Bug bites re-revisited

[adkpooh]

Is it possible to be allergic to mosquito bites??

Alright....I know we are not doctors here.....but when your own doctor looks at you like your an alien....I thought I might ask elsewhere.....

A couple weeks ago....I got bit up in the central adirondacks. I thought at the time it was JUST mosquitos...on a whole weekend I just did not physically see any blackflies. I had only a dozen or so bites- minimal compaired with previous late spring visits. We were DEET'ed from head to toe. One spot in particular, I was bit at the base of the back of my head on left side as we were packing up the tent to head home. I actually felt it at some point as it was happening and killed the bug. It never saw what it was - assumed by feel of the carcass -it was a mosquito. Two hours later in the car I noticed that a gland on the left side of my neck began to swell - as did the spot where I was bitten maybe an inch and a half away.

Stupidly... both spots stayed swollen for about 10 days until I finally went to doctor and got on antibiotics. He throughly believes it must have been a blackfly bite- that was just too close to a gland. I guess it is possible/probable....but I swear- I hadn't seen any. Good news .....this is now about 3 weeks later and both spots are finally going away. Bad news is....his only suggestion is to cover my neck (I'll be the dingbat climbing in the turtleneck on a 90 degree day.) I was thinking more like taking benadryl at the beginning on an all out bug on-slaught (problem with that plan is that I have no idea how I might finish a hike while half asleep).

My question is.....has anyone else gotten this type of reaction to a blackfly or mosquito bite? I have been bitten so badly before - (1st lesson learned...stay away from swamp hikes in spring) this was quite a shock....kind of afraid my reaction to bites could possibly get worse.

Any info - greatly appreciated.
ADKPooh

 

[Pete_Hickey]

My question is.....has anyone else gotten this type of reaction to a blackfly or mosquito bite?

Twice I've had blackflies send me to a doctor. I think it happens every 15 years or so. I'm about due again. See:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/blackf.html

This time (in the picture) when I went to the doctor, the doctor just laughed at me.

 

[Dalraida]

Death by bug bites

I happened to be in the middle, therefore part of, a search for a lost hiker around 1985 or so. According to the USFS and NHF&G guys I talked to during the search, the young man was head injured (TBI) and had no short term memory. He ended up walking straight into the swampy morass on the old RR bed/trail coming back from 13 Falls to Franconia Brook. It is assumed that he didn't recognize the by-pass trail and simply stepped over the small log blocking the old trail. When he was found in the swamp about four days later he had died from exposure and a massive reaction to black fly and mosquito bites. This was in midsummer with warm days and nights. As the story goes, he was day hiking with two young friends who walked off and left him at 13 Falls hoping he would follow, which he did, until he got lost. I was camped by the brook about a mile from where they found him. I have fished for the elusive native Brookies through that area and it is not an area where I would like to spend the night unprotected and without a good sense of the woods.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Stupidly... both spots stayed swollen for about 10 days until I finally went to doctor and got on antibiotics.ADKPooh

Did the antibiotics help? Did you mention your concerns to him/her? If the anitbiotics helped then your doctor was probably right. If they didn't work then you probably should have gone back to see him. I would definetly talk to your doctor. If he thought that it was an allergic reaction I don't think he would have given you antibiotics. So if it wasn't an allergic reaction a benadryl prophylactic won't have any affect.

As far as the question about allergic reactions in general. I know that mosquitos do inject an anesthetic of some type. I suppose it is possible to be allergic to that. The amounts would seem to be pretty small though. I am unsure about blackflies but, lets not forget where flies of all types like to congregate. Getting feces into the bite could certainly cause infections. Yellow jackets are some of the foulest of them all. I had a sting from one of them that took over a month to heal.

Great pictures Pete and what did your doctor prescribe? Antibiotics or something else?

All the standard disclaimers. I am not a doctor and they won't even let me portray one on TV...

Keith

 

[HikerBob]

Pete - why is it that having seen that picture a dozen times before I am always drawn to go look again? Scares the cr#p out of me

I allways carry a headnet with me in case the bugs get too bad - I never *ever* want to end up looking like that!

Bob

 

[Trekkin]

My fiancee gets really bad reactions to black fly bites - on one of our 1st b-pack forays into the Whites (no bug nets, although we learned QUICKLY) she got bit twice on the back of the neck, off to one side. It sounds to be the same spot you got hit. Blood immediately welled up and swelling started immediately. Over the next three days we kept it very clean and applied a Benadryl cream a few times each day. The swelling ceased, although it looked as though she had a grape under her skin in the 2 spots she was bitten. Over a few months time the swelling abated, and to this day (6+yrs later) she still has the scars as a reminder to carry a headnet. Needless to say, she's a devout user of both Deet and headnets now.

And damn Pete......I'm at a loss for words....the fact that you're smiling thru that is somewhat disconcerting!

 

[Pete_Hickey]

And damn Pete......I'm at a loss for words....the fact that you're smiling thru that is somewhat disconcerting!

My 7 year old son said, "Smile. I'm taking your picture."

Hey. What else CAN you do?.

 

[funkyfreddy]

I had the right side of my face swell up like Pete's from a black fly that bit my eyelid on the summit of Middle Tripyramid. It looked so bad that I scared other hikers I crossed paths with on that 3 day backpack.

 

[Jay H]

While on the subject of bug bites, I got bit on the lip by a bee on last year's bike tour to New Brunswick. I was biking up Route 2 in Maine, near Lincoln when I was descending a gradual incline. Well, a bee must of hit my lower lip and instinctually, I closed my mouth, probably pinching the poor guy and it stung me in the lip. Now, I get hit by bees all the time when I'm biking but most of them just bounce off.

Mouth swelled up a bit but I'm not allergic to bees. Felt funny for the rest of the day though and I think the cashier looked at me kind of funny when I went to buy some water in a grocery store in Lincoln.

Jay

 

[jbreen]

When my neice gets a bad mosquito bite, it forms a hard knot about the size of an egg and feels hot. Never saw anything like that before.