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?

It’s nothing to do with how you taste, it’s how you smell and the level of Carbon Dioxide you emit.

If you live in or are visiting Scotland this may help.

www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/

I’m Bpositive and get bitten badly. Got 60+ bites in one day last week.

I watched a programme years ago which said it was carbon dioxide that attracts them. That's why women can seem more prone - because they tend to breathe faster and so have higher levels of carbon dioxide.

Avon Skin So Soft spray is very effective at repelling biting insects. I agree it's not the bite but your body's reaction to the bites but having been a walking buffet for gnats, mosquitoes and horseflies in the past this is the only thing that appears to make them keep their distance. I swell up like a Michelin man when bitten

For all of you bug buffets out there, take antihistamines.

Never mind lotions and potions and stuff to put on the bites. They do less than nothing. Those hard itchy dinner-plate swellings are histamine reactions, exactly the same as any other allergic reaction, and the best treatment for them is to take antihistamines. In fact, if you know you're likely to get bitten, take an antihistamine before you go out.

I used to get 6" swellings from mosquito bites, have had eyes swollen shut from bites and been unable to bend joints because the swelling from a bite was so severe. Not any more, not since I started using antihistamines. I still get bitten as often, but my reaction to mozzy bites on holiday is now no worse than my reaction to untreated British bug bites at home, and I can completely damp down my reaction to most British bug bites.

And because they don't itch as much, I don't scratch as much, and, because I scratch less, the bites don't get infected or scar any more!

I used to think I never got bitten. But have since observed that I do get bitten but I don't react at all. So I wouldn't know or even notice if I was bitten.

Last week I saw (very quickly swatted off) 4 mozzies biting me. I never reacted to mozzie bites before. 36 hrs later they started itching. FFS. Mozzie bites used to be the one mini-beast contact that didn't swell or hurt. Weanh.

I don't get bitten by mozzies anymore but I did when I was younger
Since I have been on my meds (20yrs) which are quite toxic I have never been bitten except when I have had a break from the meds to have a baby. They seem to know my blood is poison.
DH however is a mozzie buffet
I am however still attractive to horseflies and those bastards hurt

I was about to give that tip OP! I have some bloody huge bites just now- waiting for the pill to kick in so I can stop sitting on my hands.

I think I've been bitten less than five times in my life. DP gets bitten at least five times a day in summer!

I was told that eating Marmite can make you unattractive to mosquitoes. The kids loved it when they were young so we always travelled with a jar .

Have you tried insect shield or insect protective clothing OP?

People get bitten in the UK? I thought that was just the preserve of a holiday in the sun!
OP what bit you a mozzie?
You poor buggers!

@kettleon A- here and they love me 😒
When I get bitten they seem to swell up too 😞

@Madonnasmum I can't speak for the rest of the country but I live in Cumbria and there are loads of midges, mosquitos and other flies around to get bitten by!

A- and a mozzie magnet here. I react so badly that i now have prescription strength antihistamine. DS1 is similar to me. DH and DS2 will only get bitten if DS1 or I are either not around or are covered in DEET insect repellant.

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 second this. And if you can get hold of the US version it's even better.

I never ever get bitten but ds always does.

joining the bitees gang! im A+ with a formerly very sweet tooth but cutting down recently hasn’t helped. we live beside a pond in warm london so they’re everywhere!

I have a post bite solution that also works on stings. Basically the toxins are killed if heated over 50•C for a few seconds. We put a teaspoon in hot drink or boiled kettle. And put the back of it on the sting as soon as it's just possible to do. For about 6 seconds.

I tend to get bitten a fair bit.

B - here and bitten to buggery.

I have a crater on my arse coz I've picked the scab. No idea how I've got bitten there!

yep they love me i get eaten alive but my other half dosent

Everyone gets bitten but some people react more than others. I used to get really awful reactions (especially to sand fly bites, 6inch hard swollen lumps - looked similar to a cellulitis infection but not infected). Bites would take weeks to go down. The itch was maddening. I took a LOT of antihistamine with only marginal effect (loratadine/Claritin best, and bizarrely, Zantac).

Strangely, when I went completely gluten and wheat free about 7 years ago (due to health reasons), my reaction to bites gradually lessened over the first few months, and now I get only only a Occasional “normal” reactions to bites (a small red mark lasting a few hours rather a lump than days or weeks). Generally all of my allergic reactions/hay fever etc has reduced a lot since going GF so I guess my immune responses were in overdrive previously.