Apparently this is itch mite season, originating from Western Europe.
My FACE, chest, arms and neck are literally covered in little chickenpox-like red pimple-y bumps (it looks REALLY bad and diseased) and I am itching like nobody’s business.
To give you an idea, my whole back arm is covered in no less than 200 oak leaf mite bites.
200!!! Just imagine that — all of them grouped together into onto one little area.
This is 5x as bad as having eczema, and it looks and feels horrible, like I am diseased.
All I can do is wear long-sleeve outdoors, take a hot soapy shower every time I come back in, cover myself in (useless) anti-itching creams and cry myself to sleep.
This is seriously itchy and I am having the worst time ever, I can’t enjoy anything with this itching all over my body.
Apparently the itching will stop in ONE WEEK and it is Day Two. I am ready to rip my skin off.
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Feel better soon…
This is going to sound gross and weird, but see if you can find either some white vinegar or some tea tree oil. Put some on a cotton ball and wipe it over your bumps. That should help dry them up and soothe the itch. That's my best advice! I hope you're at least having a good time otherwise. I (selfishly) can't wait for you to get back so we can meet up and talk about your adventures! :3
I will try the white vinegar. Gross and weird would be if you told me to pee on myself.
I’ll be in Toronto in January I hope, so we can meet up then 🙂
Oh dear, I had chigger bites several years ago on my legs/feet that sound very similar to that. It was HORRIBLE – way itchier than mosquito bites and there were sooo many of them! The benadryl and calamine lotion were my best friends in the world. The itching DOES stop after about a week, and you kind of get used to it after a few days (though it's still v. uncomfortable), but the worst part for me was that the little red marks stuck around for a month or two. They turned a dull purple color but eventually faded 100%. I really hope yours goes away faster!!
What I do for poison ivy to relieve the itching is that after I've used a special scrub to remove the oils I will run the affected area under water as hot as I can stand. This will usually kill the itchiness and I'll have a few hours of relief. You'll know it has worked when you have a wave of relief pass over your entire body while the water is still running, at that point you are done.
THANK YOU! I actually googled that before, and I now do a super hot shower as hot as possible. I still feel the itchiness, but afterwards, I apply the 5% hydrocortisone gel, and I am pretty good for 4-6 hours.
How awful!
You could try washing your skin with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). It’s anti-inflammatory, should calm the itching.
In India I use Gomutra Arka (which is basically cow urine) on all my bug bites, and it works miraculously, within a few minutes. But it might be a bit hard to find in Paris, unless you find a well-stocked ayurvedic pharmacy.
Best of luck!
I will have to try and find some cow pee… but it’s working with the hydrocortisone. Baking soda pastes on my itches sounds good too.
Oh gosh that sounds horrible! Take a bath in some oatmeal like it's described here http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/… but make sure it's fully blended or it'll be chunky and get your tub clogged up 😛
I've only been back from Paris for 10 days, and I still have bumps… at least they don't itch anymore!
I wish I knew what to tell you! Sometimes baking soda paste helps. I don't know if you can get some, but when my legs were COVERED in mosquito bites, I found the ONLY thing that helped and saved my sanity was fresh lemon balm crushed up into some coconut oil as a paste. That took away the itch when NOTHING else did, not the baking soda, not the anti-itch creams the pharmacist recommended.
Hope it stops itching soon! I know how miserable that can be.
OH NO! that sounds horrendously awful! are you in the backcountry or something? how did this happen? and WHY didn't anyone warn you?!
i'm so sorry, that sounds like a horrible start to what was supposed to be an awesome vacation. I hope it gets better very soon!
I am in Paris proper, and it could just be a bad luck thing with birds’ nests around and oak trees holding those little mites
It looks AWFUL. BF is even feeling very worried for me, because it looks like a pestilence spread all over my body
In Paris, IN the city?! That is CRAZY! Oh man, i hate those mites FOR you! i read up on it after you posted and some people even go to the hospital because of this. and i read that DEET may not even repel them. What kind of nutty, lab-created bug of evil is this?
POP! goes those daydreams of picnicking (eating baguettes and cheese and drinking wine) on a gorgeous day under a tree in the park in the middle of Paris while wearing a beautiful, light sundress…
gutted for you. 🙁 hang in there, it'll go away.
They are getting better, thank goodness.. I am less itchy in general but now I have to cover up with a full hat, jeans, and long sleeved shirt zipped up to my chin.
My whole wardrobe packing post? Out the window. I should have brought more long sleeved shirts and now I’m even thinking of wearing a niqab (Muslim full-length garb) to stop them from landing on me
It is really awful. Thanks for your sympathies!
note to self: pack more long pants and long-sleeved shirts for my trip to the States in 3 days!! I am mostly packed but your experience has reminded me how bad the ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes can get in the summer in the South.
I still envy your packing skills! I have a backpack, a carry on, and the largest suitcase I could find full of stuff (that includes a lot of presents for my family, though) for my 2 month vacay, and I think that's really good, esp. for me and the variety of events I have to pack for (a wedding, extended-family dinners, church, high school reunion, day at the pool with my friends who are mommies and their offspring, drinks with friends, going out dancing, days out sight-seeing and shopping, lazy days, beach and lake trips, and a 2 week backpacking trip). A lot of outfits can theoretically be used for several of these events, but I like to have choices. And then there are the SHOES!
glad the itchy is going away. travel adventures happen, i suppose, and you WILL know for next time. how did your BF fare?
I have sympathy – I was just in Croatia for a week & by day 3 had the bumps all over both arms & my chest! You can try a combo of Anti-Bacterial soap, Caladryl (Calamine Lotion) & Hydro-Cortisone creme, plus I was taking Zyrtec for my (normal) allergies. Unfortunately that only helped the itching – the bumps are now almost gone (& it has been a little over a week!). Good Luck!
I will try calamine lotion and hydrocortisone cream but the bumps on my face are getting bigger and bigger
Gosh, this is terrible! How awful for you. I've not heard about this (but then I don't pay much attention to news/current affairs). I'm starting to itch a bit just thinking about it. Does Benedryl or the like help at all? Maybe try to sleep for a week? So sorry to hear about your trouble!
Well I am only here until next week and flying to England after, so right now I am in prevention mode, trying not to let any more mites bite me so that they keep appearing during my whole trip
This is really awful. I feel and look diseased.
I’ve taken allergy pills for it so far, and I have hydrocortisone for my itching… plus I take super boiling hot water showers in the morning and at night. It seems to work so far..