Persistence/recurrence of midge bites 3 months later



"Fran" <[email protected]> wrote

> Sounds extremely unlikely, to be honest. Have you got any allergies that you know of, because
> that's what it sounds like. New bites can't 'recur', but if you've got an overactive mattress
> (sorry, but I'm afraid that's life - as it were) it could be the bugs biting; if you've got a cat
> or dog it's possible that some fleas have hatched. At least if that's the problem it's easy to
> sort out. I'd be inclined to make an appointment to see your GP and ask his/her advice - and I'd
> be inclined to do so before the holiday if possible.

Over sensitisation to certain chemicals is quite common. From working in electroplating several
years ago and not appreciating (or indeed being told!) this and not going to the doctor's when I
should have I still get a bit of dermatitis rash start up on my chest just from touching anything
nickel plated. Don't know if you can get the same kind of thing with insect bites.
 
On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:36:37 +0000 (UTC), "Rab"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>writing from Ascot, blessedly midge-free but with a surfeit of bumptious self-important little-
>englanders .. (well it is race day...)

I vividly remember seeing a bloke driving his Bentley through Ascot high street with a pint held in
one hand and balanced on his evidently capacious belly. The place was crawling with busies, he must
have either been under the limit and taking the ****, or breathtakingly arrogant.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk
 
[email protected] said...
> In article <[email protected]>, Fran <[email protected]> writes
> >[email protected] said...
> >> I visited Scotland (well Glen Affric) in August this year, where I bitten over 80 times by
> >> midges.
> >>
> >> It's now December and I am still scratching some of my bites. Worst of all, i am now finding
> >> new bites recurring in the same spots and looking exactly like the bites I received in August.
> >>
> >Sounds extremely unlikely, to be honest. Have you got any allergies that you know of, because
> >that's what it sounds like.
>
> Agreed. But my recurrence is in the identical place and I put it down to an allergy to
> midge bites.

If I hadn't heard it here I'd be thinking I was listening to a radio drama. However - you seem level-
headed enough... it just sounds so
- implausible! How on earth can bites *recur*?

Puzzled, of Wales.
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.
 
cats_spam@[127.0.0.1] said...
> >I suggest that you are either suffering from flea bites from a pet
>
> So *someone* agrees with me!
>
And he's not the only one.
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.
 
"AndyP" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Stuart" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> > RUBBISH...see a shrink!
>
> Nice bedside manner there, Stu.

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies. I do have a pet at home, so the bites could be related to fleas, but I
have had my pet for 15 years and never had this problem before.

So after everyone's comments, I will be seeing a doctor and have tried an anti-histamine, but
unfortunately the medication made me sleepy. I may try another brand instead.

Sim
 
On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 17:33:53 +0000, Bernard Hill
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Only if you don't know what to do. I've never had hundreds of bites (and they are NOT wee red
>spots. They can be 0.5" large and always very very itchy.
>
>How to take care:
>
>1. Don't go out in low light conditions (dark is OK)

So camping in summer's out of the question!

>2. Don't go out in low wind conditions

Stay in the tent for the duration of the holiday in the hope that the wind will pick up?

>3. Always use some deet-based deterrent, or O-So-Soft.

Works for some people - not for everyone though.

>4. Keep windows shut in low light conditions, preferably always

I don't take any windows with me when I'm out walking!

Incidentally, they can be just as ferocious and numerous in the dark. It may be that you're not
their preferred type - they do go for some people more than others.

--
Paul

My Lake District walking site (updated 29th September 2003): http://paulrooney.netfirms.com
 
"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:36:37 +0000 (UTC), "Rab" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >writing from Ascot, blessedly midge-free but with a surfeit of bumptious self-important little-
> >englanders .. (well it is race day...)
>
> I vividly remember seeing a bloke driving his Bentley through Ascot high street with a pint held
> in one hand and balanced on his evidently capacious belly. The place was crawling with busies, he
> must have either been under the limit and taking the ****, or breathtakingly arrogant.
>
> Guy
> ===
> May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
> http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

- hey, didn't realise you were at the side of the road, could 'ave given you a lift.... .

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.554 / Virus Database: 346 - Release Date: 20/12/2003
 
[email protected] said...
> "AndyP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > "Stuart" <[email protected]> wrote
> >
> > > RUBBISH...see a shrink!
> >
> > Nice bedside manner there, Stu.
>
> Hi all,
>
> Thanks for all your replies. I do have a pet at home, so the bites could be related to fleas, but
> I have had my pet for 15 years and never had this problem before.

Unfortunately there's always a first time...

> So after everyone's comments, I will be seeing a doctor and have tried an anti-histamine, but
> unfortunately the medication made me sleepy. I may try another brand instead.

You could always try a topical cream rather than oral medication.
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.
 
