Creams to prevent insect bites/stings

[heatherose]

Hello,

I have been on this site for a year or so, but this is my first post.

I get really bad reactions to bites and stings. I have lupus and RA. I wondered if any of you have any recommendations of creams or sprays that I can use to prevent this. Also, something that would help limit the damage after I have been stung.

Thanks very much.

[Spanielmadlady]

Us lupies are extra tasty apparently 🙄 for me Smidge works great pleasant smell not greasy.i have an tub of Uriage xemose anti irritation cream I use to settle rashes and I find that helps with bite itch.bites take forever to go away .

[heatherose in reply to Spanielmadlady]

ahh great. thank you so much...I'm even finding nettle stings hard to get rid of 48 hours and counting 😁

[suzannah16]

I wish I knew as I am well into double figures for bites. despite some really stinky lemon eucalyptus spray I am still getting munched.

[svfarmer]

Hi yes I use both of these to help prevent and to use on bites - apparently the army use the Avon skin so soft to prevent bug bites - also pirition helps x

Colour

[heatherose in reply to svfarmer]

brilliant, thank you so much. I love this site...such a fountain of knowledge. ♥️👍

[svfarmer in reply to heatherose]

Your very welcome x

[Spotty-ewe]

Hi Heatherose, I am exactly the same as SV Farmer and use the Avon Skin so Soft (must be the original version) which evidently the US army uses in tropical areas. I’ve used it for years and although the dry oil is recommended as the best I find their moisturising cream works just as well but perhaps needs to be reapplied more often ie every 1 - 2 hours when the biting blighters are in large quantities. It is gentle to our skin but the biters don’t like it. If you’ve been bitten before you manage to apply the SSS I also use Anthisan and if I have any Dermavate I use it. My Rheumy recommended using Dermavate on bites. Hope this helps you.

[heatherose in reply to Spotty-ewe]

thank you so much for your reply.

[Brainfogged]

Avon, Skin so Soft, dry oil spray. It deters things from biting you in the first place, the Army uses it, it’s not made for that reason, but it has been shown to have that secondary effect.

Also eat plenty of foods containing garlic.

My friend and I in our much younger days went to Greece on holiday and absolutely loved Tzatziki, obviously freshly made not like you can now buy in supermarkets. It’s a yogurt, garlic and cucumber sauce, we ate it at almost every meal.

We had taken with us every mosquito remedy you could buy. We never used any of it once, while most other Brits were covered in insect bites so we happily distributed all our remedies to others in the hotel as we inexplicably were not needing them.

When at the bar together on around the first few days of our holiday, someone stood next to us exclaimed what a strong smell of garlic there was ! Yes the penny dropped, it was us, but we couldn’t smell it 😂 However, this did not deter our Tzatziki craze and through conversations with the locals it was the garlic seeping through our pores the insects were repelled by. Not one bite in 2 weeks, while most of the others in the hotel looked like they had chicken pox they had so many bites.

As the years past and I got married and during my pregnancy with my first child, I could not bear the smell or taste of garlic 🙄 35 years later I still can’t. Needless to say I have had some really nasty bites one insect in particular I have an allergic reaction to and they start to track up my arm or legs. On many occasions it they have been so bad I have had to seek medical treatment, they have even surprised the doctors. I have discovered if I take one of my husbands urticaria antihistamines (Telfast 180mg) as soon as I detect this particular little monsters bite 👿 (still no idea what is called they seem to get me at least once every year) , After 3 days taking them every 12 hours opposed to the prescribed every 24 hours it gradually reverses the extreme reaction and eventually they settle but can be left with a scare for months.

Hope my long garbled reply is of some help.

early stages of a monster bite on my ankle showing the extreme reaction within hrs of bite

[heatherose in reply to Brainfogged]

really helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to reply.