In which Claire is eaten alive...

[littleheaven]

OMG, I have the most bizarre bites all over me.  I know when they happened.  The first two (right knee, right ankle) were the night before last, not long after I got into bed.  I didn't feel the bite, but I felt the itch start up.  The next 4 all happened last night.  Left thigh, knee and calf, right bicep. 

I'm assuming it was a mosquito.  It's hot, humid, and we've had the window open at night.  Also, last night I heard that telltale high-pitched buzzing.  But I've never had mozzie bites come up like these.  Normally I get a little round, flat itchy spot, about the size of a pea, and it goes down after a few minutes, re-emerges 24 hours later and then fades out.  The one on my bicep, which I have not scratched at all, has spent all day spreading.  It's red, and is now so large that if I place two fingers over it from knuckle to tip, they barely cover it.  The one on my thigh is about the same size as the circle made if I put the tips of my thumb and forefinger together.  What on earth would do that?

This morning I squirted the room liberally with Mortien and shut the door.  Hopefully the little b@stard is dead.  If he bites me again tonight, it's war.

Comments

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm... That sounds like an allergic reaction. I wonder why that would happen... Are you allergic to any insect bites that you know of? You might want to take a couple of Benadryl (or another antihistamine that contains Diphenhydramine).

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

Nope, not allergic at all. That's what puzzles me. It doesn't really itch, though it's a bit sore and hot to touch. All I can think of is that it's not a garden-variety mozzie, which then makes me nervous, because I know a few tropical strains have gotten hold here and they're not very nice.

Oh, and hubby got bit right on the forehead. At least mine aren't hideously disfiguring! His went down pretty quick, though.

I'll take an antihistamine tomorrow if it's still there - or still spreading!

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

If it's sore and hot to the touch it's definately an allergic reaction. To tell you the truth, I doubt it's a mosquito bite. Make sure you get something with Diphenhydramine and not pseudophedrine...

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

We've got Razene (Cetirizine Hydrochloride 10mg ) which I'll take if it's still bothering me in the morning. Okay, bedtime now. Wish me luck, I'm going in!

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

Don't know about that one. The reason I suggested the other is that it's the most ephedrine-like ephedrine derivative that you can get over the counter, as far as I know...

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

It's gone this morning, so I guess I don't need anything, YAY. That was seriously weird, though.

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! Glad that's not a worry. Still, very odd indeed!

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

I don't think it sounds like a mozzie bite either. Regardlenss, nasty bugger! Hope it's dead already.

We had a flea problem late last year, and I got bitten so many times all over that we finally had to set off a flea bomb. So I suppose there's always that as a last resort, as long as you bomb just that room and not where Griffin might be?

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we got a flea infestation at the bank I was working in one year. We kept complaining to the manager who refused to do anything, until we started squashing them, taping them to post-it notes and leaving them on her computer screen. It definitely wasn't a flea bite - I couldn't even find a point of entry, whereas the others all had definite bite areas. Whatever it was, it's faded overnight, thankfully!

[sloane-m.livejournal.com]

Yep, sounds like you're allergic. I come up like that when I get bitten by a green ant. I never used to but I do now. If it is a mozzie, do you guys have Aerogard? Use that. Also, eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil is good for taking the heat out of bites like that.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

I found an expired tube of Anthisan in the bathroom cabinet so I put that on. Maybe that's why it wasn't itching like the others.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd say it sounds like an allergic reaction, too. I had those symptoms twice, both from mosquito bites I got in the same area, in consecutive years. But I don't remember what kind of salve I used for it.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

How bizarre. Salve no longer needed, thankfully, as it's disappeared almost entirely during the night :o)

[macgyvergal.livejournal.com]

Do you have fiddleback spiders there? They like warm places and are very small. Their bites can cause some of the symptoms you decribe and can be dangerous as the tissue around the bite begins to die. If the spots get any bigger get to a doc and get some antibiotics.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, actually. We don't really have anything in the way of poisonous spiders (just one, the Katipo, which I've never seen) though we have the Australian white-tail which can give a nasty bite. It's not a white-tail bite, though. It's almost like the irritant from the mosquito bite was spreading along under the skin. It was in an area where I don't have any real body fat, just bicep and tricep muscle. It's faded right away today, though. Thank goodness!

[macgyvergal.livejournal.com]

Nice to know that you don't have fiddlebacks. And that the spots are fading.

[lovinlorne.livejournal.com]

It was probably one of those mutant, weird ass Australian/New Zealand critters that the rest of us have never seen, let alone heard of.

I hope you recover soon.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun, all gone this morning. It was probably a Taniwha ;o)