Insect Bites

[redferd]

I typed a very long reply and bumped something and it went away. Oh well, My friend came and looked at the rash, bites, whatever they are and said I do not have scabies but looked ill. Yellow skin with small bite marks. He said I need to go to a doctor again. I doubt I'll go again. This also is not poison ivy. Closest diagnosis online is chiggers but I also looked at all the other sites. I guess I'll have to keep scratching and putting the hydrocortisone cream on the itch.

[Dinadan]

Have you asked your pharmacist about it? An experienced pharmacist will have seen lots of stuff and might be able to give you a clue. My pharmacist took one look at my sulfa rash and said sulfa allergy. Of course she knew I was taking a sulfa drug, which probably helped. She told me to go back to the doctor, who concurred.

Sometimes things that affect the skin are not what you would expect. Way back when I was young (last millennium) I had an outbreak on my torso, not too different from what you describe. I went to a dermatologist and he took one look and checked my throat and diagnosed strep throat.

[redferd]

I will ask the pharmacist about this. Never thought to do that. Now face has turned beet red. Very itchy too. I wonder if I have poison oak? Never had that, just poison Ivy. I think being so old now, that I am slow to heal? I got a nip from my razor two days ago and it has not healed yet. Hmmm? I just got done changing the bedding again I have changed it every two days. I was awake all last night with the itch and did not get any sleep. So I changed the bedding this morning. Put on clean clothes also as I have done every three days or less. I washed the permanent press in hot water with bleach and Fab laundry soap. Other than calling an exterminator, I don't know what else to do? The hydrocortisone cream is not working anymore. The Benedryl cream is ok but I am still itchy. I am wondering, if I bought t some Hartz Mountain flea powder and sprinkle that all over the place , would it work on the bugs or harm me?

[redferd]

I went to the dermatologist. She looked all over me and said I have a rash. Prescribed some cream from the drugstore. She looked at the bites and said they are a rash .I was sitting in my recliner last night and felt more biting. Took off my shirt and in an area of 2 Inch by 2 inch area just above my right elbow to my shoulder , I was all bitten and itchy. That is not a rash. I took a shower and went to bed. Got up this morning and ran the sweeper over the chair, rug and anything around the chair. Ran the sweeper on the kitchen floor. Really cleaned everything. Washed all the covers and clothing. Emptied the sweeper bags and tossed the sweepings into the wood stove. I put some of that cream on the bites. So itchy. I am taking time to reply and then go clean something. I am getting very tired of cleaning everything over and over again. I think the rash is from the bites? I guess I'll never know for sure as I do not see any of the bugs that are biting me. Now all I can hope for is that they die off soon. The original bites seemed to have started to clear up??

[Mossdancer]

You might try Hydrocortisone 1% crème. Costco sells a 4 pack or get a single at Walgreen. That and calamine lotion are generally good for rashes and bites that itch. If it is a viral thing like a rash without itching Neosporin has a bit of antibiotic in it. Works pretty well.
moss

[redferd]

Thanks again for all the posts. I tried the prescription hydrocortisone and neosporin But they only took away the redness for awhile. The dermatologist prescribed a cream that remove the redness and some of the itching. She wants to see me in 3 weeks to check up on the condition Both the neosporin and hydrocortisone ard good products. But I think I am allergic to the bites. I am hoping that I got most of the bugs with the sweepers? I will put the cram on and see how that works over a period of time.

[Mossdancer]

Redferd:
Only a lay persons suggestion, If you have or can access a high resolution digital camera. Take at its highest quality a close up of a patch of your skin showing a fresh rash.Push your storage card into a USB port and upload the photo into your computer. Crop the photo to a point where a square inch and a half of the rash fills your entire display. It should be near or equivalent to a 150 power microscope depending on the size of your display screen. If there is a bite or sting you will see the punctures in the skin if you do not it is probably an airborne or a contact allergy. Good luck.
moss

[redferd]

Redferd:
Only a lay persons suggestion, If you have or can access a high resolution digital camera. Take at its highest quality a close up of a patch of your skin showing a fresh rash.Push your storage card into a USB port and upload the photo into your computer. Crop the photo to a point where a square inch and a half of the rash fills your entire display. It should be near or equivalent to a 150 power microscope depending on the size of your display screen. If there is a bite or sting you will see the punctures in the skin if you do not it is probably an airborne or a contact allergy. Good luck.
moss

That is a good suggestion! I don't have that type of camera but I have a smart phone that has What looks like a usb on the charger cord. I don't know what that does if I inserted it into my pc??? I am afraid to stick that into my pc or smart phone as it might do some damage to both or one or the other? If I took a photo and could get it onto the pc , I could enlarge the photo and look at it on the 40 inch tv/monitor. Does anyone know about the use of the cord? I am willing to try anything right now. I thought the charger cord with the ac plug removed and the usb inserted into the pc was only for charging my smart phone? At best , my eyesight is blurry, cataracts and AMD, so blowing up the image on the pc would be great. Thanks for the info. I would never have thought of doing that.

[jerryd6818]

You need to see a different dermatologist. That one got her license off the back of a box of Cheerios. Chiggers don't infest a house but Fleas do. In you hair, in the winter time, biting you while sitting in your chair? Sure sounds like a flea infestation to me.

