Why am I reacting so badly to gnat bites this year?

[Rustydogtail]

I've never really been someone who gets bitten much by gnats but this year every time I've been bitten the bite mark swells and goes bright red and really hard and then a large red area spreads around it.

This pic is my latest bite mark from yesterday, it went quite hard and I have this red area around it. I keep putting antihistamine cream on it and have drawn around it as I have all my others just to check it doesn't spread any further, so far none have thankfully.

I also find they take an age to go and when they do they have all left a red scar which has never happened before and I'm very careful not to scratch them.

I have no idea why this keeps happening?

I have a GP appointment later for a separate issue but will mention it to her.

Just wondering if anyone else has suddenly experienced this.

They are your bog standard UK gnats btw, I've not travelled anywhere.

Same for me. With bites, they are insanely large and red this year but never before. They look just like yours. What's a gnat? I thought they were midgie bites. Or is it the same thing

I have too, this year, a lot more bites than in previous years and a lot more itchy; I could go in the garden for two minutes and come back in with three bites.
I thought it may be the abnormally hot weather somehow aggravating the beasts or allowing them to breed more prolifically.
No answers but lots of solidarity!

Antihistamine cream is basically pointless. Take a tablet, a modern one that doesn't make you drowsy - not Piriton.

Easy really. PROTEIN.Let me tell you a story of midges. I lived for a few years in a tiny fishing village on the west coast of South Africa. There the midges were so big they would sit on your windowsill at night, debating whether to eat you now or take you away for later. The bites would be about 2cm high and spread over about 20cm of your body.
The main industry there was air dried fish ( FYI called Bokkoms).

Midge bites contain protein. Your histamines react with the protein. Somehow in the evolution of the midge they are retaining more protein than in the past.

I have terrible reactions to bites (as I do every year) and fexofenadine tablets help me a lot, they’re a new gen antihistamine. Allevia is a branded version but you can get cheaper off brand ones.
I wonder if it’s worse for some this year due to climate changes

Yes this year I have needed Fexofenadine. Im getting really bad reactions to migde/gnat bites, worse in the UK than being abroad! But i also cover them in these little mosquito plaster patches which i get from Amazon, they seem to help. I will upload a photo as Amazon links are dreadful!

Are you sure they are midge bites and not harvest mite bites? A lot of people get reactions that look like this from them. I’d they are around your ankles and lower legs it might be worth considering.

Thanks all, seems I'm not alone with this then.

I suffer from digestive issues and unfortunately most antihistamine tablets give me terrible diarrhoea.

whoshouldItalkto

Definitely gnats, I've killed loads in our bedroom and DH has been bitten too although he doesn't react to them as I seem to.

Hydrocortisone cream is what you need. You can buy a certain strength OTC or get a script for a stronger one if needed

Thank you, I’ll see if I can get some otc today.

Its the same with me, I have bites from back in July that still haven't healed and are still insanely itchy. I have just been prescribed a steroid cream which I have been using twice a day for a week although it hasn't really done anything much, bit less itchy I would say.

Pharmacists can give you antibiotics for infected bites .

Just to note that they wouldn't give it to me, as the bite was so old and still not healing, I had to go to the doctor. Or when I say go to the doctor I had to send a picture and then they sent a prescription.