Aargh! Bitten - Attack of the insects hoards

[mill4six]

Update; rode to work this morning, that made it worse, every pothole hurt like hell and when I arrived I had a very odd looking arm. Went over to pharmacy and got some more anti-histamines but to no avail. Came home via the walk in clinic, it's infected now (cellulitis) and almost up to the elbow. Cue proper anti-histamines and some serious antibiotics. I dry swallowed the first lot right there in the shop and the doc said to double the recommended dose on the Anti-histamines so I'm gonna be sleepy......

[reohn2]

Update; rode to work this morning, that made it worse, every pothole hurt like hell and when I arrived I had a very odd looking arm. Went over to pharmacy and got some more anti-histamines but to no avail. Came home via the walk in clinic, it's infected now (cellulitis) and almost up to the elbow. Cue proper anti-histamines and some serious antibiotics. I dry swallowed the first lot right there in the shop and the doc said to double the recommended dose on the Anti-histamines so I'm gonna be sleepy......

That sounds like a serious bite!

PS, get well soon.

[Graham]

mill4six,

I hope that the antibiotics are having some effect although it may be a few days before you see any significant improvement.

This situation sounds very similar to my wasp sting from a few years ago.
After several days, with the redness on my arm gradually spreading, I eventually went to the doctor who mentioned cellulitis, prescribed antibiotics and ordered me back for a review at the end of the day.
Upon review she sent me into hospital where I was put onto intravenous antibiotics for several days and ordered to keep the arm elevated.
I spent those several days wandering around the hospital with my arm above my head ( an excellent way of drawing attention from all and sundry ).

Their fear is that - if not speedily stopped - the cellulitis will infect joints and cause irreparable damage.
. . . just from a little skin puncture.

You'll be OK, I'm sure.

[thirdcrank]

mill4six

Don't be frightened by the pic in Graham's avatar. That was caused by something else altogether. Get well soon.

[Nutsey]

All this from a bug bite

Hope it gets better soon.

[7_lives_left]

ohh nasty.

I didn't know what cellulitis was so I looked up on wikipedia .

I hope that clears up soon and doesn't get any worse for you.

Horse flies and their ilk are evil. I think that us humans should guard our position at the top of the food chain rather jealously. It is not right being one or two rungs down.

Edit: food change -> food chain

[random37]

As someone that lives on a narrowboat, I can tell you insects are **horrible**. I spend most of the summer looking like a side of beef with scabs on.

Just take it easy. They all go after a while.

[Kirst]

I haven't been stung or bitten in the UK for years *touches wood* but a bee did hit me in the face once on my way to work, and bounced off. It was very sore and left me with a big red mark. My colleagues thought it was hilarious.

[mill4six]

The antibiotics have gone to work, it's much better today just feels like I'm wearing wool (hot and prickly) but the swelling has subsided. thanks for the sympathy! Doc said she's seen a lot of big reactions to horse flies this summer, my normal reaction to them is an open handed slap but this one got me!

[PW]

The OP sounds like a clegg bite (horsefly). They swell up, spread, probably up to the elbow, then shrink. Damn nuisance and usually itch but not (to my knowledge) dangerous.

[iviehoff]

OP refers to a puncture wound with some blood. That suggests it is a bite (most usually fly of some kind) rather than sting (wasp, etc). So I would guess some kind of clegg as previous poster says - you do get a strong sensation of being bitten when they bite you, and they are particularly prone to give huge swellings, and also get infected because of the company they keep. Blandford fly is a bit unlikely, because councils now carry out control measures which has greatly reduced them, and also they tend to jump onto you from vegetation rather than being floating in the air. Also I think it is a bit late in the year for them. I've seen some quite flattish cleggs around this year, so maybe it could tuck under your watch, which is probably not in tight contact with the skin all the way around.

The largest swelling I ever got was from some unidentified wasp, plain black in colour, that stung me in New Zealand, which managed to sting me despite the fact that I slammed into it at nearly 50mph whizzing down a steep straight hill on a fully loaded tourer, which would normally stun most larger insects I'd have thought. Got me midshin, and 24 hours later I was swollen from ankle to knee, but got better of its own accord fairly quickly. But the nastiest I had was 4 Oxfordshire mosquito bites which got infected and needed antibiotics.

[snibgo]

Just think how much more protected you would be in a car.

(Ducks very quickly.)

[glueman]

I'm allergic to some mozzie bites. The things swell up to 6" or so across, turn red and solid and weep fluid for days (yuck). Generally have to go to the doc for antihistamine and antibiotics.
The most painful bite/sting was on my cheek while cycling nearly 30 years ago. Dunno what did it but when I rubbed a hard beetle like shell was on my finger tips. It left a scar all these years later and it hurt like hell, worse than a bee sting. Even the one up my shorts in France - but that's another story.

[amaferanga]

Worst insects I've ever encountered are the Tsetse flies in Zambia and Tanzania. Imagine a swarm of hundreds of Cleggs following you on your bike all day that can (and do) bite you through your clothing and are completely unperturbed by 100% Deet insect repellent. That's what its like cycling with Tsetse flies. Needless to say I was bitten numerous times so its a good job I didn't react like the OP.

[tis]

The largest swelling I ever got was from some unidentified wasp, plain black in colour, that stung me in New Zealand, which managed to sting me despite the fact that I slammed into it at nearly 50mph whizzing down a steep straight hill on a fully loaded tourer, which would normally stun most larger insects I'd have thought. Got me midshin, and 24 hours later I was swollen from ankle to knee, but got better of its own accord fairly quickly. But the nastiest I had was 4 Oxfordshire mosquito bites which got infected and needed antibiotics.

Similar to me, the one and only time I've been stung by a wasp was descending a hill on my tourer at over 30mph, got me on my ear. Had serious balance problems later in the day due to the swelling and had to stop and take the rest of the day off for fear of coming off.