Bug Bites

RayO

Member
Mar 25, 2012
103
15
18
I'm not too sure what's biting me but it's making me nuts. My arms & legs are covered in what looks like mosquito bites but the middle is a bunch of little blisters. We've fixed all the screens, even RAIDed the bed, bought a net for our bed, tried using 90% deet, vanilla, OFF, & I woke up this morning with my hand all swollen & those little blisters in the middle. We've been here 3 weeks now but I never see anything on me. Also itchy like s**t.

Any ideas or solutions would be so helpful.

BTW they're not bothering my husband at all.

Jo
 

jrjrth

Bronze
Mar 24, 2011
782
1
0
I'm not too sure what's biting me but it's making me nuts. My arms & legs are covered in what looks like mosquito bites but the middle is a bunch of little blisters. We've fixed all the screens, even RAIDed the bed, bought a net for our bed, tried using 90% deet, vanilla, OFF, & I woke up this morning with my hand all swollen & those little blisters in the middle. We've been here 3 weeks now but I never see anything on me. Also itchy like s**t.

Any ideas or solutions would be so helpful.

BTW they're not bothering my husband at all.

Jo

~Also try Original Listerine for spraying on oneself....don't laugh it works....did you check your bed for Bed Bugs??

~Or perhaps you are allergic to all of the products you are using all at once??? Try one product at a time....could be a multitude of things....
 

RayO

Member
Mar 25, 2012
103
15
18
I'll try the listerine. Yes we've torn the bed apart almost every day, the mattress's don't show any signs of bugs at all. I've tried one thing for a couple of days & then moved on to something else.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
I don't think I've ever seen bug bites with blisters in the center. This might sound weird, but any chance you have chicken pox?
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
338
63
Ant bites often have little blisters in the middle. And itch like hell.

Matilda
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
I'm not too sure what's biting me but it's making me nuts. My arms & legs are covered in what looks like mosquito bites but the middle is a bunch of little blisters. We've fixed all the screens, even RAIDed the bed, bought a net for our bed, tried using 90% deet, vanilla, OFF, & I woke up this morning with my hand all swollen & those little blisters in the middle. We've been here 3 weeks now but I never see anything on me. Also itchy like s**t.

Any ideas or solutions would be so helpful.

BTW they're not bothering my husband at all.

Jo

I'm assuming you are fairly new to the DR. When I was, I had something on my leg near my ankle that seemed to start as a bug bite then turned into a huge blister. The dermatologist I went to said it was common for the bodies of newcomers to "over react" to bug bites and contact with some plants because their bodies had not yet built up defenses to what they were coming in contact with here for the first time.

I suggest you go to a dermatologist. Perhaps it is not due to bug bites but a reaction to something else.
 

Floridaborn

New member
Sep 25, 2010
207
2
0
I have seen many people (tourists) with these from mosquito bites here -- I presume some sort of allergy to the bite. Use hydrocortisone cream or take benadryl and they will go away in time, but may leave you with a scar :(
 
Dec 26, 2011
8,071
0
0
Steep a tea bag and apply it while still warm to the bite. I swear it works. My dad used to do this when I was a kid. It's cheap and very effective.

I wasn't sure I'd find it mentioned on the internet, but I did.

Tea bags for Mosquito Bites

Submitted by NicoleJvonBoil a regular tea bag. Sit it on the bite until it is cold. I needed re-heat the bag. This will suck out all of the poison and reduce the swelling w/o return of the itch.

Tea bags for Mosquito Bites
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
I have seen many people (tourists) with these from mosquito bites here -- I presume some sort of allergy to the bite. Use hydrocortisone cream or take benadryl and they will go away in time, but may leave you with a scar :(

i hope that the op has gone to the doctor

we have doctors here

imagine that

who are very well locally trained and know all the bugs

hie thee to one

not in the capital

the one at the public hospital

then pump and i mean pump up your antihistimines

you may need iv treatment

do not mess
with
our
bugs

we have bugs that can kill.. ok.. not many but some.. and lots of newbies from Canada, for instance whom I have seen walking about like an ad for Survivor
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
i hope that the op has gone to the doctor

