I use cortisone cream on bites. I also swell up, and itch... which makes me scratch... then I have "ouwies" all over me.

I can honestly say, I hate those buggers.

Moni

Take some asprin, not tylenol it needs to be asprin, and take a little bit of water to make it into a paste, it will make them feel lots better and stop the itch

Am I reading this right Ladonna I need to make a paste of asprin and water? I don't have asprin tonight but can get some tomorrow......stacy

attitude makes one ugly, not bug bites

I read somewhere to use a cut onion of the itchy bites.....don't know it it works or if you would rather itch than smell like onions.
Take some Benadryl if you have some around.

Nothing works better than old fashioned calamine lotion. They make it in clear now, but I don't think it's quite as good as the orangy stuff.

Dd1 is in India right now and got some doozies yesterday; I'll pass this info on to her because she's utterly miserable. Why are some bites so much more itchy, painful and swollen than others? I hope you have some relief soon, GG. I agree that Benadryl is probably the best bet. Can you use that at the same time as you put aspirin on the bites? Interesting idea about the onion.

I can't do the onion I cut up onions and to me it smells like bad body odor...LOL.....anyways I am out of benadryl so will try and not scratch so much tonight....but man i itch! Will get asprin benadryl and camoline all in the am....I bet I have a hundred bites one on my check come on how much blood isin a cheek??????? Stacy

Hmm, I started to type then lost the page-- I'll try again. Anyway, I decided to call dd because she was leaving on a train to another city and gave her some instructions regarding the aspirin that I found online. You only need a plain aspirin (not buffered or coated,) a teaspoon of baking soda, water and a washcloth. Here's the site:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2068288_stop-mosquito-bites-from-itching.html

Tell me if this doesn't work and I'll copy and paste. Yes, I'm pathetic with the computer!

We have tons of those rotten mosquitos here and I found that if I spray them after I get bit it seems to take the itch out.
Obions = bad body odor....I thought I was the only one that smelled them that way.I don't eat onions raw...cooked I can eat them but not raw...Yuck!

Take Benedryl or the generic if you have it. If not, take any cold medication that has antihistamine, which is the same thing.

I dislike mosquito bites, as well, for they bring substantial itching. I am allergic to bee stings and I think mosquito bites itch more on me than they do for many.

They are very busy in the gardens in the morning and evening, and enough in between that I take some precautions.

I have't found anything that seems to help reduce the itching ... and appreciate the suggestions made by several of you earlier posters: thanks a lot for the suggestions.

I've heard that eating garlic helps but haven't tried it myself, and some say that it doesn't help.

I wear overalls (with bib and suspenders) and a fairly heavy shirt, or coveralls, when working there, with peaked cap or straw hat.

I have rigged an old undershirt so that it covers all of my head except my face, pinned under my mouth, that I wear morning and evening and sometimes during the day, which has been rather warm through the early summer, when it was rainy and not too warm, but in the last few days when it has been hot it is rather uncomfortable.

Good wishes for having the itching ease up soon, grinch - glad that it appears that they didn't get you around the gut, at least.

ole joyful

Forget the aspirin if you have baking soda, that's enough. Make a paste of baking soda and water (thick enough so it will stick to you) and put it on the bites. It will relieve the itching.

In a pinch if I'm not near cortizone, I spit on my finger and rub it on the bite. LOL-works somewhat well.

In a pinch, try some purell. It won't be long lasting, but it maybe enough to break that itch scratch cycle until you can get something else to try.

I just got chewed up last night when I was out talking to the neighbors.

I find that a good hydrocortisone cream is the way to go. it doesn't immediately take away the itch. I slather it on as soon as possible after getting bitten, and I find that within about a hour (maybe 1.5) the bite completely disappears. I had a good dozen welts on my last night--by the time I went to bed, you couldn't even see where they were. Of course, I take 2 allergy meds a day--so that probably helps, and I make sure I keep my vitamins up in the summer (some vitamins make you less appetizing to some bugs.

Not to be an alarmist, but watch for these symptoms of West Nile Virus. They bite doggies too.

West Nile virus (WNV) emerged from its origins in 1937 in Africa (Uganda) into Europe, the Middle East, west and central Asia and associated islands. It is a Flavivirus (family Flaviviridae) with more than 70 identified viruses. Serologically, it is a Japanese encephalitis virus antigenic complex similar to St. Louis, Japanese and Murray Valley encephalitis viruses. Similar to other encephalitises, it is cycled between birds and mosquitoes and transmitted to mammals (including horses) and man by infected mosquitoes. WNV might be described in one of four illnesses: West Nile Fever might be the least severe in characterized by fever, headach, tireness and aches or a rash. Sort of like the "flu". This might last a few days or several weeks. The other types are grouped as "neuroinvasive disease" which affects the nervour system; West Nile encephalitis which affects the brain and West Nile meningitis (meningoencephalitis) which is an inflammation of the brain and membrane around it.

I got two mosquito bites last week, DH and I were out doing some yard work around dusk. Wouldn't you know those darned bugs headed straight for my left arm, where I have my dialysis vein that they stick the needles in for my kidney dialysis. They must have smelled the blood. I brushed them off and hurried indoors.

Plain white toothpaste (not gel) works well to stop the itch of all sorts of bites. Worked better than all those over-the-counter itch remedies when I had chiggers.

When I travel to a place known for mosquitoes, I always pack Witch Hazel. I drab some on the bite with some cotton. It takes the itch out and cools the bite.

Jodi-

I discovered this quite by accident,but it worked for me and my GD.I was out working in the yard when i got bit.I'm supposed to be careful and not get bites or cuts,but the dr didn't tell that to the skeeters.LOL Anyway after i got bit i was headed in the house for something to put on it,when i spotted a bottle of dawn dish liquid sitting on the patio table.(we use it in the yard) I grabbed it,and put some on all the bites and left it there til i came in.When i came in i washed it off,and no itching.I did put some antibiotic cream on them for good measure though.
Kathi

I second the toothpaste comment! I've done it before and it helped. For some reason I don't get bit much, but DH gets eaten alive? He must taste better to them?

I used the generic benadryl I found in the car last night adn that helped and then we ent to the Gulf today and hte salt water helped tons! But I am going to save this page becuase them buggers love me for some reason...I bet I have at least 30 bites i look awful! Stacy

yes, just reg. bayer asprin, make a paste with water, and put on the bites, it almost instantly takes away the itch, i just leave it on.

Someone at work told me to put Lavender oil on bites and even went home at lunch to get me some. It really worked. I went right out to buy me some to keep on hand. I could tell it was drying the bite out. You can buy at health food stores...

As to creams, I found that Gold Bond anti itch and Walmart's brand seem to work the best for me.

Here's an old woodsman's trick. With only a few exceptions, insect and plant toxins are peptide chains, and therefore are acidic. To combat an acid, use a base, and the easiest and quickest base, which is on hand in every household, is plain old ammonia (lemon ammonia if you prefer the smell). Just dampen a paper towel and apply ammonia to the bite or sting or what have you, and the itch will disappear quickly. This works wonders for bites of mosquitoes, ants, spiders, etc., and for stinging plants such as nettles. It will help prevent poison ivy if you apply it to the skin immediately after contact with that plant (but do NOT use it after blisters have formed).
For a double whammy, mix ammonia with a bit of baking soda (also a base) and apply the paste.