Mosquito bites! Ahhh

[7dayslater]

Shamefully posting here for traffic.

I woke up with these bad boys on my legs in the night. They've become increasingly swollen, painful & itchy as the day has gone on.

Is it normal? I've had bites in the past but they're never this bad. My calf feels as though it will burst!

They look intensely itchy. I woke up one morning a few weeks ago to find I had 6 mosquito bites on my back. They looked just like yours. Within 3 days, the itching had drastically reduced and within a week, they were almost gone.
I heard you can put deodorant on them to help with the itching.

1% hydrocortisone cream will help with the itchy. I suffer very badly with bites

Neat tea tree oil will help. I get bitten all the time if I forget to wear Smidge and tea tree oil really does soothe the bites.

I have matching ones and they're driving me crazy!

I got bitten a lot working in Michigan but eating garlic and using these helped
www.boots.com/boots-bite-relief-click-it-10234814

Hot spoon pressed on. Needs to be hot enough to destroy the proteins in the bite but don’t scald yourself. Run teaspoon under hot tap and immediately press on bite hard. I suffer terribly and this is the only way if I don’t want to end up with scars from scratching.

WobbleHead

Totally agree, the hot spoon method works brilliantly. The itch disappears and no creams or anything required. As you say it has to be as hot as possible without burning yourself, but it works.

@WobbleHead I've never heard of this before, I will give it a go!

Minty toothpaste is surprisingly effective too and something often lying around.

I attract the evil things. I get bitten when no one else does and react badly. Hot spoon gives some relief, anti histamine and hydrocortisone.

And an oatmeal bath.

Never heard of the hot spoon. Will give it a try next time I get bitten.

Vicks vaporub is my go to to stop itching

I swear by Puresenntiel's anti bite roll-on, you can get it on Amazon though it was recommended to me by a pharmacist in France (and anti-pique sounds a lot cooler than anti-bite). It takes the heat and itch right out of the bite. I will definitely be trying the spoon trick though!

You've basically had an allergic reaction to a bite, so anti-histamine can work too - take one at night to stop scratching in your sleep. But the oil is also brilliant.

I swear by Anthisan cream, I got so badly bitten once as a teenager my Dad took one look and took me to A&E (84 bites over both legs....it was utterly horrendous! That's the result of sheltering in woods near a river in a downpour on a hot day...the winged bastards come out to play!) and they gave me antibiotics and anthisan cream.
I've never been bitten as many times as that again but I do react badly to them, especially horseflies....they really are Satan's children! I shall try the hot spoon remedy in future, thanks.

Thank you all! I'll try hot spoon and toothpaste. I did use an antihistamine cream but it seems to make it worse.

I'm feeling rather sorry for myself, my calf has swollen so much that I can see new stretchmarks DP thinks I'm being dramatic.

@Stonerosie67

That sounds awful! Glad you were OK.

My legs looked like this a few weeks ago after a walk in the woods. The only thing that helped me get on top of the itching was oral piriton

I've never heard of the hot spoon method but I'm definitely trying that one next time.

My question is how/where did you get them? I find the best thing (I'm also delicious to all biting insects) is to try and not get them in the first place. So if you have standing water around outside your house, dump it out etc?

Sleep with windows closed if you can, or nail up nets if not...

Etc. Hope the anti-histamine works. When my limbs look like yours I both use the cream and the oral kind.

When I went for my holiday injections (last year) the nurse advised me to start taking anti-histamines two weeks before I went and continue till I came home, I didn't get bit once x

sometimes I react a lot to bites, other times hardly at all.

Hot spoon sounds interesting - will try and remember that.

Not what it's intended for, but last time I had a really itchy bite, vagisil cream was v effective.
Ibuprofen gel is good too.

Not sure! I woke up in the night itchy. Can't find a mosquito indoors anywhere. I did walk home from work in tights early evening- so I suppose then?

I've got a (slightly) high temperature now too & feel like crap. Can't sleep because they're so itchy & huuuge. I think we have some ibuprofen gel somewhere so I'll see if that works. Who knew!

Do you have After Bite in the UK? That's the only thing I know of that gives me satisfaction for those Bad Boys.
www.riteaid.com/shop/after-bite-the-itch-eraser-original-5-fl-oz-14-ml-8018100?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-4z0y8-C6gIVJYFaBR2jnQ1lEAQYBCABEgL1K_D_BwE

Ouch! That looks painful. 💐
I use OTC cortisol cream and it helps

Hi OP, I sympathise - the mosquitoes have been out in force due to the warm weather, but I get bitten a lot every year. We keep the bedroom window open a bit for circulation but the little shits fly over DH, who is nearest the window, and home in on me instead! I read somewhere that they like particular blood types but I haven't verified this. Not that I could do anything about it. I use Anthisan when I get bitten but as a preventative I cover myself with Avon dry oil body spray (you can get it from Amazon) before bed. Someone recommended it to me years ago after I had over 20 bites and I thought it was a bit random but it really works.