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My skin massively overreacts to mosquito bites

114 replies

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 22/06/2024 13:15

Is anything I can do to speed up the healing process. The time line is I get bitten, usually on the leg, then I have days of low level throbbing and itching as it gets bigger and redder. Then it takes weeks to slowly calm down and fade away. It’s so unsightly i usually have to cover it with a plaster.

I never itch it. I just hate the time line of the thing. Probably get bitten three or four times a year.

OP posts:
2chocolateoranges · 22/06/2024 20:34

I have every sympathy with you, mozzies love me!

2 years ago I was bitten 100 times all over my body, I looked like I had the pox.

spoke to a travel agent who recommended vitamin B1 and an antihistamine , take one of each once a day for a month before the holiday and for the time you are on holiday and for the last 2 holidays we have been on I’ve had NO bites whatsoever!

FictionalCharacter · 22/06/2024 20:41

Alfresco lotion as an insect repellent. If you get bitten, Anthisan cream immediately and an antihistamine tablet.
I used to react v v badly too, but weirdly I don't any more. I still react, but it isn't as extreme.

RosesAndHellebores · 22/06/2024 20:51

Funnily enough, I've stopped reacting badly. Post menopause, no HRT nowadays. I used to get absolute whoppers and was a mozzie magnet.

Antihistamine helped massively. Like others I had to have antibiotics occasionally.

DeathMetalMum · 22/06/2024 21:01

Rest, ice and elevation. I have the same type of reaction and also use oral antihistamines - piriton most effective and hydrocortisone or Eurax HC and ibuprofen for the inflammation. Elevating the leg and icing it regularly really calms down the reaction. For me heat seems to have the opposite effect.

Anthisan doesn't really seem to help either. It does on the smaller bites however I always have one on my leg that swells. Prevention is better than the cure, I use jungle fever if I'm going somewhere I'm expecting to find mosquitoes.

SmithfamilyRobinson · 22/06/2024 21:04

I also react really badly to bites and have had several bouts of cellulitis with ABs. The problem for me starts when I get to double figures of bites then I send a signal to all the pesky bugs!
Last year I did well wearing longer swishy clothes, spraying repellent and taking an anti-histamine tablet (Lucca, Italy in July). This year in Taormina (only a few bites), then many more in Ortigia (Sucily, June). I ended up taking two types of antihistamines and Ibuprofen. Last year I managed to zap the bites with a little clicker device.
My mistake this year was not getting a decent aerosol repellent which gave even coverage all over (I had a pump spray). In Italy (eg. Venice) you really need to make sure you have some on your face, ears and top of hands; spray onto palms and pat). Boots do a suntan lotion with a repellant, but I forgot to buy that.
I also buy an antibiotic ointment when I am in the US.

Rowgtfc72 · 22/06/2024 21:12

I react badly to bites and have been told I'm allergic to the histamine in the bite.
I'm also allergic to antihistamines.
I just go for a good scratch and steroid cream.

Zamazenta · 22/06/2024 21:12

I usually get bitten badly and end up with red swollen bites that take weeks to heal.

Was abroad last week and a combo of jungle formula roll on and a mozzie plug in seemed to minimise the bites.

The few bites I did get went down quickly after taking antihistamine tablets.

In the past neat lavander essential oil has helped calm down bites

MotherofChaosandDestruction · 22/06/2024 21:15

If you are on holiday go to the local pharmacy and ask for their strongest repellent and cream. If you are in the UK, get an antihistamine tablet and cream! Wear repellent all the time.

Tigger1895 · 22/06/2024 21:19

Hurts a bit but put vick vapour rub on one and see how you get on. I found it worked well.

AnotherEmma · 22/06/2024 21:21

Blueuggboots · 22/06/2024 13:29

Definitely prevent it!!
Take garlic capsules, vitamin b tablets, use good quality mosquito repellent and dress appropriately - loose clothing in neutral colours.
Look up mrs whites unstung hero.

Oooh i had never come across this, thanks!
(mozzies love me and I hate them, my bites swell up and get so hot and itchy, and antihistamines only help so much)

DoorPath · 22/06/2024 21:34

captainsudoku · 22/06/2024 14:05

No need for some of you to be so sarcastic, it didn't show up on Amazon for me when I searched earlier, and it hasn't been in stock in my local Boots for ages.

Hence the Google suggestion.

Andwegoroundagain · 22/06/2024 21:40

I also ha e had cellulitis a couple of times and ha e had v bad reactions

I now double up on anti histamines (I usually take two different types]) plus steroid cream.

I also have a plug in on my bedroom wall to deter them

WorkerBee83 · 22/06/2024 21:44

Avons skin so soft with citronella. Burn citronella candles. Antihistamines for the itch. Sleeping with a fan on me seems to help too.

