bit now. I googled 'mosquitos in Yorkshire, and found it was a thing. Till then I had no idea we had them here. It's the nearest to a holiday experience I'm going to get this year.

Antihistamine does nothing for me, I sleep with repellent on.
Suggest ice packs for the worst bits

Just to add, the repellent is Mosiguard and it works a treat. If I miss a bit though they'll gnaw me there

If you do the avon skin so soft it has to be the pink one. That has been doing the rounds for years with pregnant women who can't be chugging antihistamines or bathing in deet.

It's really strange as I lived abroad where mosquitoes are abundant and bites just a part of daily life, and then visited the UK for the summer holiday and got bitten loads here too. But I've never been bitten by them in the UK before or after that in my 31 years! I haven't even seen them apart from that one summer. Maybe I was tastier..

We are off to Barbados for a week in January and I must admit I am a bit concerned about zika. DD will only be 15 months and we might want to try for another when we get back - as I will be 39 by then, we won't have all the time in the world. But what can you do - you can't not do anything nice because of a bastard pair of fangs with wings!