Please help _ Mosquito bites!!

[Babyroobs]

IMy legs are covered in Mosquito bites. I am not on holiday just at home. Every time I get bittne which is just about every night, I get a bad reaction , a huge red area around the bite. Over the weekend it almost turned into a cellulitis, quite a large area was affected. It is making me miserable, they take ages to go and look so unsightly.
Someone suggested taking vit B complex which I have been doing, and garlic capsules. Someone else said eat marmite which i have been doing. I have one of those things that I plug into the wall in my bedroom, it has made no difference, and I spray my legs with insectiside spray but it stinks awful and makes the existing bites sting.
Has anyone go any other suggestions please? No-one else in the family is being bitten to this extent and I'm just so fed up.

I get bad reactions from insect bites too and understand the misery.

Our neighbours have a pond that's a perfect habitat for mossies.

I use antihistamines to deal with the itching. Avon do a dry oil spray called Skin So Soft which I've found to be brilliant as an insect repellant. You can order from Avon direct or get it from Amazon.

Do you have a cat? When our cat had fleas I was bitten really badly and at first thought it was mossies plus I was the only one bitten.

Others probably are being bitten - they just don't react. In my family it is my DS and me that do this, and DH and DD seem to get away with it. They can be really painful and do make you miserable. This summer does seem to be particularly bad as well.
I try to avoid being outside in the early evening, and if I am wear long trousers and a cardigan. Insect repellants do help - I use the Boots roll on (so you can avoid existing bites).
Yes to antihistamines to try and reduce the itching - both tablets and creams.
A cold flannel/cloth over them can help sooth too.

Thanks both for your suggestions. I have ordered the Avon spray from Amazon this evening, it has lots of good reviews for repelling bugs so fingers crossed !
Deux - I hadn't thought they could be flea bites. I have a dog but she is regularly treated with a flea treatment. I have also been looking after some cats and kittens for a couple of hours a day so it could possibly be that they have fleas. I'm not sure the timing fits though, I visit them around midday each day but the bites seem to happen in the evening or overnight, unless they only start to itch a few hours afterwards? I will check with the cat owner re flea status though. Thanks for that suggestion.

I hope you get some relief. The only reason I mention fleas is that when we had an infestation (yuck) it coincided with mossie season and I overlooked my bites as being flea bites as our cat was flea treated. It took me a while to realise it was fleas mainly with the odd mossie bite.

My bites always take a couple of hours to really get going. It might be an idea to spray yourself before seeing the cats, just in case.

The Avon stuff is great with the added benefit of nicely moisturised skin.

I woke up on Saturday with 3 bites at the top of one arm and 1 on the opposite shoulder. I thought I saw something that looked and sounded like a mozzie while I was reading in bed on Thursday night but thought that it couldn't possibly be. The bites on Fri, looking and feeling exactly like mozzie ones, and a check on google, confirmed that we do get the little sods here in W Yorks. I've used anti-histamine and the steroid cream I use for eczema, to help the itch and am closing my windows from 7 pm onwards. Haven't had any more since. The avon Skin So Soft stuff is meant to be very good. I will definitely be getting some if I get any more.

It's the nearest I'm going to get to a holiday experience this summer :(

We've been over run with mossies this year so massive sympathy from me. I've had cellulitis from a bite and I can't sleep if I hear them in the bedroom!

They were breeding in a drained pond with about two inches of water in a small corner right at the bottom (so no fish in there).

A small squirt (literally a few drops) of washing up liquid got rid of them as it stops them laying eggs as it sits on the top the water. Obviously you cannot do this if you have a pond with fish etc, but we researched it and it doesn't bother frogs (we still have lots of those and they have another pond they use).

So, if you have standing water in your garden, tip it out (so buckets, pots etc) as that is where they will breed.

Skin So Soft is great as is Vaseline moisture spray. You just need to make your skin oily as they stick to it and they don't like it.

Repellent with DEET is good as well (but do not get it on your face, particularly your lips). Jungle Formula is one I've used but some cheaper ones contain DEET.

DEET will also work to prevent flea bites.

If the bites are mainly around your ankles and legs, and you're usually covered up or don't go in the garden in the evening or have your window open, then it's possible it's fleas.

When mossies bite in the night it's usually on skin they can get to easily - so unless you're naked without a cover on you would usually be bitten on your back, shoulders, arms and face.

If you think it may be fleas, then you might want to fleabomb the house as they will come home with you on your clothes.

I bought this to help with the reaction from bites. It works by heating the bite area and so destroying the proteins in the insects saliva which cause the reaction.
It works really well.
Apparently you can get the same effect by rubbing the
bite with the back of a hot spoon or by directing a stream of hot air from a hair dryer.

Eurax cream or gel helps with the unbearable itching if you're allergic to the bites. Fleas from the cats seems likely. Bed bugs?

Lady on telly recommended teething gel to soothe the bite

Small tip, make sure you wash area thoroughly with warm water and soap as soon as you notice to get rid of the saliva from the insect which is what is causing the reaction. Regularly applying ice also really helps.

Try taking a hay fever tablet for a few days as it'll take down the swelling and distract your attention from the itching enough to allow your body to begin healing.

I use TCP on bites. As a prevention I use Avons skin so soft original, it's really effective.

Thanks everyone. The skin so soft has arrived quickly so that's good. Fortunately I didn't get bitten last night. We have a water butt that has been mostly drained but still a bit of water at the bottom, so I will be getting rid of that this evening. Thaks for all your suggestions. I'm going on my first foreign holiday in years in a few weeks time so I'm just hoping the scars from these bites will have healed by then as I have terrble healing skin and my legs are a mess!

I have allergic reactions to mosquito bites. They swell up to golf balls.

The only thing I find that works is tropical factor deet and hydrocortisone cream after the bite and regular piriton.