[Mossdancer]

Redferd:
If you have an email address on your pc just mail it there from your camera. When there save the photo to your computer from your email. Somewhere along the line you will have a chance to name your photo. Use an easy to find name like AAA or aaa or XXX etc. When that is done left click on the little red yellow blue and green on the bottom left corner of your computer. You will see a rectangle box that reads: Search programs and files. enter what you named your photo. Above the box you should see a bigger display that will say different things left click on the one that you named your photo. Your photo should appear to the right now.
Right click on your photo and about four lines down click on edit and this should put you in the photo shop. Do as you wish with your photo. Now you can display it on your PC or TV screen or wherever you wish. Don't let it scare you if you put it on a 40 inch TV screen cause the teeth marks will look like they were administered by a flat ended center punch if indeed it is a bite.
Good Luck
moss

[Mumbleypeg]

It's fairly easy to determine whether your home has a flea infestation, by making a simple flea trap. Get a small container, like a Tupperware bowl or cool whip container, remove the lid. Fill it near full with water. Add one drop of liquid dish soap (put the soap in last, so it doesn't make suds). Place the container full of soapy water on the floor before you go to bed for the night. Leave a light on near (over) the bowl.

The light will attract the fleas, the dish soap breaks the surface tension of the water so the fleas can't jump out, and it kills them. If you have fleas in the house, there will be some in the bowl next morning, trapped in the water.

Ken

[Unk]

I have two flea traps. They keep chewing up my shoes and shedding hair all over my house.

[redferd]

It's fairly easy to determine whether your home has a flea infestation, by making a simple flea trap. Get a small container, like a Tupperware bowl or cool whip container, remove the lid. Fill it near full with water. Add one drop of liquid dish soap (put the soap in last, so it doesn't make suds). Place the container full of soapy water on the floor before you go to bed for the night. Leave a light on near (over) the bowl.

The light will attract the fleas, the dish soap breaks the surface tension of the water so the fleas can't jump out, and it kills them. If you have fleas in the house, there will be some in the bowl next morning, trapped in the water.

Ken

OK I set up a night light above a Corningware cereal bowl of water with dish washing soap in it. I have the light on now. I will leave it on all day and night. We'll see what happens. It could be fleas? Maybe some other bugs. I went to the local hardware store and bought 2 bags of Seven and 3 bags of Ortho Bug Be gone granules for outside the house. Ten lbs. each. I already put one ten lb bag in the single car carport the other day. The girl at the store told me she bug bombed the house she just moved into. 5 canisters , one for each room. Came back in 3 hours and found roaches, silverfish, spiders, etc. Had to open the windows to let the vapor out of the house. Killed all the bugs. She did not see any film or residue left by the bug bomb. I'll have to wait till warm weather to do all that tho. If this works with the soapy water, I'll let you all know. Being that I've not seen fleas before, how large are they?

[Mumbleypeg]

Fleas are very small, brown insects. About the size of the head of a straight pin. They can jump several feet in distance.

Ken

[redferd]

That small? I probably won't be able to see them unless they go into the soapy water. I just looked at the water but could not see any thing in the water so far. I'll leave the light on and let you know if I do get something in the water. I was given a Woolrich coat from my brother last September. Now I am wondering if it had bugs in it? He had it dry cleaned but let the coat hang in the closet for a few years. Maybe it has the bugs in it? I'll hang it out on the enclosed deck now. But whatever is biting me is still in the chair and likely the living room.

[ScoutKnives]

Living in south Florida bugs are horrific , I use Tempo which is a commercial grade product used by professionals but you can just go on eBay and buy it .
It's safe for inside use and will kill just about any insect including fleas , bedbugs , roaches .
IMO the best pesticide made and last up to 8 months .
If it's an insect biting you this will fix your problem

I've tried the Home Depot bombs and just about every product they sell and none of it is even close to tempo , a good friend in the bug business turned me on to this .

[carrmillus]

I have two flea traps. They keep chewing up my shoes and shedding hair all over my house.

.....that's priceless!!!!.......... ............

[RogerH]

A career as a park ranger and being an avid birder has led me into Chigger territory quite a lot. Through experimentation, I've found that once you get a good case of chigger bites, medicated or baby powder relieves the itching. Not sure how scientific it is, but it works most of the time for me.

[redferd]

My wrists are itchy so I took my pocket knife's sheep foot blade . Honed it razor sharp. Got a huge magnifier and sat at the table and scraped away the lumpy dead flesh. Could see a small black dot. So I dug around carefully and got a small black rod out. Smaller than a hair and not very long. Did about 6 places and put alcohol on the area. The itching went away where I removed the stubborn black rods. I put the rods on a white piece of paper and could not see them unless I used the magnifier. I was trying to save the rods to show the dermatologist but I fumbled and lost them all. I still have more lumps to work on so maybe I'll get more of the small rods and save them? The rods are black, small, short, and will break easily. I have no idea of what they are? Not stingers as they are not tapered with a point on them. Strange tho. Not dirt for sure. Not splinters. Not stingers. Sure are itchy. The dermatologist gave me some anti itch cream which works but is not a cure.

[montemojo]

Dang Redferd, you've been itching for long time now. I would show those black dots to the doc. Then tell the doc you want a second opinion. I think that should have been taken care of by now!

Monte

[Mumbleypeg]

Make an appointment with the dermitologist. Go have her dig out the black dots. That way you won't loose them and the doc can see for herself what and where they are.

Ken

[Dinadan]

Have you been messing around with any fiberglass? Stuff like insulation or working on a boat?

[carrmillus]

I have two flea traps. They keep chewing up my shoes and shedding hair all over my house.

............... !!!!!.......................

[redferd]

No fiber glass . Just the pine trees and brush pile. My friend won't come to my house. He thinks bugs will get him. Yes I have been itching for a long time. The dermatologist would have to get my arm under a microscope to see the dots. I'll try to get her to look at them again when I go back in July. It's been a long , hard road so far.

[montemojo]

Redferd, I have a friend who had scabies. The doctors kept misdiagnosing it over and over. They kept giving him some kind of steroids that made it worse. Sometimes the simple things are too simple and they continue to complicate things. I would find an old country doctor and see what he thought.

Monte