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Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive June 2006: Insect bite remedies anyone?
I got an insect bite on my thigh Tuesday night, I thought it was a mosquito, now I am questioning what really got me. I just measured it and it is about 3 inches in diameter and it so itchy I almost cannot stand it. I am trying not to scratch it because I promise you if I start to scratch it I will until it bleeds! I have been spraying calamine on it. I took Benadryl last night but can't take it during the day and function. Does anyone have a home remedy that might work. I don't think I can wear shorts today, it looks that bad!
Toothpaste
It could still be a mosquito bite. I react to mosquito bites that way sometimes. Have you tried Benadryl spray? Also, try placing a baggie of ice wrapped in a paper towel on the area for 10-15 minutes at a time. You could also try taking Claratin. It shouldn't make you drowsy like Benadryl does.
I'd try benadryl cream or a hydrocortisone cream.
Baking soda/water paste.
The mosquitos are beasts this year! I spent 20 minutes outside the other night talking to a neighbor and hot eight bites on my feet and ankles!!!! The Hydrocorizone cream is working! Thank God!!!!
roll on deoderant works for us. I know it sounds weird but it really works.
Ditto the hydrocortisone, benadryl spray or cream or anything topical that will get to it instantly. I've also heard witch hazel can help and I think I heard something about a wet tea bag??? I'd have to look that up. Good luck. I hope it feels better soon (and that your pants aren't rubbing on it!).
When I was a kid, Mom would coat the bites with clear nail polish...hurt like the dickens, but it seemed to help. I don't do that anymore, and don't really recommend it, but it kept us from scratching! If anyone wants to tell me this is the worst thing to do and it's a wonder we didn't all die from toxic poisoning, I would completely understand! LOL
LOL Janet... Your mom is the worst person possible and I am surprised you survived.. LOL
Well, I ended up at the Dr. I got worried because I measured it this morning when I first got up and it was about 2 1/2 inches across and it is now over 4 inches across. He said that it is just a bad reaction and to take Benadryl. I'm still a little worried because I have a fever of 101.5 and it seems to be spreading. I will watch it tonight. I have a friend who is a Dr. and just on the phone she told me that it sounded like possible cellulitis. So, I will be watching it closely tonight. Thanks for all the remedies.
I put vinegar on bites. It stings for a moment but that feels better then the itch and when the sting is gone, so is the itch.
Could it be a spider bite? They can get really nasty, and can cause necrotic (dead) tissue, which is dangerous. I worked with a woman who nearly lost her foot. (My DD is a nurse, and I also asked her.) The fact that the redness is spreading and that you have a fever, concerns me. It could also be Lyme Disease. I had that last summer, and I was SO-O-O sick! It was sore and itchy, and the redness spread. I also ran fevers and lost weight. (For me, that means I must have been near death LOL!) Stay in touch with your doctor.
Janet, I had a friend who used to put Crazy Glue on those nasty little splits that you get on the ends of your fingers in the winter time; the ones that throb so badly. She said it kept it closed until it healed. I use bacitracin ointment on the cuts. It heals them for me.
Sarah, I'm glad you saw your doctor. I would be concerned about infection also, and would go back to the doctor if it doesn't get much better real quick. And maybe push the doctor to do a blood test for Lyme Disease. It will show up really quick in a blood test, and I know from experience with Scott's dog and from what I've read that if, heaven forbid, that is the problem, the sooner antibiotics are started the better.
Sarah--how are you doing?
Ditto Imamommyx4. How are you????
Hello! I'm doing fine! It ended up getting worse before it got better but it is almost totally gone now. At the height of it I measured it and it was 6 inches in diameter. I had the fever for 24 hours and the swelling and redness lasted until Sunday and now it's almost cleared up. It is a little tender to the touch but it's ok. I still think there was some kind of infection but with Benadryl and Claritin alternated and hydracortisone cream it cleared up. Thanks for asking! I will definitely be hosing myself down with bugspray at this weeks softball game!
Sarah - You should still get checked for Lyme Disease. It is a quick blood test. I live in the "hot zone" for Lyme Disease, so the doctors here have done a lot of research. The Lyme rash DOES dissipate after a few days, but if it is Lyme, and you leave it untreated, symptoms can materialize later, such as heart problems, joint pain or neurological problems. The approprite treatment is three weeks on an antibiotic. The first line is Doxicycline. Some physicians prefer to use amoxicillin. Don't let it go.
Ditto, Hol. Ditto, Ditto. We lost Scott's dog, Keyla, to Lyme Disease. And from what I've read, it can cause some terrible problems. A simple blood test won't take much time and will answer the question.
Can any other insects spread lyme disease? I know it wasn't a tick that got me. I would have seen that. It is on the inside of my thigh a few inches above my knee, I definitely would have seen a tick. However, if Lyme disease can be spread by another insect that's a different story. It is almost completely gone but it sounds like if it were something else it could cause problems down the road.... Thanks ladies!!! I will talk to my Doctor!
If it wasn't a tick, you are OK on Lyme from what I know. But, it doesn't hurt to double-check.
As far as I know, ticks are the only vectors for Lyme Disease. However, my DH has had it THREE TIMES, (he likes to go fly fishing) once bad enough to keep him in a military hospital for a week. They thought he had meningitis. Only one of the three times did he actually see the tick. The Deer ticks are very small. Once they fill up on your blood, they drop off.
Lyme is a bacterial infection, as opposed to viral, and that's why it responds to antibiotics. The bacterium is a spyrocete, the same type that causes syphillus. Gross, huh?
I had no idea that when a deer tick is done biting you that it drops off. I always assumed that it was like all other ticks and stayed put until you take it out. Should I get checked even if all of the symptoms have gone? I can still see on my leg where the bite was but it feels ok. I think I will investigate a little more. Thanks ladies!
Sarah, definitely yes. That's how Lyme progresses. It makes a nasty rash for a few days, then fades. During the rash phase, you sometimes run fevers and get flu-like symptoms. Sometimes no symptoms. However, just because the rash dissappears doesn't mean the disease is resolved. If untreated with antibiotics, it lies dormant, and can then cause heart, joint or nerve problems. It can affect memory and cause insomnia. These things can happen a year later. It's pretty insidious. A three week course of inexpensive antibiotics usually stops the disease and prevents the complications.
The ticks you have to pull out are not finished gorging themselves on your blood.
Here's a link on tick removal - which sounds authoritative, and totally contradicts what I always believed. I'm sure what I believed was wrong and this article is right.
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I know of a lot of dogs here, too, that have died from it. It's pretty much fatal for dogs.