Horse fly bites? Photo

[FattypuffToThinnifer]

I have about a dozen of these bites on one leg and a few others on my arms; I think I’ve picked them up gardening in the evening. I did see a black fly buzzing round my knee (but it was only small) but I didn’t feel bites at the time

Are they from horse flies? They itch like hell!

They are 48 hours old, the ones in the pic are on the inside of my knee but the ones on my arm and chest are bigger. I admit I have scratched them but they were driving me mad in the night. I’ve taken cetirizine and ibuprofen but is anything else recommended? I got similar a couple of weeks ago and I think they are going to scar

Her calf, not thigh 😀

Something bit my arm above the elbow in the garden on Thursday, by Friday my arm felt like there was a tennis ball inside it! It was red and hot and itchy and very solid. I put some betnovate cream (prescribed for eczema) on it and it slowly went down, but the swollen area was about six inches long at its worst.

Google gave me this:

Well my daughter has just come back from the doctor because it's so painful and swollen, doctor reckons it's a wasp sting!
Now I have been stung before and it doesn't look like a wasp sting to me but maybe......

That is bloody horrific 😱

@TurquoiseJasper How is your daughter??

Hi thank you for asking. She has actually had to go to a and e this evening because she's beginning to feel unwell and her leg feels very tight and painful. Absolutely not a wasp sting 😀

She is mightily mightily pissed off, because we are going to Taylor Swift on Friday and her sparkly romper probably won't be worn.... It looks so terribly painful she says it's hurting her to walk so it's obviously an extreme reaction to something.

Yes, that looks like a horsefly bite reaction. Poor girl! I wonder if a topical steroid cream would help?

@TurquoiseJasper , ooh your poor dd, that definitely looks like a horse fly bite to me .
It's close enough to her knee for it to make the joint stiff. I'd draw a circle around the main raised area and around the reddened area too so you can show the docs if she doest get it sorted at a&e today.

This!

Looks like a reaction to mosquito bites

It's so weird how different the reaction is
My mum ended up in a&e a couple of times with bites where her arm swelled so badly, bright red and burning hot and got cellulitis
I got bitten by a few horse flies yesterday and not a mark on me

Most definitely not mosquito😐

I’d say a blandford fly as that is how mine look. I don’t react to horseflies but had a couple of bad blandford fly bites last summer.

Yep I agree!

I guess everyone has different reactions to bitey buggers , @spikeandbuffy I wonder if there are any blood test you and your dm could have done to compare to see if you have different antibodies.

Love your username, spike is my hero! 😍

I'm with you in sympathy! These popped up after a day in the garden and I'm fairly certain they are mosquito bites as I saw one or two that day. Look much worse than they actually feel. I've just used Anthisan and antihistamines. Much less red now 😁

@ScottBakula I'm the one with all the weird autoimmune conditions and hives, yet no hayfever and no reaction to bites

All night in a and e, IV antibiotics, cellulitis. Home now starting to look slightly better but still painful.

@spikeandbuffy
Maybe you have been bitten by a vampire so bites don't affect you . 😂🧛‍♂️

They look like standard mozzie bites to me. The 2nd day us usually the worst. Apply hydrocortisone

@TurquoiseJasper , a night in a&e is never fun but I am hlad she got seen as is getting better.
We're the docs able to identify the bitey bugger that did it ?

Think they are mosquito bites - I got a few as well the other evening while gardening wearing shorts!
Try putting a hot spoon on them - boil kettle, add small teaspoon to heat up then very carefully tap each bite a couple of times. Really works! I also douse them in AfterBite which is ammonia based. Day 2 after the bite is always worse then they normally settle down.
Oh and take an antihistamine.