...or No-See-Ums! Or are they both the same insect??? I just came back from the Florida Treasure Coast. My DH did not get one bite. I don't recall seeing or feeling any bites. I itch so very bad!!

I need some tips on how to find some relief, fast! I have easily over 50 bites and the more I scratch and rub, more welts show up!

Any over-the-counter topical ointment suggestions??? Any homemade remedies?

Anyone? Please!

Calamine lotion works the best for me.

STOP SCRATCHING!!!

The Benadryl Itch Relief stick works great - just spot it on the bites. Tea tree oil on the bites works great too, if you want something a little more natural.

No-see-ums and mosquitoes are two different insects, even though they're both annoying.

And like GoTravel says, STOP SCRATCHING! You'll only make them itch worse.

Seetheworld,

We are just a lot sweeter that's why the bugs like us and ignore our DH's!

I use Caladryl
http://www.dermadoctor.com/product.asp?productID=131

Utahtea

No seeums hurt when they bite but the bites don't itch for days after like mosquito bites.

Could you have gotten into chiggers? Those itch like wildfire...much worse than a mosquito bite, but similar sized welt and the bites usually show up a day or more after being bitten and last for several days. Chiggers love my son and me, but ignore my husband and daughter!

If you can, go to a Kiehl's store and get yourself the soothing Lavender foaming relaxing bath with sea salts and aloe. It's really worked for me when I have buggy bites.

Usually, the solution is calamine lotoin or antihistamines (topical or oral). Also, you could try a paste of baking soda.

To avoid this situation (especially when other famly members aren't affected) in the future, avoid using perfumes and scented toiletries. Take extra multivitamins, since the bugs dont like the extra that gets excreted in your sweat. I guess that means you have to sweat, too.

Try an oatmeal bath (like the kind you use for kids' chicken pox) You can make your own or purchase colloidal oatmeal at a pharmacy.
http://www.pvsoap.com/recipe_colloidal_oatmeal.htm

Calamine lotion is a good topical but taking Benadryl antihistamine (liquid or tablets) will help also.
If it continues, see a doctor.

I learned the hard way that chiggers are in the Spanish moss in trees as well as shrubs and grass and everything else
For those bites , you need something that smothers the little critter still inside your skin, so nail polish, Viks, Vaseline...Good luck, been there, hated it!

What is a seeum?

cwojo99,

They are called "no-see-ums"

http://www.griffin.peachnet.edu/ga/c...s/noseeums.htm

You might not see them, but they BITE and itch!

Utahtea

Topical hydrocortisone cream works the best--instantaneous relief (sounds like chiggers, not skeeters, if you scratch and welts spread).

I agree with Malesherbes, sounds like chiggers. You need alcohol...and not the rubbing kind ;-) I've heard of people using everything from nail polish (preferably clear) to benadryl to aleviate the symptoms. I wonder if a topical steroid would work.

Calamine works well for us too, and there is a rx for bug bites but I think the Calamine lotion works just as well. Also over the counter benadryl will relieve the itching symptoms.

The anti-bug bite items purchased at natural health stores work the best for us as preventaitves. Royal Neem is our favorite. Works everywhere you spray but if you miss even a little spot prepare to be bit!

http://www.usvitamin.com/royal-neem.htm

http://www.royalbodycare.com/Products.aspx?ItemID=41

UGH! CHIGGERS??? That doesn't sound good at all! Do they bite at the beach? They live in the skin??? OH MY!!

I do not wear any fragrance, but I guess my shampoo has a mild sent, as does the suntan lotion.

I ran out to get the Calamine lotion at our small market. It didn't have any safety seal on the bottle, so I'm returning it (thought that was odd). I'm gonna try and find that clear stuff Utahtea. I can't take oral Benadryl.

I wish I could stop scratching! It's so much easier said than done! But it does seem that the more I rub, the more bites seem to show up. I don't have any bites on my waist, but my arms, legs, back, head, and underarms are covered.

I am feeling very grossed out right about now!

The best thing that I have used is Adolph's meat tenderizer. I know it sounds strange but learned about when I was scuba diving (it was good for bites from sea lice, etc.) Put some in a small dish, add water, and make a paste and apply to the bites. We use it all the time here in So. FL and believe me, we have our share of insects that bite! Feel better.

Go to a pharmacy and have a look at the dozen products made for this purpose. Ask the pharmacist. Tell him/her what you can and can't take.
They have vast experience with this sort of stuff.

STW, Benadryl makes both a gel and a stick that you can use. Both work GREAT!

And take GoT's advice: Don't Scratch!

Bugs are an unfortunate fact of Florida life - this may be small comfort, but at least you aren't doing the Fire-ant dance!

Did you go into the ocean? I wonder if it could be sea lice. This sounds like something my friend got from swimming in the ocean. She was covered with small welts while I did not get bitten/stung. You can ask your Dr. for a cream to reduce the itch.

Well so far in this one note I've had that dumb Goofy with his frying pan spread over the page, then I hit reply and got the map spread from the top down. UNCLE! Fodors geez..you are worse than chiggers! lOL

You all, I've tried everything I know to alleviate chiggers itch and nothing does but time. I've painted myself in nail polish and calamine lotion. I bought an OTC remedy the druggist recommended, Chig-ex or something like that, and it did nada. It is the most intense itching I've ever experienced.

Chiggers get in the darnedest places though seetheworld. I would have them under waist and bra bands, under arms, thighs, seldom on lower legs or arms, so perhaps yours are something else. It's not that I lay down in the grass...I get them working in my garden and obviously I'm on my feet the whole time...WITH insect repellent applied before I go out even, and long pants and socks. Now I get in the shower as soon as I come in and SCRUB with a washcloth. So far so good this year.

I've never known chiggers to be on the beach, but if you walked through dunes you might have gotten them from the vegetation. They definitely get into Spanish moss, but I can't even do anything extensive in my yard without getting bitten.

They don't live long on skin and you cannot see them. I'd never heard of them until moving south and thought initially that it was some sort of sexually transmitted thing...until I got them and when my husband DX'd them I told him there was no way that's what I had. He laughed and explained them to me.