AIBU to feign illness to avoid a foreign holiday gift??

[BiteyLittleFuckers]

I'm quite possibly the most ungrateful old baggage ever and I'll happily admit to being so.

I turned 50 this summer and my family have taken me for a week to a lovely warm, sunny, all expenses paid luxury trip to a fabulous European country. I'm completely skint so the gift was huge for me.

I'm hating it. As well as being too hot, I've also been bitten every night I've been here (5th night coming up). I have in excess of 35 mosquito bites that hurt and itch and I'm a nervous wreck at night. I can barely sleep and I just itch all over.

My loveliest, nearest and dearest of friends have both paid for us all to go to a lovely part of Mallorca for a week, starting September. It's not a cheap holiday. I'm absolutely dreading it and truly feel I'll at the thought of going.

I've bought and tried Avon Skin so Soft, Citronella, lavender oil, Deet (that's melted my nail varnish off my toes), I swallow antihistamines and paracetamol like there's no tomorrow, burn coils and surround myself with 5 basil plants and STILL, I'm savaged every night. It's affecting my head and I'm a psychological cat on hot coals. I can't even sleep at night.

I'm tempted to feign covid/shingles/something contagious to get out of the holiday. I'm feeling like a right cow-bag because they aren't wealthy people and saving for this holiday has been a big deal. AIBU to try and avoid going?

Mosquito net and wear long sleeves/long trousers in the evening. It's quite rude to not go if they've paid.

Buy a travel mosquito net, you can get pop up ones.

Do you get bitten wherever your abroad normally?

I get absolutely savaged in Greece my mosquitos for example but I'm fine everywhere else, including Menorca. Even the hordes of Scottish midges barely touch me.

Definitely a travel net - you tuck it in around your bed - people don't get bitten through them

At night when you're in restaurants you want to tuck your trousers into socks and trainers and wear long sleeves

Eat marmite every day.
I think if they have paid and have no way of getting the money back, then you have to try and find a solution because it would be very unfair to them. If they could invite someone else or get their money back for your part then explain about the bites and that it would make you miserable to have it happen again.

Surely Mallorca in September will be different?

Take a mosquito net and those plug in mosquito killing things.

Where are you now? I always get bitten in Greece (although not as bad) but never had any problems in Majorca.

It’ll be cooler in September as well, pack some long linen trousers for the evenings. I suspect your friends would be very disappointed if you didn’t go

Germolene on the bites helps with the itch it’s got a sort of local anaesthetic which helps tremendously.

Surely the AI in September will have a/c. Keep it cold and they won't come neat you in the room. It's he evenings out when they get me. Where on your body d they get you? Because , sorry TMI, they love the smell of feet. Washing them with proper soap, drying and immediately applying serious DEET should help.

Great article in yesterday's Sun.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/health/23089424/why-some-people-get-mosquito-bites-avoid/amp/

Did anyone actually ask you if you wanted to go on these holidays or were they just presented to you by kind, well meaning people? Do you normally have foreign holidays or are these the first ones?

If anyone presented me with an all expenses holiday abroad it would be met with a firm "thanks but no thanks" however everyone we know understands we don't like foreign holidays so it is never likely to happen.

Seems a bit poor that for your special occasion, you are doing something that makes you unhappy.
I think I would have to say something.

Go to the supermarket as soon as you get to Mallorca and buy a bottle of this. I live in southern Spain and swear by it. It actually smells nice too, unlike a lot of mozzie sprays. If you can’t get it, have a look in the baby section of the supermarket and buy a bottle of Agua de Colonia spray - smells lovely and keeps mosquitoes at bay.

Are they definitely mozzie bites? Have you checked the bed for bed bugs? Only say that as it seems you’re taking a lot of precautions and still getting bitten excessively.

Start taking garlic tablets now and they'll leave you alone come Sept. Also dab tea tree oil on you before going out at night.

Get a mosquito net.

I find it varies massively so you might well be fine.

