Bug Bite Question. Help! I'm itching to death!

[distantearlywarning]

Ok, savvy DUers. I have about 15 bug bites all over my lower legs, and they itch so bad I am scratching them until they bleed. :-(

The question is: where did they come from, and what can I do about my infestation?

On Sunday afternoon, I was out in a city park with short/medium length grass (I'd say about ankle high). This is a park I spend every Sunday afternoon in, playing games with my friends. I spent about 3-4 hours out there, and at the end of it, was feeling something biting me. It hurt when it bit me, like someone stabbing me with a pin. I couldn't understand it, as I was wearing thick knee high socks and pants that were tight around the knee. In other words, whatever was biting me had to have been doing it through thick socks. And I couldn't see any bugs on or around me. :shrug:

The next morning, I woke up with some incredibly itchy welts on my legs. They're large, spread out, and pink/red, like mosquito bites, not like small flea bites or a chigger rash. I put hydrocortizone on them, and ignored them.

This morning, I woke up with more, and my husband also woke up with the same itchy welts on his legs. :wtf:

Something is biting the hell out of both of us. Whatever it is, I can't see it, but it has the ability to bite through clothing, and it came home from a field with me.

I have no freaking idea what this could possibly be. Please help me! I itch so bad I'm having trouble working this afternoon. :cry: I don't want to wake up with more bites tomorrow morning.

Does anyone know what this might be, and how we can get it out of our bedroom?

[LostinVA]

1. Chiggers!

That's exactly what my chigger bites look/feel like. I do alot of trail running, and even Deep Woods Off doesn't totally protect me. And, they "multiply" for the first few days.

They suck. I so can't wait until our first real frost or two.

[bleedingheart]

3. sounds like chiggers to me

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Sounds like you were bitten by chiggers

About chiggers:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question488.htm

Check your PMs for info/help

[LostinVA]

4. The only chigger "remedy" that helped me

NOTHING HELPED. But, per the suggestion of a DUer's husband, I took a steaming hot BUBBLE bath... it felt sooo good. Then, scrubbed myself with soap and rinsed off in the shower.

Seriously -- this stopped new mite bites and helped heal old ones.

[Avalux]

5. Take some benadryl; may help with the itchiness.

Will probably also make you sleepy too though. Chiggers suck.

[LostinVA]

6. "Chiggers suck" -- giggle

[Avalux]

7. lol!

Well, they do! :rofl:

[mzteris]

8. bedbugs

If your husband woke up with them this morning.....

Chiggers don't live long and don't "transfer" from one person to another.



Edit to add:

Bedbug:




Chigger:

[LostinVA]

10. They can transfer -- I gave chiggers to one of my cats

As per my doctor and my vet.

[mzteris]

12. Generally speaking

they die pretty quickly after being dislodged from their host. I've never heard of it happening, but I s'pose anythin's possible. Heck, I didn't even know cats (and dogs) could GET chiggers!

[LostinVA]

13. I didn't know either until it happened!

Chiggers sense the CO2 coming from hosts, which include us and our furry family members.

I loathe chiggers!!!

[momophile]

11. didn't I hear that bedbugs are making a comeback?

I had them in the Peace Corps, but I swear, it wasn't me that brought them back to the US.

[4morewars]

9. Could be fleas.

They often live in the grass, and usually attack the lower legs. We are not the first choice for the flea colonies that plague dogs and cats, but they will attack us; any port in a storm !

Either way, I know what you are going through. A few years ago I was feeding brush into a chipper. It was mostly pine, which I didn't know i was allergic to at the time. It was a hot day, all I was wearing was shorts and boots. The dust stuck to my sweaty body, the next day i was covered with mosquito bite like welts. The only areas that were free of welts were my feet and midsection. It was brutal ! By that night, I couldn't take it anymore and went to an urgent care. I recieved 3 injections: cortisone, benadryl, and adrenaline. The welts practically disappeared after the first injection ! By the time I walked out the door, they were gone !!! The doc gave me some cortisone cream to use on what was left of the welts, but I never used it ! I was healed.

So, if it's unbearable, call a doctor. They can help you for about $75.00.
Good luck !

[mtnester]

17. I agree with fleas...we once went to a showing of a house

beautiful old house...while sitting on the porch discussing, we were getting the HELL bitten out of our legs..our son the worst.

