getting bitten to death!

[miffy]

Last two times I have been up the plot unseen by me something has either bitten or stung me on my arms.
It must have been a big something because the site of the bite/sting was quite big. My arm swelled up in a cirlce around where the mark was and then came up in small blisters all around it. It was red hot and swollen red veins came out of the original spot which swelled to about 20cm in diameter around my arm, so painful that I had to take off my wedding ring as fingers swelled up too.
It took five days to calm down using anti hystamine cream.
Question is this, is there anything I can put on me as a pre emptive strike to stop my skin being an attractive source of food/target for whatever it is that likes to get at me?
Has anyone else ever had a bite/sting like this that blistered and might know what did it so I can run when it comes around again, is there such a thing as a ninja fly? As didn't see it either time!

[Glutton4...]

Try this Miffy - it works for me, and they luuuuuurve biting me!

3 X AVON SKIN SO SOFT DRY OIL SPRAY INSECT REPELLENT on eBay (end time 13-Jun-10 13:35:35 BST)

It wasn't developed as an insect repellent, but many many people now use it as such, as it is so effective. Some people even cover their Horses with it, if they are susceptible to sweet-itch (a reaction to a biting midge), and find it more effective than 'proper' treatments. That reminds me, I've run out - off to eBay again!

[Bren In Pots]

G4 beat me to posting about Skin so soft, us and all our camping friends swear by it.

forgot to say Mr in pots says it doesn't smell girlie at all.

[taff]

A firend gave me a recipe for making your own cream too.

Essential oils of geranium, citronella and basil, mixed into cocoa butter.

[miffy]

Thank you guys, my arms look awful at the moment so will defo try those things you suggested, obviously they like the taste of rabbits!

[jackie j]

Was it a horse fly they can have a nasty bite

[Two_Sheds]

a 20 cm bite? Sure it wasn't a horse, not a horsefly?

I get bitten a lot. I don't wear perfume, I don't go near stagnant water: I must just taste nice. Taking a hayfever tablet (anti-histamine) helps, as does not scratching.

[miffy]

a 20 cm bite? Sure it wasn't a horse, not a horsefly?

I get bitten a lot. I don't wear perfume, I don't go near stagnant water: I must just taste nice. Taking a hayfever tablet (anti-histamine) helps, as does not scratching.

Nooo, it wasnt the actual bite that was 20cm it was the area of swelling!! The actual bite site was a couple of mm across! Sorry, didn't make myself clear.
Thanks re the anti histamine tabs suggestion, taking those for hay fever at the moment.

[DarkCrow]

Nooo, it wasnt the actual bite that was 20cm it was the area of swelling!! The actual bite site was a couple of mm across! Sorry, didn't make myself clear.
Thanks re the anti histamine tabs suggestion, taking those for hay fever at the moment.

I got bitten yeterday whilst out on my bike, can only imagine it got in through the head vents in my helmet, definatly not a horse fly for me, I got bitten by those Bu**ers last year and the swelled like billyoh! sounds like it for you thought, is the bite area hot?

[lizzylemon]

I know it's 'only' a bite but next time it happens I think you should get it checked out, it sounds like a bad reaction to a mozzi bit and you can get stronger creams than over the counter.

[Glutton4...]

I have to have extra strength Antihistamine tablets, but they're only available on prescription. That means, I have to know, in advance when it's going to be hot, so I can make an appointment for three weeks' time. Then, when I get there, I have to wait nearly forty minutes AFTER the time THEY told ME to be there, to eventually see a person who will ask me all the same blimmin questions they already have the answers to on their computer. Then, eventually, they may decide to give me a prescription. When/if they do - I then have to drive eight blimmin miles to T*esco's late-opening Pharmacy to get the blimmin pills, coz my Doc's Surgery has run out!

Sorry, should've put that on the rant thread, I suppose!

[northepaul]

Here's an interesting one:
take vitamin B complex suppliments, makes your skin/blood/sweat repulsive to mozzies.

Been doing it for ages, and hardly ever get bitten - infact a few years ago we went on holiday to a really bad place for them (In France) everyone else was getting dozens of bites a night. Me= 1 bite the whole time.

You have to take it a while before it works though. Added bonus, the B vits are good for other problems too.

Oh and incase you wonder, before I started taking it, I used to be covered in bites all summer.

[its hilly]

Miffy, nasty thought, get your doc to do a test for Lymes. You can get it from tick bites and they can cause a nasty reaction. I got bitten and had swelling and a rash but because the tick hadn't stayed in I didn't know what had caused it. As a result I was still ill two years later.
For anyone unlucky enough to get a tick bite that they react to all it takes is a quick course of antibiotics to clear it up, but if you dont it can be very nasty indeed. So worth checking folks.

[sewer rat]

Try this Miffy - it works for me, and they luuuuuurve biting me!

3 X AVON SKIN SO SOFT DRY OIL SPRAY INSECT REPELLENT on eBay (end time 13-Jun-10 13:35:35 BST)

It wasn't developed as an insect repellent, but many many people now use it as such, as it is so effective. Some people even cover their Horses with it, if they are susceptible to sweet-itch (a reaction to a biting midge), and find it more effective than 'proper' treatments. That reminds me, I've run out - off to eBay again!

This stuff is so good at repelling the little beggars that it was being issued to the Highland Regiment (pre them being absorbed into The Scottish Regiment )