I hear you - and I feel for you. I am a complete magnet too and it is awful. Nothing works! And I've tried the lot. Usually come up in huge infected lumps too which take a couple of weeks to go away

I don't think you can not go, even with an excuse. The folk who paid for it will be upset regardless, since they wanted you to enjoy yourself.

Plug in Mosquito repellents overnight do work to keep them away ( but you have to shut the windows or they don't). I keep them plugged in 24/7 when abroad. Mosquito nets to put over the bed help too as they can't get at you. As others have said, wear long legged, or long armed clothes and try to avoid exposing as much skin as possible. Preferably light, neutral or white coloured clothing too

Try not to scratch - easier said than done, but they will go away more quickly if you can manage. This can help to stop the itching

Refusing to go would be the equivalent of taking a very expensive and non refundable present and chucking into the bin in front of the givers. And you wouldn't do that to them.

Where abouts in Spain are you now? There's no reason it should be the same on one of the islands. There are a lot where I live and the plug-in repellent dispensers are very effective. And built in mosquito screens on windows.

I second the Zap-It gadget recommended by @Silvers11 - amazing wee thing.

I am a bitey thing buffet and was genuinely worried about living in Japan / South East Asia when I had to move there for work a few years ago.

On somebody's advice I started taking VitB12 tablets about a month before moving, then continued to take them when I lived there - not a single bite. I have absolutely no idea of the science behind this or if indeed there even is any, but it worked for me.

Have a great trip!

I get this from the Farmacia in Mallorca. It’s the absolute business if you get bitten and it’s even better if kept in the fridge. Stinks to high heaven though - ammonia.

Mosquito net. Close the windows. Keep AC on.

Long sleeves, long trousers, tucked into long socks at night. Silk scarf for your neck. They can get through certain materials but not silk. You need all clothes to not to too tight to your skin.

in September a lot of them will have died off.

I grew up visiting relatives in Kenya where the mozzies are more potentially fatal.

plus point if your prone to skin cancer is now you won’t need as much sun cream.

A hot spoon on the lump can break down the chemical causing the itch as well as anesthetic creams.

a trick of mine is when you moisturise spray your deet into the handful of moisturiser before you spread it on your body. Then it covers all your bits.

try to cut out sweet drinks and as other have suggested mosquito nets and light long clothing.

also warm a spoon and hold it on your bites it helps to break down the proteins that cause itching

Mosquitoes loves me too and I'm allergic to the bites as well 🙄, which means they swell up into big red blotches. I also completely hear you on the mental toll of having 30, 40, 50 bites at a time. It's exhausting and miserable.

I have had problems in Majorca, but it has mostly when I've stayed inland. The villas around Pollenca tend to have lots of greenery around them, which others think looks pretty but is a total red flag to me to avoid. I found if we went to the coast it was better and I stayed covered up (ridiculously so) in the evening. Bonus being it also hid all the bites I already had 😫. People that don't experience it to this extent seem to think it is just a mid irritation and it drives me mad. I don't really have any advice, I've never really got to the bottom of why I get bitten so much or how to stop it. My only tactic is to prep myself like I'm going to the jungle and hope it isn't too bad. Take first dibs on the bedrooms though and choose somewhere away from the greenery. Good luck.

You obviously need a different type of antihistamine. There are different types and not all work for everyone.

Two things:
Managing the itch now you have been bitten:
T spoon in boiling water and then touch the hot spoon (as hot as you can manage but not boiling obvs) onto the bite. Honestly, the relief - it kills the itchy shit dead. Otherwise tiger balm - will feel hot then cold. You'll have to live with the smell!
I also take antihistamines every 12 hours rather than 1 a day for a short period.

Avoid being bitten
Deet (yes, it will melt everything but tehre's no point pussyfooting about with anything else). I spray citronella on as a perfume to cover up the smell of deet and if they're in the room at night, spray the bedding and pillow with citronella rather than deet!.
Long sleeves/trousers. Apply repellent liberally and often.
Wash regularly particularly your feet
No perfume at all (and soap/shower gel - lemon or lavender or neutral scent, nothing perfumey).
If you are prone to being bitten, start antihistamines BEFORE the trip as this helps build up a bit and make the itching less intense.