Attack of the Killer Mosquitos!
I have always gotten 'bumps' from mosquito bites; the normal, red, itchy bumps. Pesky, but they go away. And as of the last few years, they go away exceedingly quickly, as the zyrtec in my system seems to dissipate them more quickly than normal metabolism of the stuff that skeeter injects in me. ::ick::
I'd heard about others who got "allergic reactions" to mosquitoes, but I honestly just thought it was an overstatement of a normal bite. That is, until MY kid had it.
[As an aside, why do we have a tendency to take things less seriously until we experience it ourselves? A natural bent towards skepticism?]
Brendan had normal mosquito bites last year; exactly like what most people experience. This season started off with what I thought was him scratching bites to infection. So I treated the open sores with neosporin and band-aids and a stern talk about not scratching and keeping his hands washed. Turns out it might not be that at all!
Several weeks ago, he got another crop of bites (they always seem to happen when he's sleeping) and I put Caladryl Clear on them. Unlike what you (and I) expect, there is no benadryl in Caladryl--they changed the formulation and it's pramoxine HCl. Several hours after the application of the Caladryl, he had blisters in the middle of the bites. So we (naturally!) assumed he was allergic to the pramoxine, and I bought benadryl cream.
Today he woke up with yet another batch of them, and didn't want any cream on them, so I left them alone. Guess what was in the middle of these bites by lunchtime? Yep--plasma-filled blisters. ::double ick:: So I pierced the blisters (lest he do it while scratching) and put cortisone ointment and bandages on them. Once I put him to bed, I immediately googled "allergic-reaction+mosquito-bite" and came across a site run by Princeton University in which many, many people posted about their extreme allergic reactions to mosquito bites.
I am so grateful I found the site; there's nothing a doctor can do, although there is some thought that taking singulair might help reduce the reaction (this medication reduces leukotriene reaction, part of what makes up an allergic reaction). I will talk to his ped when we're next in; in the meantime, I may start coating the child in Skin So Soft before bed. ;) I know it doesn't do a huge amount in terms of repelling mosquitoes, but I don't want to dip him in bug spray and put him to bed, either. And as long as we have this Eternal Summer down here, they're not going to die any time soon. Argh!
So that's our experience with the killer-mosquitoes--I don't know what's different for Brendan, except to think that it might be linked to his development of seasonal allergies. Even more reason to hike out of the Ohio Valley, where all allergens and pollens land on us! ;)
I'd heard about others who got "allergic reactions" to mosquitoes, but I honestly just thought it was an overstatement of a normal bite. That is, until MY kid had it.
[As an aside, why do we have a tendency to take things less seriously until we experience it ourselves? A natural bent towards skepticism?]
Brendan had normal mosquito bites last year; exactly like what most people experience. This season started off with what I thought was him scratching bites to infection. So I treated the open sores with neosporin and band-aids and a stern talk about not scratching and keeping his hands washed. Turns out it might not be that at all!
Several weeks ago, he got another crop of bites (they always seem to happen when he's sleeping) and I put Caladryl Clear on them. Unlike what you (and I) expect, there is no benadryl in Caladryl--they changed the formulation and it's pramoxine HCl. Several hours after the application of the Caladryl, he had blisters in the middle of the bites. So we (naturally!) assumed he was allergic to the pramoxine, and I bought benadryl cream.
Today he woke up with yet another batch of them, and didn't want any cream on them, so I left them alone. Guess what was in the middle of these bites by lunchtime? Yep--plasma-filled blisters. ::double ick:: So I pierced the blisters (lest he do it while scratching) and put cortisone ointment and bandages on them. Once I put him to bed, I immediately googled "allergic-reaction+mosquito-bite" and came across a site run by Princeton University in which many, many people posted about their extreme allergic reactions to mosquito bites.
I am so grateful I found the site; there's nothing a doctor can do, although there is some thought that taking singulair might help reduce the reaction (this medication reduces leukotriene reaction, part of what makes up an allergic reaction). I will talk to his ped when we're next in; in the meantime, I may start coating the child in Skin So Soft before bed. ;) I know it doesn't do a huge amount in terms of repelling mosquitoes, but I don't want to dip him in bug spray and put him to bed, either. And as long as we have this Eternal Summer down here, they're not going to die any time soon. Argh!
So that's our experience with the killer-mosquitoes--I don't know what's different for Brendan, except to think that it might be linked to his development of seasonal allergies. Even more reason to hike out of the Ohio Valley, where all allergens and pollens land on us! ;)
posted by Sue | 2:10 PM
1 Comments:
Every summer growing up my mother would yell at me for scratching till infection. It wasn't until a dr saw my legs during a drs appointment once that he told her I was allergic. Not so bad with misqutoes anymore but ticks (the smaller they are the worse the reaction) I still get blisters.
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