Sorry this is so late in reply. I hope you're feeling a bit better.

Ice and Benadryl or generic (diphenhydramine) allergy cream. I had a similar experience recently, but got them off quickly. Keep reapplying as needed. I never ignore stinging sensations.

Taking Benadryl or its generic orally may help a bit, but topical cream is most effective, IMPE. It's an antihistamine and histamines are what's causing the discomfort.

And really, ice can make it feel so much better.

For most bites I find vinegar applied to the bite area helps. For poison ivy I wash area with Tecnu as soon as possible. For stinging nettles I apply the kitchen sink

Ouch! this is a trick someone taught me that always seems to work perfectly. Put some cotton balls soaked in chlorine bleach into a plastic zip bag and carry them with you when you garden. When you get stung, immediately wipe the sting(s) with the bleach. It not only kills the stinging (take a minute), but it keeps the bites from festering.

Also, carry some wet wipes with you to wipe the bleach off of your hands, so you don't accidentally get it on your clothes. Of course, if you have long pants on, roll them up before you do this, unless they are like my "garden clothes" that I don't care if they get messed up.

Windex it.

Vinegar is an acid and can also damage your skin. Bleach is the only thing that keeps the sores from festering, and to be honest, I've never had it damage my skin, and I've swabbed an entire foot in it. If it starts burning, you just wipe it off. Moderation is the key. I also dab bleach on cold sores as soon as I see them starting.

Each to their own. I just use what works, and I don't worry a lot about it. BTW, I also put turpentine on deep cuts that aren't deep enough for stitches. My grandmother used to use pine resin to "glue" our deep cuts together. Healed right up, and hardly left a scar.

Thanks everyone.

Used a cortisone cream twice a day, ice packs at night and slept with my feet up on a pillow. Got some sleep last night.

Still can't get a shoe on but getting by. Definitely better today but I'm hoping even better tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Jane

OMG Jane. I feel for you. I was helping a friend move some orchids about a month ago and one of them had fire ants. I will never forget that sensation when they attacked my hand. It was so swollen it looked like it belonged to the Pillsbury Doughboy and the bites went all the way to my elbow.. Alcohol helped mine a lot with the itch and helped dry up the pus heads.

Oh, Bea! I feel your pain! What nasty critters.

I still can't figure out where they are. I managed to get socks on today and sneakers. I walked around the area I was in, looking for the nest and couldn't see anything. I'm thinking it might be under a large Oxalis bush we have. I wasn't going to start lifting branches to look.

Now, I'm afraid to go out into my garden! I have poison to kill them, but I need to find the nest. I never thought they'd in be with the orchids. I have orchids all over my yard. Yikes!

Bea, I'm glad you recovered. Gives me hope!

Jane

Jane I googled it and here is a link but you're right it seems it's hard to detect their nests. . https://www.ortho.com/en-us/library/insects/how-identify-control-fire-ants

Jane,

Fire ants have put my wife in the hospital twice. Don't underesitmate thier sting. Thier new nests don't show the mound for a while. If you can't find them there are products like Over & Out to broadcst over the yard. You can get it at the big box stores.

I live by that old Orthene commercial, "Fire Ants Must Die"

Glad you are feeling better.

Craig

If bleach works I'll be willing to try next time they get me. I have had sucess with a fresh slice of onion applied to the stings. The Peoples Pharmacy & the Survival Doctor say Adolphs meat tenderizer works well. I believe the meat tenderizer works well for jellyfish stings also.

Craig

If you have a papaya, you can use the sap from leaves &/or green fruit. Papain is the enzyme used in Adolph's and I believe it breaks down the venom. I've done it when I was stung by wasps.

But honestly, for fire ant bites, ice ASAP, and diphenhydramine cream works best for itchy stings and bites IMPE.

Strangely, although vinegar works well for fire ants and stinging caterpillars it had no affect on wasp stings. Maybe a different venom? Also, Jane did you see ants on you. I ask because stinging nettle seems to grow fast in wet weather and feels like fire ants only worse :( won't bother you if you have shoes on but if you have flip flops watch out!. Such a cute innocent looking plant too lol

Thanks, all.