It was fleas...tons of fleas. We went back in the house to do some "critical searching", and even with the hard wood floors, the entire house and surrounding yard was completely infested with fleas.

The next day, the bites were WORSE. Needless to say, we did not buy the house, plus told and SHOWED the realtor the problem. We were not interested after that visit.

Chigger bites don't normally welt up like the OP is describing.

Also, skeeters can bite almost painlessly at times..but I am still sticking with fleas.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

14. no-see-ums.

those bastards get you good. i bet that's what got you.

their bites typically dont really set in until the next day.

[democracyindanger]

15. I'd bet bedbugs

Rise in infestations in the US this year, particularly the NE for some reason. Check your sheets and around your bed for small brown spots.

[distantearlywarning]

16. Thanks for all the help.

I'm still not sure. These bites don't look anything like either the bedbug or chigger pics above. They are not all together in one space and they are much larger, like mosquito bites.

It could be fleas. I never thought of that. I am quite allergic to flea bites and they do turn into huge welts on me.

Our cats have had fleas before, and they bit the hell out of me then, I guess because I was a convenient target in their living space. I just never thought that they would bother finding me in the outdoors and travel home with me.

If it is fleas, that totally sucks. That means my poor cat is probably suffering now too. I will look for the fleas tonight. And Benadryl, here I come...

If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know.

[skygazer]

18. You've gotten some good suggestions

Let me add a warning. I got some sort of rash or bug bite years ago on one of my arms and it itched so badly, I too scratched until I bled. Which spread the rash. Which made it itch more. Which made me scratch more. Which spread the rash.

I went to the doctor and got some cortisone or something but by then it was so bad that I'd wake in the middle of the night to discover I'd been scratching in my sleep and I'd be dripping blood! Oh, it was bad!

It spread to the OTHER arm. Believe it or not, I had this horrible, oozing, unsightly rash for over TWO YEARS! I went to doctors and dermatologists and they all told me the same thing - my scratching was simply exacerbating the problem but no matter what they tried, the itch wouldn't go away (it didn't help that in my job I was in contact with a lot of things that can cause itching).

What finally cured it oddly enough was a road trip from Vermont to Alabama - I spent the whole time with the windows open and the fresh air on my arms relieved the itching, I wasn't getting any irritants on me and by the time I got there, it had begun healing enough so that I was able to leave it alone.

So STOP SCRATCHING!! And good luck!

[elfrangel]

19. To help with the itching...

you might try an oatmeal bath. Run warm water into a tub. Take about 1 cup of oatmeal and place inside a washcloth/cheescloth, make a little package. Swish the cloth around in the water, then SQUEEZE. The stuff that comes out will be gross looking, but it should help with the itching.

If it is fleas: Arm & Hammer makes a really good pet carpet cleaner stuff. I think there is a version for fleas as well. If all else fails, sprinkly baking soda on the carpet, allow to sit for about 20 - 30 minutes, then vaccum. Changing the bed linens and placing the pillows in the dryer (5-10 min) will also help. When you vaccum the room, be sure to vaccum the bed as well.

I think that clear nail polish helps too, but I think it only works on chiggers. I can't remember for sure though.

[tigereye]

20. hmm, sometimes poison ivy looks initially like a bite of the type

you describe and it tends to spread from the oil/ urishol or however it is spelled. I use the pink salve for poison ivy right away and that seems to work.


Hope you figure it out and feel better.

[Crabby Appleton]

21. Chiggers nt

[distantearlywarning]

22. Update:

I got another new bite on the ankle, apparently somewhere between work and home (it started itching horribly on the bus and I know it wasn't there earlier in the day).

That kind of thing happened the last time we had fleas - they would hide in my pants cuffs or something and bite me when I was out of the house.

So at this point I think I might have brought some fleas home with me this weekend. I don't know how they were biting me through my socks, but whatever.

I searched the cat, and she seems fine at the moment. However, I bet the insects that came inside with me haven't had time to really spread in her fur yet.

I also looked at the bed and mattress to see if I could see any signs of bedbug infestation (looked it up on the internet) and found nothing at all that looked like bedbugs lived there.

I will pick up some flea treatment from the vet ASAP to try to head this off before it really gets going. Having been through this once before with a cat who brought a dead squirrel and all his fleas inside the house, I know that it is important to try to nip it in the bud before they start breeding. Otherwise everyone in the house (furred and non-furred) is miserable for weeks.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.