Mosquito bite?

[.Poppy.]

Ugh, another health fear. And I'd been doing so well.

Saturday evening I went for a run and was bitten by a mosquito. I know that's what bit me because I saw it on my arm and was able to smash it.

The bite is now large and red - larger than my typical mosquito bites, for sure. It oddly doesn't really itch.

Well, today I discovered my arm is sore when I move it. Right on the inside of my elbow where my veins are; it kind of feels like when you have blood drawn and the nurse wasn't especially skilled. The bite itself is located above my wrist, so not in that location but on the same arm.

I refuse to Google so now I've just resorted to scaring myself that by choosing to go out for a run I have contracted a terrible illness and am going to die.

I intend to ask my mother tonight if it seems "sinister" to her or not but....in the meantime I feel awful. In addition to the pain I have a headache (which I acknowledge could be due to poor sleeping position and/or tooth grinding) and general malaise (which I acknowledge can be due to massive stress over this and/or allergies).

But yikes. I hate this. Anyone ever had this happen before?

[Sunflower2]

In Scotland we have midges and when I've been camping with my friends they have ended up having over 300 bites from one night (they actually counted them!). Some people come up really blotchy with them, my mum reacts badly to bites and comes out in almost hives!

On the same camping trip I said above, I was bitten by a tic, which had to be removed!! Safe to say I was hysteral about it and worried I was going to get Lyme disease for the next month. I didn't!

Bites from bugs are horrible but generally they don't cause any long term effects that will kill you, unless you're really unlucky or live somewhere with poisonous bugs, or areas with malaria!

Get some antiseptic cream, check with your mum, and remind yourself that millions of people are bitten every day and don't just drop dead from a tiny bite! We have immune systems for a reason :)

[MyNameIsTerry]

They can bite you anywhere whether at home or out shopping or anything else. So, don't give in to thoughts of causing this to yourself by making false associations.

I remember once getting bitten by something near the instep. Within 10 minutes I could barely walk on it and had to get a bus home. It remained weak for a couple of weeks but greatly improved after a couple of days. I have no idea what the little git was but I couldn't put any weight on that foot so quickly.

Remember that inflammation means your body is working on healing a site of trauma hence why they tell us not to suppress inflammation and let the body rush all the nutrient rich blood there to do it's work. It could just be that.

[.Poppy.]

Thanks :). My mom suggested booking an appointment with my doc so I did.

Funny thing, walking here I ran into the VP in the building I work in and two professors - both of which were very friendly to me and then a nice gentleman held the door open for me. Heard two songs about dying on the radio. I KNOW there's no connection but of course it bothers me anyway.

I shall try to keep calm and see what the doc says. Bonus to going is that I will get a bit of a break from work tomorrow.

[debs71]

I've had many mosquito bites over the years, most recently last month. I visit the Canary islands twice a year, just off of the coast of Africa, and I always get bitten whilst there. I had 6 bites this time around!

They all came up very angry looking, bright red and huge. Funnily enough, I also didn't get much in the way of an itch, they just looked horrible and felt warm to the touch.

Try not to worry. If you were going to become unwell, it would have happened by now, and you would REALLY know it.

My top tip is hydrocortisone cream on the bite. Just a small bit dabbed on the bite will help calm it down and reduce the redness and swelling. The standard bite creams can be helpful too. x

[Traceypo]

I'm one of those really lucky people that gets skin infections due to insect bites, short course of antibiotics usually clears it, sometimes leaves a scar but that's probably the worst case scenario, not too bad in the grand scheme of things.
Xxx

[Mindknot]

Oh, I've had some that have reacted like that. If the skin's not broken (if it is use antiseptic) you could try antihistamine cream on it, else antihistamine tablets (over the counter ones) have worked well for me.

[.Poppy.]

Thanks all. My arm doesn't hurt today and the bump has gone down a bit so I have decided not to see the doctor. I think I'm going to be fine :) Will try some hydrocortisone cream!

If only all my other life stresses were so easy to resolve :/

[MyNameIsTerry]

Good Poppy. I think applying that waiting rule is best with something like this so we become more confident in not needing a medical opinion.