Surely other people get bitten, too?

[JellySlice]

I went out to eat with a group of four people this evening. We came out of the restaurant and walked by a river. I was chilly and put my cardie back on. The others remained bare-armed. My shoulders were exposed for all of, oh, three minutes. Yet I got bitten on the back of my shoulders. Two bites.

None of the others were bitten, despite flaunting their flesh all the way back to the carpark.

Why me?

AIBU to think that other people get bitten, too, but their bodies don't react to the bites?

Or am I just some delectable treat for every passing mozzie and gnat?

A friend of mine told me that people do actually get bitten, their bodies just don’t react. She (and others) realised when they worked in a mosquito prone country and the non-bitten still developed mosquito-bite related diseases.

This article has a bit about it -

naturalallergytreatment.com.au/everything-to-know-about-mosquito-bite-allergy/

I’m one of the mosquito magnets too. My family call me the alert - as When we are sitting outside my first shriek is a sign to come in for the night.

I have never even SEEN mosquito in Britain. On the continent, yes I get bitten sometimes.
I know that bees are attracted to the smell of wine or suntan lotion. Could it be something like that? Or something you eat making you smell attractive to them?

I'm A+ and I get eaten alive. They freaking love me.

I'm the same with the special treatment too, everyone else fine or maybe one small bite if we are somewhere crazy, I come out in huge itchy red bumps that take ages to go away! They manage to bite me when I'm in the pool if I'm travelling (underwater mosquitos?!), when I'm asleep covered in repellant and hiding in a boil washed clean new sleeping bag and when I'm in countries that don't have biting insects. Even ants bite me in an otherwise lovely country in asia whilst they leave everyone else alone, f that hurts like a mofo.

I cover myself in spray repellant like i would cover myself in sun cream, not even a couple of minutes without because I swear they wait for the few seconds to catch me out. I don't have a sweet diet at all, savoury when I'm misbehaving, clean vegan style with beans on wholemeal toast is my classic dish so I'm not being fancy, but not sweet. I'm sure even ants wouldn't want a vegan diet because where would they get their protein and B12.

Jungle spray is good if you are travelling, but unless you're literally in the jungle be careful of the strength. I use the 2, I used the 4, the highest strength, sprayed it on my face and my lips were swollen to nearly half the size. Still better than malaria though.

I get bitten, although I haven’t been for a couple of years. I have O- blood. I had about 13 or so in one night once, mostly on the left side of my body. That was a LOT of Germolene needed...

We have a shit ton of bugs that eat you alive.

We find that if you eat bananas then you are a big target.

I always joke with dh that I never see a mosquito in the house when he isn't home. But it's not a joke! I have been bitten by a horsefly and a couple of fleas in my lifetime. Dh gets bitten by everything and badly reacts to the bites sometimes.

My mum reacts to fleabites: they swell and go red and itchy. She gets the odd bite over the summer from gardening but nowhere near as many as dh would in the same circumstances which leads me to think that yes, some people are just naturally tastier to mosquitos.

I used to when I was little, I ALWAYS got bitten.. once on my bloody eyelid!!

I don't any more though, its weird.

Last time I did was 2 horsefly bites and they were a BITCH to get rid of!

A Japanese schoolboy may have found out how to reduce the likelihood of being bitten

I am O neg, DH something positive.

I get bitten badly. Sweet blood apparently

I eat garlic nearly every day, don't eat sweets often anymore if at all (Diabetic) and am A+ , I get bitten a lot, more if I am somewhere humid or by water on a warm day.

My sister got married on a supremely hot day after a week of torrential rain in a heavily wooded area which meant party time for any and every winged insect and I was the buffet.
I was bitten on my eyelids!! One was so swollen and red that my sister asked me to not be in the photos. 🙈

I don't know why I react so badly, I don't get eczema or have skin problems, not particularly sensitive to lotions or soap etc 🤷‍♀️

Ab+ and get eaten alive. Not even funny how itchy they are. Went camping once and I had like 50 bites on the back of my legs. Horrendous.

Interesting, I'm an A blood group and I rarely get bitten either. I also have a very sweet tooth so don't think it's the sugar. DH is an O and gets all the bites.

I'm A/B + and very rarely get bitten, my O + friend is a pin cushion.

Yup. I get bitten a lot. Never saw a mosquito in the 21 years I lived in the uk though. Always bitten by horse flies there. Here it’s mosquitos and I swell like crazy too. Fiancé is ok. He does get bitten but not as much and not as big. Interestingly same sort of thing with paintballs - I bruise like crazy when I get hit, he has a paintball sized welt that vanishes within a couple of days.

I'm an acquired taste. I rarely get bitten but on the few occasions I have been they go to fucking town.

A- and rarely get bitten. A+ mother is a magnet.

My husband is O+ and he never gets bitten. Once we went camping in the everglades. You could hear them coming for me, I looked like I had chicken pox the next day, he was bite free. I get bitten a lot less than I used to, I've been living in Brazil for a long time and that seemed to make immune to bug bites. DH Brazilian so maybe exposure is the key.

I think it's who reacts, rather than who gets bitten TBH.

I read somewhere that mozzies, horseflies etc go wild for fair or red headed folk with type A blood. I fit all of the above and am quite the bug’s buffet.

The only thing that gives me a chance of getting away bite free is Avon Skin So Soft Oil Spray. Anything else just doesn’t do it. Weird.

I’m A- and always get bitten and break out in welts with the bites. Mind you I have one friend that seems to attract them more than me I’ve discovered. It was so nice to sit out one night and be left alone, amazing!

Me and my mum both react badly to bitey things and sadly they all love us

I must taste fantastic, They love me, currently awake at 4 in the morning looking for cream to cool the itching. So bloody unfair DP is snoring and he never gets bitten, ever.

I never got bitten until I'd had the kids. Infected with bitey DNA. I now react to them badly too.

I don't think it's anything to do with blood group.
My df was always bitten, dh is always bitten, dd1 is always bitten. The rest of us rarely. We're all the same blood group.