Saturday, August 14, 2010

Not for the Faint....



Update since writing this post I have been told abt No See Ums
if you encounter bug bites like this check out
Sandflies etc






Gross Alert.....

This past week 
I was in Lansing while my hsb 
was in training classes
we then went for a mini vacation
on Lake Erie
We had such a great time
until....
I saw these bumps



I don't know what these are
but I have at least 200
of them all over my feet
ankles, calves
thighs and back of my legs

Some have said chigger bites
(I don't have a clue never saw 
chigger bites b/4)

maybe mosquito bites
(seems like I would've noticed
 THAT many mosquitos)

flea bites 
(haven't seen any fleas)

bed bugs 
(didn't see any bedbugs on mattress)



I don't have a clue
but they are miserable 

So right now 
I will be 
on and off 
between 
Benadryl fogs
ointment applications


If anyone has any ideas
on what it is 
I'm open
to answers

if they are chiggers
I can expect to have them 
for weeks
urggghhhhhh

FYI on chiggers
I believed they burrowed but 5 different sites
told me nope


Chiggers first show up as annoying red bumps.
 An itch begins. It grows. More hard 
red welts surface. From your feet 
and ankles upward, and especially 
at those tender locations your mother told 
not to scratch in public, a maddening itch takes hold.
Savage scratching begins.
 Every welt becomes a persistent, 
exquisitely itching preoccupation that 
continues to irritate for days and even weeks.
 You probably recognize these symptoms 
of chigger bites. Yet we never see the culprits 
responsible for this summertime agony. 
What are chiggers? Why do they bite us? 
How can we stop that horrible itching?
Myths about chiggers are widespread.
 Many believe chiggers are some type of bug.
 Folklore tells us they burrow under our skin 
and die, that they drink our blood and
 that they can best be killed by 
suffocation with nail polish or
 bathing with bleach, alcohol,
 turpentine or salt water. 
Surprisingly, all these popular 
facts are just plain wrong.
Chiggers are not bugs 
or any other type of insect.
 Chiggers are the juvenile (or larval) 
form of a specific family of mites,
 the Trombiculidae. Mites are arachnids
, like spiders and scorpions,
 and are closely related to ticks.
On human hosts, however, 
chiggers seldom get the chance 
to finish a meal. The unlucky chigger that 
depends on a human for its once-in-a-lifetime
 dinner is almost sure to be accidentally
 brushed away or scratched off by
 the victim long before the meal is complete.


resource


I have the bumps all over - 
some under the spots on my flip flops. 
They itch like mad What makes me lean that 
way is that I noticed them
 and it was awhile after that they started itching
 - not right away like a mosquito bite 
as time has gone it they have itched more
 I think I got them when I was down 
by the lake there was a wooded area 
there No matter what kind
 of bite it is the treatment is the same
benadryl and cortisone

16 comments:

  1. Oh Jo, you poor thing, I wish I could help you! I am so sorry, you must be just miserable! I hope you find out soon what caused this and can get something that gives you some relief!

    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jo, they look like chigger bites to me too, and I know 'cause I've had them myself. Get some Chiggerid at Wal-Mart and apply it to each bump. (Yeah I know that's a lot of bumps) If you can't find chiggerid then get some clear fingernail polish (it doesn't have to be clear but it looks better) and put that on the top of each bump. Relief should come soon. Good luck sister.

    Hugs XX
    Barbara
    Moore Whimsies

    ReplyDelete
  3. I noticed you do not have them where the sun did not touch your feet. Are you having solar toximia. I am allergic to the sun certain times of the year, if you don't have them where you were covered, that could be it. They itch like crazy. Take an antihistimine and see if it helps.. Benedryl is what they normally reccomend

    ReplyDelete
  4. if they are chiggers, you can kill them by dabbing nail polish on them but this does not look like chiggers.. way to many of them..

    do they hurt or itch.. if they hurt.. shingles are a possibility.. shingles hurts bad.. itches but hurts really bad..

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  5. Chiggers are usually red bumps on me. There is an anti itch gel that works great. I believe it is by Band Aid. I will go look and tell you if it is different. Nothing worse than itching. The fact you were in the woods sounds like chiggers. Could it be poison ivy?
    Debbie

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  6. Good luck! Hope they heal quickly. La

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  7. I came about this site looking at pictures of insect bites trying to find something that matched mine. I know this was from a year ago, but i have the same looking stuff. a TON of bumps from my ankles all the way up to my thighs. way too many for it to be mosquitos, like you said, and, also like you said, i think i would have noticed bedbugs when i tore my bed apart looking and washing. I ruled out fleas because those are supposed to have small red centers. My dr doesn't open until monday so it would just be extremely helpful if you could post anything that happened or anything that helped. I'm also alternating between taking benadryll and slathering on anti-itch gels. anything would help, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since writing this post I have been told to check out no see ums and now think that is what I encountered

      Delete
  8. I would've replied personally but there was no email w your post What I did was take oral benadryl and kept myself out of the zone as much as possible I took baths as well. Nothing seemed to completely work I did use the nail polish trick and it did seem to help temporarily I do believe they were chigger bites. They took forever to completely go away I have scares from some of them. I didn't find any of the chigger over the counters helped. I never went to the Dr in hindsight I probably should've I ended up w/ well over 400 of them and emotionally it was very hard for me Please let me know how you made out

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  9. Could it have been swimmer's itch?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimmer's_itch

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  10. In my case the sores lasted for months and I hadn't been swimming at all - never got in the water I have to admit I had never heard of swimmers itch Thanks!

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  11. I have one or two of these but i havent been anywhere, just in england where there aren't any chiggers. I'm a bit lost on what they are then!

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  12. my Lil boy is almost 2 and he has the same thing i have took him to ER after ER his doc and no one can tell me what this is my son is on so much meds that he is sleeping all day if you find out want this is plz let me no I have been going on with this for 3 month dose any one in you house have the same thing i am just scared something bad is wrong with him.

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  13. This was a bad case of chiggers that lasted a cpl of months

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  14. FWIW this far after the fact, I got a bunch of chigger bites on a safari, and given that I'm living in Africa, was out of luck as far as a lot of more typical remedies go. I ended up taking a soak in a saltbath, then rubbing apple cider vinegar all over my legs, then putting some antihistimine cream on top. The itch went away almost instantly, has not come back, and the bites all seem to be drying up and healing. Hope this helps the next person!

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  15. Can you only get just one or two chigger bites?

    ReplyDelete