Bites causing blisters

[Tony]

Sat night at the Moot after clearing up etc I got nailed a few times, not sure what it was but they seem like horse fly bites, two on my right calf, one on my right shin and a few on my inner ankle, they're all weeping a bit and incredibly itchy, my ankle ones have all blistered, it's about 2x3" of blisters, a couple have opened up/come off which is an inconvenience....

I'm just wondering if any of you guys and galls get the same thing? I've not had it like this before, Horse flies do effect me more than most but i'm not used to blisters, I can only think they're in a place doesn't cope with being bitten!

Anyone else get/had this?

 

[Mesquite]

I got munched 3 or 4 times by clegs but didn't develop anything like you're describing Tony, just the usual lump and mild itchiness.

Hope it clears up quick for you.

 

[Turnip]

possibly deer fly? or black fly bites can easily turn bad I believe!? have you taken some anti histamines?

 

[Big G]

I got bitten at the weekend on the back of my neck.

They've come out in large red lumps, and real itchy.

There was quite a few horse flys where i camped, i think they are the culprits.

Might give them a blast of fly spray, next time i go

See how they like that

 

[Toddy]

Mine go like that Tony Horrid damned things. I carry an epi-pen now for the bites, just in case one really goes nuts.

Best advice is to take both anti-histamines and an anti-inflammatory, and go and buy Eurax cream. Every time it itches, rub some on. It stops you scratching hard enough to cause further damage and inflammation, and it really does reduce the desperate need to scratch too.

atb,
Mary

 

[Tony]

Thanks for that all. Last year I was popping anti-histamines every day as a just in case, wish I had done it this year as well and I bought a few tubes of Eurax but didn't have any handy this year, well, to be honest I thought I'd managed to get away with it, crafty blighters!

 

[TarHeelBrit]

I was messing round in the back garden several day ago and I was bitten by something on my right forearm. Still don't know what it was but each bite produced a large red bump with a small hard blister on top. Itched like mental and I popped each blister and flooded the wound with Hydrogen Peroxide. That nuked whatever was in there and I have a few nice scabs there now. Funny thing is I've never been bitten by anything that has produced that kind or reaction before. Not even those damn hang glider sized mosquitoes in Raleigh were this bad.

 

[Tony]

Yeah, I hear about more and more people that react to bites. I've always been the focus of attention for biting things but other than itching and scratching i've never had a bad reaction till about 8 years ago, now horse flies and the like can dictate where i go and what I do....

 

[GGTBod]

I've had similar happen inside my house in the last two night sleeping with the windows open and using very little coverings due to clammy warm nights, sitting here trying not to scratch, got a beauty on my left elbow and wrist, right thigh in 2 spots and right on my knee and 2 on my ankle, the first couple i knocked the tops off scratching just after i woke and they are itching like mad and the ones i haven't scratched are itching for me to be itching them, hey at least you all have some outdoor memories to go with your weeping welts, i've come back from Scottish Lochs with less welts than i am nursing now

 

[satosato]

We were walking our dog few days ago, saw some blackberry plants and started picking them, came home with the same bites, about ten lumps on both legs and arms, never had anything similar before. Three days of anti-histamine pills and cream took care of it.

 

[Toddy]

Those sound like the bites from berry bugs satosato.
http://pencaitland.org/berry-bugs-local-villagers/
I don't know anyone who has a cleg bite resolve in three days. The berry bug bites itch like crazy though, but they don't swell so widely.

I have had cleg bites that swelled up the size and thickness of a pancake, were red hot, with a tight hard white line all around them and the itch was incessant. I have had ones that totally immobilised my knee or wrist. One on my throat gave me a fright, because it started to swell inside as well as out. It was when my heart started to flutter like a bird trapped in my chest that the epi-pen became part of my Summer kit

Not funny, and I have no compunction in obliterating every damned one of the things. I believe everything has it's place in the order of things, but I can see no saving grace for clegs/horseflies.