On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 17:33:53 +0000, Bernard Hill <[email protected]> wrote:
>Only if you don't know what to do. I've never had hundreds of bites (and they are NOT wee red
>spots. They can be 0.5" large and always very very itchy.
>
>How to take care:
>
>1. Don't go out in low light conditions (dark is OK)
>2. Don't go out in low wind conditions
>3. Always use some deet-based deterrent, or O-So-Soft.
>4. Keep windows shut in low light conditions, preferably always
>
>
>On a week in the west coast in summer I reckon on getting no more than 20 bites by obeying
>the above.
>
>But even that is too much for me unless forced to it :-(
>
>The book "midges in Scotland" is worth its weight for the advice.
>
>
>Bernard Hill Selkirk, Scotland
They don't bother me but my wife reacts badly; she starts a course of ant-histamine tablets the week
before and it seems to do the job.

Alex.

A geek is someone who understands the function of the 'Sys Rq' key without looking it up.
 
"Paul Rooney" <[email protected]> wrote

> >Only if you don't know what to do. I've never had hundreds of bites (and they are NOT wee red
> >spots. They can be 0.5" large and always very very itchy.
> >
> >How to take care:
> >
> >1. Don't go out in low light conditions (dark is OK)
>
> So camping in summer's out of the question!
>
> >2. Don't go out in low wind conditions
>
> Stay in the tent for the duration of the holiday in the hope that the wind will pick up?

Even when there are huge clouds of them around I've never found they bother you when you're actually
walking. And when you stop it's usually a minute or two before they realise lunch has arrived and
start to descend on you in any great numbers. A quick moving, eat on the go strategy works well
along with the ability to put a tent up one handed in 30 seconds flat whilst waving the other hand
frantically around your head.
 
On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 14:29:09 -0000, "Paul Saunders"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Paul Rooney wrote:
>
>> Incidentally, they can be just as ferocious and numerous in the dark.
>
>Actually I remember a particularly bad camping trip where they were still swarming after dark.

All night long on a recent trip!

>Or maybe it was still daylight and they were blotting out the light from the sun?

Megaswarms really do block the light/view. They also get you when you are walking - though not as
often in my experience.

--
Paul

My Lake District walking site (updated 29th September 2003): http://paulrooney.netfirms.com
 
AndyP wrote:

>> So camping in summer's out of the question!

Why would anyone want to camp in the summer anyway?

>> Stay in the tent for the duration of the holiday in the hope that the wind will pick up?

No problems there if you camp in October or March.

> Even when there are huge clouds of them around I've never found they bother you when you're
> actually walking. And when you stop it's usually a minute or two before they realise lunch has
> arrived and start to descend on you in any great numbers.

Thus a problem for "serious" photography then (haze in front of the lens).

> A quick moving, eat on the go strategy works well along

Roger shouldn't be troubled then.

> with the ability to put a tent up one handed in 30 seconds flat whilst waving the other hand
> frantically around your head.

Difficult to photograph the sunset from inside a zipped up tent though.

Paul
--
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/october/october.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
Fran <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> You could always try a topical cream rather than oral medication.

Well, I have tried a topical steroid cream and after a week, they are looking much better, despite
still being itchy every now and then. Given that the steroid cream is working, it seems that I must
have developed an allergy to something along my travels home.

Thanks all!
 
[email protected] said...
> > You could always try a topical cream rather than oral medication.
>
>
> Well, I have tried a topical steroid cream and after a week, they are looking much better,
>
Excellent!
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.
 
Paul Rooney wrote:

>> Or maybe it was still daylight and they were blotting out the light from the sun?
>
> Megaswarms really do block the light/view.

Yeah. Thinking back it's really difficult to tell just how dark it really was and how much was due
to the midges.

> They also get you when you are walking - though not as often in my experience.

Yeah.

Paul
--
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/october/october.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
The message <[email protected]>
from "Paul Saunders" <[email protected]> contains these words:

> > A quick moving, eat on the go strategy works well along

> Roger shouldn't be troubled then.

Back in <mumble, mumble> I was bivvying on a little knoll above the north shore of Loch Monar and
woke up to a serious midge problem. My bag had a midge net so I was ok until I emerged but once out
in the open I was in torment and frantically packed before fleeing uphill. I didn't outpace the
midges until above 3000' at which point I stopped for my delayed breakfast.

--
Roger Looking North over the Aire Valley (and Marley Gasworks) to Rombolds Moor Top Posters
killfiled on sight
 
[email protected] said...
> In article <[email protected]>, Paul Saunders <[email protected]> writes
> >> A quick moving, eat on the go strategy works well along
> >
> >Roger shouldn't be troubled then.
>
> If you were following Roger, you'd be knee deep in knackered midges.
>
> Sorry for keeping on Roger, it's a form of compliment to your undoubted ability really :)
>
Aye. Roger's remarkably fit - puts most of the rest of us to shame. Keep it up Roger; here's to your
next how ever many years of walking
:)
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.
 
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