Bea, I read the link and will be more cautious. I was bitten about 6 yrs ago and am very cognizant of ant mounds. However, I was chatting with my neighbor while I was digging a hole and busy talking to him at the same time. I wasn't paying attention but I did not notice a ant mound. Might have been there but I really didn't see it. My flower beds are cleared of weeds and I have one section where I grow Milkweed. If I remember 6 yrs ago, the mound was in the same bed but I was attacked big time. They ran up my legs and I had so many bites. I remember trying to pull my clothes off out front of the house and really didn't care if any neighbors saw me!

Jstropic, you made me think about this. I really did not see any ants. I felt my feet stinging and my ankles swelling and I ran for the house. I kicked my flip flops off and my clothes and jumped in the shower. While I was in the shower, I looked and didn't see any ants, but my feet/ankles were so swollen. After getting out I noticed these large blisters forming, like burn blisters. I thought that was odd as I didn't remember that from 6 yrs ago. I did put ice on the areas and some cortisone cream. My feet and ankles were so sore. After I got my wits back, I went outside to get my flip flops and looked at them carefully and found one ant which appeared to be biting the bottom of the flip flop. Weird, but that cinched it for me. It was ants.

I looked up Nettles and it is possible that is growing in the area. I have a weed lawn! Its green and that's fine. I'm afraid to go out to the area where I was, to look. From what I read on-line, it says the nettle stings get better in a day. My feet are still full of these pimples and hurt. I have gotten a shoe on but it is not comfortable.

From what I read on-line, you should not break those blisters. I read medical websites and they say the blisters protect the venom from entering the blood stream. They make a strong statement about that. They say to let the blisters dry up on their own. The only treatment is ice, cortisone type cream (patted on to not break the blisters), and time. They say not to cover the blisters with a shoe or sock to prevent the blisters from breaking.

Soooo, I'm surviving and am thinking of hiring someone to look for those 'suckers.' I'm afraid to go back there. But, my pots of Milkweed are still sitting there without getting planted.

I'm ready to go back to New York!

Jane my blusters took about a week to start drying up So yours should be doing the same any time now…I hope.

My grandmother always put tobacco wet with saliva on wasp and bee stings. Don't know what it does, but it works. I was always getting stung when I was little, especially on my feet, because you couldn't keep shoes on me -- still can't. She'd slap some tobacco on there and make me sit still for a few minutes, then take it off, and the stinging was gone and the swelling went down very quickly. Here's a page that tells about why tobacco works.

https://lifehacker.com/relieve-bee-stings-with-a-bit-of-tobacco-5822619

If it were stinging nettles, the pain and swelling would be gone after a short time. Scrubbing the affected area with soap and very hot water usually takes care of the reaction.

Now I'm wondering about Io moth caterpillars, or similar?

http://www.poisoncentertampa.org/poison-topics/venomous-critters/caterpillars/

Oh, carol! It seems its a dangerous world outside in Florida! :))

Something weird is now happening with those bites. I've developed this huge water blisters where some of the bites were. They almost look like blisters you get when you burn yourself. They are so big I'm afraid to put my sneakers on. WTH!

I decided to start taking an antibiotic because I don't understand what's going on. They don't look infected but developed these huge blisters.

I was going to post a picture of my foot, but decided it was too scary looking. If it doesn't clear up in the next few days, I'll head to the doctor.

Bea, did you get water blisters? I know I didn't 6 yrs ago when I got bitten by ants.

Oh, well....

Jane

Jane, the blisters are not good. Antibiotics won't clear them up. That sounds like some sort of bacterial infection or severe allergic reaction. PLEASE see a doctor. Flesh eating bacteria starts as blisters that then turn black.

I'm afraid I have to agree with Deb. Go see a doctor sooner rather than later.

Jane, yes I did. They lasted about a week But they weren't huge. You can see them on my photo.

And I too agree you should see a doctor ASAP. Taking random antibiotics is never a good thing as all of them don't target every bacteria. And if these blisters are indeed huge you may have been bitten by something other than fire ants or, if it was fire ants, you may be having an extreme reaction to the their bites. Either way I would seek a doctor ASAP.

fire ants are the scurge of Fla. besides morning dew they are the main reason I wear boots when walking on my grass in my property and pay close attention to any ant mound I see.

When I lived in South FL I was able to get rid of them from my lawn for the last 10 years I lived there. This was done by coordinating treatment with neighbors all around my property up until the block ends. I still get bit from time to time during weed pulling season and my allergy medicine does the trick as it is an antihistamine and ant bites cause an allergic reaction.