M

 

[GGTBod]

Mary once again your wisdom fills a knowledge gap i was unaware that i had, thank you kindly, in the last week i have been picking hazelnuts and right beside them i have been snacking on blackberries as a refreshing break now and then and the last time i was there i had bare arms n legs, my body must have been slowly reacting to them, small price to pay for my slowly accumulating hazelnuts that are ripening nicely day by day. I did not know about berry bugs.

Gleg bites sound horrific

 

[Tony]

Ha ha, everything bites....

It's amazing how venerable we are to things like this and it's amazing how different individuals are targeted, I can be in the same place as Shelly and she gets nothing while I get 30 bites.....NOT FAIR

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I at least take some satisfaction when I get bit in knowing ....YES, I itch and am uncomfortable for a couple of days but what ever bit me suffers a long and painful death from food poisoning.

D.B.

 

[kaiAnderson]

I always react badly to bites, they always seam to go for me joints (fingers, ankles, elbows etc) after a while mine will start to puss then scab. No bother although just incredibly annoying and the itching can drive you insane.

 

[Uilleachan]

Sat night at the Moot after clearing up etc I got nailed a few times, not sure what it was but they seem like horse fly bites, two on my right calf, one on my right shin and a few on my inner ankle, they're all weeping a bit and incredibly itchy, my ankle ones have all blistered, it's about 2x3" of blisters, a couple have opened up/come off which is an inconvenience....

I'm just wondering if any of you guys and galls get the same thing? I've not had it like this before, Horse flies do effect me more than most but i'm not used to blisters, I can only think they're in a place doesn't cope with being bitten!

Anyone else get/had this?

You're describing mosquito bites.

Mosquitos aren't that common in the UK especially during high summer, in the UK they're a feature of early spring and late autumn, particularly damp cool conditions. If those conditions extend into summer so do the mosquitos.

Lower legs are the favoured line of attack, try not to itch.

 

[Nice65]

Those stripy Asian mozzies can cause a pretty extreme reaction leading to blisters. Horsefly bits mainly cause huge swelling and deep, uncomfortable itching. Well, for me anyway.

It's important to take the anti histamines before the bite, or as soon as possible afterwards because once you're itching, histamines have already been released. The tablets prevent the histamine production in the first place.

 

[satosato]

Those sound like the bites from berry bugs satosato.
http://pencaitland.org/berry-bugs-local-villagers/
I don't know anyone who has a cleg bite resolve in three days. The berry bug bites itch like crazy though, but they don't swell so widely.
M

I have never heard of berry bug until now, thanks for the information! I grew up in a country where mosquitoes are the norm, these berry bugs are worse than mosquitoes.

 

[Toddy]

I don't 'think' I've been bitten by a mosquito, they are remarkably rare in Scotland really, but something got me when I was doing geo-phys on a sunken henge monument on a farm away up on the Lanark moors. It was used in Winter as a curling pond, but in Summer it was a shallow, muddy, pool of standing water full of insects and invertebrates.
Something bit most of us on that dig, and we were all miserable. Height of Summer too, so we thought clegs, but the bites didn't react 'quite' the same as cleg bites. I ended up jittery just on the anti-histamines for the three weeks.
Not funny. Speaking with Patrick McGlinchey later though, he said that there were mozzies up there on occasion. So, maybe ?
Either way, I'm glad they're not a familiar sight here; the midgies, clegs, berry bugs, keds and ticks are bad enough.

M

 

[santaman2000]

I don't 'think' I've been bitten by a mosquito, they are remarkably rare in Scotland really, but something got me when I was doing geo-phys on a sunken henge monument on a farm away up on the Lanark moors. It was used in Winter as a curling pond, but in Summer it was a shallow, muddy, pool of standing water full of insects and invertebrates.
Something bit most of us on that dig, and we were all miserable. Height of Summer too, so we thought clegs, but the bites didn't react 'quite' the same as cleg bites. I ended up jittery just on the anti-histamines for the three weeks.
Not funny. Speaking with Patrick McGlinchey later though, he said that there were mozzies up there on occasion. So, maybe ?
Either way, I'm glad they're not a familiar sight here; the midgies, clegs, berry bugs, keds and ticks are bad enough.

M

They haven't been a familiar sight there just yet. Climate change might be more present than we realize.