Anyone being bitten by British midges-reaction is awful,have to take piriton-is this lupus?

[senorascully]

I have lupus and fibromyalgia and this is a new symptom-always been bitten abroad but never this bad over here!!

[Hidden]

I've never been bitten by midges myself - but apparently it can be pretty bad - whether you have lupus or not.

[trueman]

Hi. I've got bitten by something just recently. Came out in 6 huge inflamed lumps. One was so big (before I realised it was a bite) I went to GP and he told me it was erythema nodus. It had swollen up to size of a Brussels sprout lump! Don't know what bit me but my reaction to the bites was quite dramatic! I wonder if you have lupus whether you react more to insect bites? Be interesting to know... Hope your bites are ok now!

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

We did an article about insect bites in lupus last year. You can read it here - lupusuk.healthunlocked.com/...

[trueman in reply to Paul_Howard]

Thanks for that Paul. Interesting. I can also recall having quite a reaction to some bites last year as well. Lupus might explain everything... still waiting on my auto immune results. Didn't realise they take up to 3 weeks.. don't know if that is the usual case.

[DaleDiva]

I didn't realise until recently this was part of Lupus. I have always reacted badly to things that bite.... Once on holiday in Malaysia I had some really bad bites on my thighs and went to a local chemist for advice. I showed her the lumps and she just said Ugh and called her collegues through to look as she had never seen anything like it! On the bright side she gave me some treatment that was amonia based and it was brilliant. Apparently you need somethng to dry them up rather than apply creams. I now use some from Boots that usually works.

[senorascully]

Thank you so much for all your responses,very useful.

Will be using some of the advice and trying not to scratch!!

[scottie]

Yes it is Lupus, and you d not have to go abroad, but if you do, start taking piriton straight away, as this will help. I have had some awful bites aver the past 20 odd years. Lately I have been very lucky,long may it continue!!!! Good luck to all my fellow Luppies, dreadful, illness.Irene, neath.Also Lupus contact for over 20yrs..

[Coppernob]

I think one of the B vitamins is supposed to protect against mosquito - and perhaps other insect - bites. But I can't remember which B vitamin!

[twist1]

Hi this has always perplexed me as my sister is a midgy magnet but most of the time they avoid me thankfully. Strange about the vitamin B suggested by coppernob as someone once told me eating marmite is supposed to put them off biting you!!!! And I do eat marmite and my sister doesn't. But I am sure that's not scientific proof. Either way its obvious that some people for some reason obviously taste nicer?

[Nightjar]

I react very badly to bites but so does my neighbour, who hasn't got lupus. The itching, particularly at night, drives me mad!! Aloe vera gel helps ..momentarily at least. I love summer ..but not those little flyers - hope you find something that helps. xxx

[KathinAyrshire]

Hi there, I live in western Scotland, so am a minor expert on midges, as having an outside job, and having to work whether they are swarming or not, and having Lupus, the only repellent I find works is DEET applied to the skin in an alcohol base. Assuming you have been bitten, the only thing I find works is steroid cream, applied as soon as possible to the bite. Before Lupus midge bites just irritated for a few minutes in a little red blob and I was taking piriton. Since Lupus I find the bites are approx. a cm across or larger, found I could not take piriton any more it made me feel woosy in the extreme, so now have to take a different antihistamine. Betnovate I find is the best cream after being bitten . We have to wear midge hoods some mornings as it is impossible to take a breath without a mouthful of the dreadful things. Some folks up here swear by Avon's Skin so Soft as a repellent but it does not work for me. Oh nearly forgot, also have discoid Lupus so my skin is a little odd anyway. Hope this helps!!

[Lg1968]

I've used skin so soft abroad in turkey for the past 2 years and never even got nipped by the little blighters. It's worth giving it a try as its cheap enough to buy. As for the b vitamins worth a look into that as again sounds like an easy thing to try. Hope they're not driving you too mad. The itching from lupus when in flare is bad enough without adding in bites too. Feel better soon x