Anyone else suffer a reaction to Insect Bites?

[Max68]

Been trawling through allergy forums with no real luck on possible remedies to help so thought I would try you all on here.

I have a habit of getting bitten by something (not sure what) on the golf course despite applying plenty of insect repellent that usually does a good job. Unfortunately the odd little blighter gets through my defensive shield and gives me a nip of which the first sign is an irritating itch and usually a small dot where blood has been drawn!

The problem is whilst on face, arms, left leg etc all I get is an irritating itch, but for some bizarre reason if I am bitten anywhere on my right leg by bed time my leg resembles an elephants leg, with skin tight, burning and attempting to explode, an incredible itch and pain that seems to hit to the bone. If I get up after an evening on a recliner it's like standing on a broken leg such is the pain. Yesterday got nipped and got very little sleep despite my usual ice pack in the evening, and a combination of aloe vera gel and pain killing rub along with the usual antihistamines but none seem to work particularly well.

It's baffling why it only happens with one leg and even more baffling considering I don't seem to be allergic to anything else! GP not much help bar suggesting the usual so wondered if anyone suffers the same and has a miracle cure or two they may kindly share?

 

[Pipp]

Brutal little blighters, some of those midges. I find bites on legs particularly troublesome too. Possibly because I have some slight varicose veins and the midges know they can get a good feed if they bite there, particularly around ankles. Have to be careful that the bites don’t cause cellulitis, which has the symptoms you describe, @Max68 and usually needs antibiotics to clear, which takes a few days.

I have found that commercially available insect repellants do nothing, other than give me a rash. So I make my own using distilled water, (about 500mls) mixed with essential oils citronella, lavender, peppermint, (about 5 drops of each) put in a spray bottle and spray around ankles, and legs. I also put some on a cloth and tuck it into my top. It has been quite successful in that I haven’t had a sore bite since starting using it a few years ago. (She says with fingers and toes firmly crossed about to go on a woodland walk).

 

[Max68]

Brutal little blighters, some of those midges. I find bites on legs particularly troublesome too. Possibly because I have some slight varicose veins and the midges know they can get a good feed if they bite there, particularly around ankles. Have to be careful that the bites don’t cause cellulitis, which has the symptoms you describe, @Max68 and usually needs antibiotics to clear, which takes a few days.

I have found that commercially available insect repellants do nothing, other than give me a rash. So I make my own using distilled water, (about 500mls) mixed with essential oils citronella, lavender, peppermint, (about 5 drops of each) put in a spray bottle and spray around ankles, and legs. I also put some on a cloth and tuck it into my top. It has been quite successful in that I haven’t had a sore bite since starting using it a few years ago. (She says with fingers and toes firmly crossed about to go on a woodland walk).

Thank you for that. Do you know I never even considered cellulitis so just spoken to the Urgent Care Practitioner at the surgery and it is an infection and she has prescribed me antibiotics after I sent pictures of my leg through! (Never thought I would be doing that!) Obviously have recovered in the past but the itching tends to go on for quite a while and I always end up with scarring due to the bites.

Jungle Juice has always been pretty good but I think I went for a cheaper one last time as JJ was a tenner a pop. GP suggested getting some hydro cortisone cream for the kitchen cupboard as well. I can walk through woods without any problem, it's always the golf course, but very rare to happen in the afternoon, it's usually twilight that's the problem.

Update - Interesting situation when I went to collect my anti biotics. The lady behind the counter in basic chat about insect bites, asked if I was diabetic. Turns out she is too and she suffers "exactly" the same reaction to bites that I do. Bot sure if being diabetic leads us open to worse infection in stuff like this but the symptoms she has were exactly the same.

 

[Pipp]

Thank you for that. Do you know I never even considered cellulitis so just spoken to the Urgent Care Practitioner at the surgery and it is an infection and she has prescribed me antibiotics after I sent pictures of my leg through! (Never thought I would be doing that!) Obviously have recovered in the past but the itching tends to go on for quite a while and I always end up with scarring due to the bites.

Jungle Juice has always been pretty good but I think I went for a cheaper one last time as JJ was a tenner a pop. GP suggested getting some hydro cortisone cream for the kitchen cupboard as well. I can walk through woods without any problem, it's always the golf course, but very rare to happen in the afternoon, it's usually twilight that's the problem.

Update - Interesting situation when I went to collect my anti biotics. The lady behind the counter in basic chat about insect bites, asked if I was diabetic. Turns out she is too and she suffers "exactly" the same reaction to bites that I do. Bot sure if being diabetic leads us open to worse infection in stuff like this but the symptoms she has were exactly the same.

Ah, yes. Having not had infected bite for years I had forgotten about the emergency pack which included various strngths of
Betnovate cortisone creams. Resting with foot up, as much as possible, ice pack , and Dermacool cream on prescription as advised by dermatologist also reduced length of time symptoms were bothersome.
Hope you get well soon. Don’t forget, the infected bite will not just make leg sore, itcould have you a bit off kilter for a few days.

 

[Hopeful34]

Hope the cellulitis is getting better @Max68, and that if you've felt generally unwell, that's improved too. My mum had type 2 diabetes and always reacted in the same way as you to bites. She could be out with a group of friends and be the only one that got bitten as well. I've got a friend who isn't diabetic who reacts that way too, not really sure why.

 

[Max68]

Hi Hopeful. Yes thank you it's not too bad now so either the anti biotics worked or it just naturally recovered as per usual. GP said with diabetes you can take longer to heal but I've suffered with this reaction for years so it's just obviously the way I react but was totally naïve re possible cellulitis until you mentioned it. Never feel unwell with it, it's just the leg itself that's a problem and the swelling, itching and pain. No-one seems to have a clue why one leg reacts like that and the other doesn't! Most bizarre. I guess it's possible it could be down to the meds we are on but who knows. That's why I am terrified when wasps are about as if I react like that to a mite how would I react to a wasp sting. If you ever see a grown man flapping his arms about and screaming like a little girl when wasps are about that's probably me!

 

[Hopeful34]

That's good. Not keen on wasps myself, having been stung a few times when one flew up my dress on holiday. Lying in bed last summer I heard one buzzing at the window and panicked. Shot out of bed (well as fast as I can move anyway) and slammed the bedroom door behind me. Only trouble was I had to pluck up the courage to go back in and deal with it!!