we have doctors here

imagine that

who are very well locally trained and know all the bugs

hie thee to one

not in the capital

the one at the public hospital

then pump and i mean pump up your antihistimines

you may need iv treatment

do not mess
with
our
bugs

we have bugs that can kill.. ok.. not many but some.. and lots of newbies from Canada, for instance whom I have seen walking about like an ad for Survivor

i vote with mat on the ants

have you met our fire ants>

they do not have to touch you to sting you
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
jo... seriously... dump chloro all over the foors... get a team in and do it

and get on a regimine of local foods fast

the quickest way is to mainline coffee and cinnamon and honey and rum... then you will smell like us and not be such a target

good luck and take care,... really

where are you?

if in LT do go right to the public hospital since it could also be your water .....avoid the cubans
 

RayO

Member
Mar 25, 2012
103
15
18
mountainannie; I think it might be those tiny ants. We've been trying to bleach every surface as much as possible but woman, they're everywhere. We're in Rio San Juan. I'll have to get to the pharmacy for the antihistimine.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I'd hate to get run out of the country by some little ants!

Jo
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
Buy a pump for 800 pesos and a little brown bottle (250 cc of Destroyer 48 EC)............
And spray the inside and outside of your place of residence...........
No more ants, uncles, and anything else you don't want in your house that bothers you.......
Keep pets and their food and water in a safe place.........
This stuff will kill ALL the creepy crawly things that can bite you.......TOTALLY.....

B in Santiago and bug free
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
go to any pharmacy and buy cetirizina in pills. they are sold by one, get 7 and take one a day for a week, in the evenings because they will make you sleepy. cetirizina is a common anti allergy medicine and it will help with the itching, swelling and the negative reaction of your body.
for your skin you can use an after sun lotion with aloe, thermal water or anything else that will soothe and calm.
 

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
1,546
0
36
Could it be Ang(sp?).

I don't know what it is exactly but I now no longer play golf with shorts on.
When I got bitten by it, I have learned that it feel a little better during the day but at night it becomes unbelievably itchy and made me feel like I want to tearing my skins off. It lasted me 7-10 days but after all the blisters popped with blood, it felt much better. I’ve tried a local stuff from farmacia but it did not work. So I listened to my mother on advice of using liquid detergents (Tide concentrated) and for a little while it worked but it didn’t last. If it’s what I think it is. You have many nights of uncomfortable sleepless night.

G. luck.
 

TheHoagster

New member
Jun 15, 2008
16
0
0
To get rid of the ants, place sugar in an area where the ants leave the house. Ants like to work and will take the sugar to another place and create a different nest.
 

Acira

Silver
Sep 20, 2009
2,510
115
0
www.blazingfuries.com
If it our sandflies, those little devils you find everywhere and are also called no se-ems because you really don't see them and you don't feel them stinging.
But they cause very itchy red dots and when you scratch them, you can see how deep they drill because there is always blood.
They can last for up and about 4 to 6 months and really you shouldn't scratch because the more you scratch the deeper you go.
My husband had a very bad reaction on them the first half year here with two legs full of bites and his legs were swollen and saw purple.
Eventually they disappear and good news is that you build up a defense against them because after a year here, they don't bite anymore, maybe once or twice but not much.

Go to a dermatologist to determine what it is you have.

Acira
 

Josiah Sprague

New member
Jul 28, 2012
2
0
0
I've been getting these bites too. I'm in Jarabacoa, in the mountains, and I have never been to the beach. They're definitely flying bugs, because I got bites all over while I was taking a siesta in a hammock the other day. They may be very similar to mosquitos, but definitely not identical, because I've gotten mosquito bites here as well, and the reaction is totally different.

With these bites, I immediately get a small red dot of blood, which remains for days, and inflammation which spreads out from the dot after a few hours and remains for upwards of a week or two. In most places, the inflammation is smaller than dime-sized, but I've got three on my foot which have caused half of my foot to swell up and become very sore. I've seen these bites on Dominicans too. They're very distinct in their appearance.

I've heard the bugs called hell-bugs (naturally) and magi/malli/mayi.... not sure how that is spelled. I'd really like to know more information about exactly what these bugs are. Google searches haven't been pulling up much.