Walkingtheplank · 22/06/2024 21:49

I use the Boots Click-It gadget.
No i⁹dea why it works but does seem to.

I think mine have also got better since taking HRT.

wheresmyshoe · 22/06/2024 21:58

The only thing that helped at all with the huge reaction I had to the bites of the fearsome Venetian mosquitoes was antihistamines. I've been bitten in Rome, I've been bitten in Milan but those Venetian ones are on the tropical level of reaction. I had no idea there was an issue with them so didn't take repellent.
I put blister plasters over them to stop me scratching in the night as they oozed.

itsallsohard · 22/06/2024 22:01

Me, too, OP! Like many PP, I take over-the-counter antihistamine tablets all mosquito season, but for dabbing on the actual bites I recommend hydrocortisone cream. Here in the UK and in N America and most places I've been you can only buy 1% cream, but last I saw, in France you can get 2% over the counter which is more effective without doubt. Dab on whenever the itching gets out of control again, and if need be cover with a plaster to prevent it wiping off too soon. Maybe ask your GP for a prescription? (yes, I know how hard it is to get a prescription, or indeed a GP appointment, these days)

In Japan I found antihistamine patches, little round clear discs that you could stick on and leave on, worked well. But the ones I've found on Amazon seem less effective than those Japanese ones.

Really for us sufferers it's essential to focus on prevention. DEET is the most reliable repellant I've found, but it is best applied while fully naked because it does damage plastics and that includes plastics in clothing and shoes, and you need a spray to ensure you cover thoroughly and well. I've also found Picardin, sometimes described in UK as PMD, very effective. It's often advertised as natural because it's not DEET, but it's a chemical. I'm not worried by that, I mean water is a chemical, just the contrary, it's a recommendation to me that Picardin is scientifically developed: my point is it's not just some woo-woo botanical like Avon Skin So Soft or citronella that have never worked for me. When holidaying in a mosquito area, I also shower with Incognito soap, but that wouldn't lead me to skip a good strong DEET or Picardin spray, reapplied especially around the ankles at least twice a day. Honestly if I could I'd shower in the stuff in mosquito areas.

p.s. to other PP: the worst mosquitos. Italy is indeed bad, not just Venice but Florence. But the very worst ever I've found were in the Canadian Maritime provinces: New Brunswick, yikes.

Teacherprebaby · 22/06/2024 22:14

Calendula cream

Pozz · 22/06/2024 22:22

Yes jungle fever works for me. I overreact to a mozzy bite at least a couple of times a year but if I remember to plaster jungle fever on it tends not to happen.

Me a couple of weeks ago...

My skin massively overreacts to mosquito bites
AzureBlue99 · 22/06/2024 22:43

Never used to get bitten but I do now. I am post memo, no HRT. I am sure it is because of the meno. I take antihistamine all summer etc, take Vitamin B complex all summer. Still get them. I use hydrocortisone on them but I am usually left with redness for months. I went to Jersey last year and woke up in the morning with three in a cluster, it spread so far. Took months to go. I don't want to go certain places now.

justasking111 · 22/06/2024 22:52

The hair dryer trick was a game changer for me. I take femofexadine daily anyway. The little buggers love me

comeondover · 23/06/2024 01:17

@BingoMarieHeeler isn't that a classic bullseye rash? I think you should get yourself to the GP ASAP because you really don't want to get Lyme disease. Seriously, it's a terrible thing and can be averted if treated quickly enough after exposure.

pizzaHeart · 23/06/2024 01:25

TripleDaisySummer · 22/06/2024 13:47

Both DH and I have both had this last few years -for future Anthisan Bite & Sting Cream as quick a possible on bite helps massive if not what PP have said

Yes, I second this as well. It’s on my summer shopping list from Boots. Works really well.

Fraaahnces · 23/06/2024 01:31

Mine does too… (and I live in a tropical part of Australia. FML.) I have to take antihistamines, use cortisone creams on bites, take oral prednisone in the summer time if I am attacked by swarms of them if I haven’t managed to cover myself in enough mosquito deterrent. (I stink of mozzie spray all summer) I also have to wear loose-fitting tent-like clothing in the hope that the little buggers can’t get to my skin. Not sure that it works.

madamepresident · 23/06/2024 01:41

I live in Malaysia and get hounded by them - antinhistamines work and we can buy a cream here that soothes the bites but don't know if you can get similar in the UK. Tiger balm really works on them though. you need to put it on as soon as the bite appears and try not to itch as that's what irritates them.

MrsW9 · 23/06/2024 02:24

I also take an antihistamine pill as soon as I've been bitten. That way I can generally avoid the huge swelling. Hydrocortisone cream also helps.

Re PP's suggestion of hot cloth, I have tried something similar and it didn't work for me and I think it actually just made the pain worse...

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