Going insane with itching! Insect bite treatments?

[JustMeHello]

I always react really badly to insect bites, and currently have 3 bad bites from horseflies, 2 on my calf and one on my hand. I'm taking lots of antihistamine tablets which takes an edge off, and I have a small electric clicky thing which helps a little temporarily. A few years ago I got some amazing Benadryl gel in the States which was magic, but which isn't on sale here. I have some Savlon insect gel which takes a bit of the itch off for a short while, but which isn't great. I've got some Boots cooling spray which helps a little, but again, not for long. Antihistamine creams do absolutely nothing for me..

Does anyone have any magical solutions? I'm wondering about the electric heating things that come with USB chargers, but you apparently need to order online and they are £30+, so ideally I'd like something I can find in Tesco or Boots or Superdrug or somewhere. I am going to pop into a pharmacy tomorrow and see what they say, but they usually try to push anthistan cream which just does not work on me.

I must be missing something somewhere, I can't be the only one who wants to saw my own leg off?

Tiger Balm

Beurer insect bite pen - absolutely incredible. If you can get it on the bite immediately it's much less likely to flare up. I would honestly say it's changed my life in a small but significant way.

Moskinto plasters - no idea how they work but they do. Not as effective as the pen but really helpful. Also good to use on children, as I wouldn't use the heating pen.

Sorry to go off the thread, but if it’s bright red & spreading I’d book a GP appointment, and cancel if it looks better by the day of the appointment. Draw a biro line on the edge of the red so you can see if it continues to spread, or reduces. I don’t want to panic anyone, but I ended up on IV antibiotics to deal with an infection from an insect bite, so best to be careful.

@AnnaMagnani why do you say that? I just prescribed Piriton for some hives but haven’t taken it yet.

@JustMeHello take the tablets with fexofenadine in them. Piriton do a version and there is also a version called allevia. I used to get fexofenadine on prescription but brilliantly you can just pick them up anywhere now. Totally feel your pain with this, but fexofenadine is life changing.

I use a hot hairdryer, as hot as you can bear.

I had horrendous bites in Greece recently, despite being covered in 50% deet. It took the paint off the chair I sat on but the mosquitoes still got through!

My mum used to alternate a cold compress and a hot flannel when I was bitten when I was little. I still have massive reactions to bites, I'm itching now and usually use ice.

Nelson’s tea tree antiseptic cream helped me with adult chicken pox itches…..

Horse fly bites made me feel so ill when I was a teenager.
Hope you get some relief.

Sudocreme literally magic for so many things. I have antihistamine cream from Asda too

This is the solution you need OP. A Consultant I used to work with lived in The Bahamas for a few years and used to get bitten to bits. She passed on this tip when I was really struggling with insect bites one summer.

You put the hairdryer on hot, point it at the bite and wait. It'll start off fine, then get incredibly itchy, then suddenly it will feel almost unbearably hot - that's the time to stop (not before). That will stop it itching, sometimes for good. If it starts up again, just repeat.

Piriton is a very effective antihistamine meditation and is the most effective for insect bites and hives. It does however cause many people to be drowsy and needs multiple doses per day so it's inconvenient, which is why it's fallen out of everyday usage for most people.
Just be careful about driving if it makes you drowsy.

Yes this, the bottle sort and take it every 4 hours plus hydrocortisone cream.

The hot spoon comment above is spot on.

OP a remedy I read on MN proved to be a magic bullet for me: stick a teaspoon into boiling water, wave it around a bit to cool it, and then put the back of the spoon on the bite. Instant relief!

Supposedly the heat kills the histamine, but the relief may well have been because I was effectively burning myself. I can only say that it was worth it 🤣 - I was going crazy with bedbug bites! (Obviously only apply the spoon as hot as is comfortable)

Back of teaspoon that’s been in hot water hold on bite for a few seconds.

Hydrocortisone cream.

You can also try toothpaste. That works better for me than anything else and I also get very nasty reactions to bites.

There’s a really lovely brand of Insect repellent that we swear by. It’s Badger Anti-Bug balm. They have a spray version too. https://de.iherb.com/pr/badger-organic-anti-bug-balm-citronella-rosemary-0-75-oz-21-g/48936

All the bugs absolutely hate the smell but it is divine (if you like citronella of course). It’s natural too! A little goes a long way. Just slather yourself. Maybe it would help a little.

I find that any cream rubbed onto horsefly or mozzie bites makes the surrounding area blister and weep so have to avoid that. The only thing which helps the itching albeit temporarily is either a cold flannel (not practical unless sitting still and near enough to a freezer/cold tap to refresh it) or aloe vera gel thats been in the fridge/freezer.

I sat outside for 5 minutes at 8pm on Monday evening and got bitten 4 times! Thankfully as I get older, although i'm getting bitten more the bites aren't coming up into pustules as readily. Maybe its one good thing about peri!!

Best thing I have ever found for insect bites is called Mopiko. It was stocked in a shop near the edge of a rainforest, so I figured it was worth buying because if it works there, it would like work on any bites. And it does!

I have never found it in a UK shop, but IIRC I bought a tube off Amazon once my original tube ran out.

That's what I do too. I use hot salt water and cotton wool - just short of burning temperature. It draws out the gunk, reduces the inflammation and helps it heal quicker.

Are you using portion or something stronger like fexobenadrine- the latter really helped see off the effects of a wasp sting

Thanks. I'm keeping an eye on it. I've had ice packs on it all night. It's not as virulent this morning and hasn't spread any further. Still itches but better with the ice.

Ooh yes, I'd forgotten about the blisters! I get those with many creams, and keep forgetting. Generally I've never found creams to work, and then I often get the blisters as well.

The hot teaspoon thing has definitely helped, I've had them on and off today, although it's not really a very practical solution sometimes! I'm off to Shetland next week and will definitely be walking in peaty/grassy areas, and I'm not really up for carrying spoons around in my hiking pack! But I tried the little clear spot plasters today and they definitely helped (and were almost invisible) so they were a great call!
I'm going to big Tesco tomorrow so I'll see what the different piriton/fexothing/clarityn etc tablets they've got, and if they've got any fancy hot pens.