Skeeter Syndrome (allergy to mosquito bites) anyone?

[UncleEJ]

Do any of you have or know anyone with Skeeter Syndrome? It is an allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I think I may have this.

 

I grew up in Alaska, aka the mosquito capital of the world, where we joked the mosquito was the state bird. I was always outside and got bit countless times. I never really noticed the bites beside maybe mild itchiness. Never swelled or scabbed or anything like that.

 

I know live in Texas and am having the worst trouble with mosquito bites. When we first moved (almost two years ago) I got bit and noticed that they itched a lot more but I just figured I needed to build up a resistance to the type of Mosquitos that live here. This summer I have been getting bit and the bites keep getting worse and worse. On Wednesday evening I was outside watering trees and got bit a bunch on my legs. They immediately started to itch extremely bad and swelled up. By the next morning, I had one on my upper thigh that had swelled to about a 4" diameter and was painful and hot to the touch. I had others on my legs that were about 2" diameter. There are bites on my knee, ankle and wrist and those joints are locked up and very painful. Tonight, none are any better. The bite on my ankle is now bigger and very painful and like has red streaking on it.

 

I did a bit of research and it looks like maybe could be Skeeter Syndrome but I don't have all the symptoms. Anybody have any experience or advice?

 

ETA: I was recently diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and think maybe that could have something to do with the sudden increase in problems with bites...

[Whereneverever]

I'd watch that really carefully, if it turns into cellulitis that's serious. We barely have Mosquitos here, but when I get bit they hurt and swell a little, but not that bad.

[Terabith]

I've never heard of that, but I googled it and oh. my. gosh, that explains perfectly the reactions I have had to bites at various times throughout my life.  It started when I got about 70 bites standing next to a woodpile.  Since then, I have sporadically had fairly severe reactions to even a single bite.  At one point I was on a protocol of 3 aspirin and 2 Benadryl when I was bitten.....

[Loowit]

My youngest son has very bad reactions to mosquito bites sometimes but not always. I am not sure why. I asked his allergist but she didn't seem very concerned. He got a bite a couple weeks ago that made one side of his lower arm swell up. He has also had times when they look huge and bruised after a couple of days. He got a lot of bites last night watching fireworks and some of them are swelling a lot. I am giving him benedryl and keeping an eye on him. I have never heard of skeeter syndrome. I will have to look it up.

[Guest inoubliable]

Kids and I have it. We have scarring on our arms and legs from it. The only thing we can do is prevention, and if there is a bite we have to use ice packs, Benadryl, and itch cream. If you get the bites that turn into sores that just won't heal, get to a doctor. We've had to several times just to make sure an infection hadn't set in or MRSA.

[TravelingChris]

That has been one of the only positive things for me about having my chronic illnesses.  I take plaquenil, which was originally a malaria drug but now is more commonly used for things like Sjogren's Syndrome, Lupus, and RA.  Anyway, I think I know how it prevented malaria- I have hardly ever been bitten by mosquitoes since I have been taking this.  In the past, I used to get such problems.  BUt I have been on this medicine for 16 years and no more mosquito issues for me.

[Mabeline]

I get it sometimes. The last time it was bad, I had gotten bitten 4 or 5 times. Only one got really bad. It was hot, oozing, about 4 inches across and very swollen. I finally went to the pharmacy to see if they could help and they gave me an aloe gell with lidocaine and Benadryl. The Benadryl made me pass out ( I am very sensitive to medication) but it really helped my bite heal.

 

I don't know why sometimes my bites heal after a few days and others turn into huge lumps and take weeks to heal.

[Lolly]

One of my girls seems to have it. She pretty much just stays inside during mosquito season. She can go out on the lake in the boat, mosquitos aren't a problem there. If she is going outside to sit for a little bit or walk to a friend's house, she has to put on a high deet repellant. The others are like spraying on water.

[UncleEJ]

My youngest son has very bad reactions to mosquito bites sometimes but not always. I am not sure why. I asked his allergist but she didn't seem very concerned. He got a bite a couple weeks ago that made one side of his lower arm swell up. He has also had times when they look huge and bruised after a couple of days. He got a lot of bites last night watching fireworks and some of them are swelling a lot. I am giving him benedryl and keeping an eye on him. I have never heard of skeeter syndrome. I will have to look it up.

This seems similar to what happens to me. Not everytime.

 

 

  

Kids and I have it. We have scarring on our arms and legs from it. The only thing we can do is prevention, and if there is a bite we have to use ice packs, Benadryl, and itch cream. If you get the bites that turn into sores that just won't heal, get to a doctor. We've had to several times just to make sure an infection hadn't set in or MRSA.

 

 

I am so sorry to hear that. So far I haven't had any open up or blister, but I will keep my eye on them.

 

 

 

I have it. My swellings usually get anywhere from  3"-4" across. They go from hot and red to massive bruising that's still visible a month or two later. Dh just tells me I need to get over it. When it subsides, they all swell up again when I get another bite anywhere else. I have two to the massive bruise stage right now. I'm not looking forward to to tomorrow as I have to be at the rodeo grounds all day. Town isn't spraying for mosquitos any more since they've had massive fish kills. I think it's going to take someone dying of West Nile before they start spraying again. We had two deaths last summer in a neighboring town.

This sounds very familiar.

 

  

Ummm..  You REALLY need to be using insect repellent.  Texas has been having a HUGE problem with the West Nile Virus!!  My family does not go outside in the evenings and if we must, we wear insect repellent!!!

 

I agree! And I will be using repellent religiously from now on! I don't go out in the evenings all that often, but will always be better protected.

[Jennifer in MI]

If you have red streaks, please go to the doctor soon.  Could be cellulitis.

 

And, yes.  My daughter gets this with mosquito bites.  She just had one on the side of her face that looked like she was sprouting a twin!  It got HUGE and red and hot.  I watched that thing carefully!  I was SO scared it was infected.  Nope.  Just her typical bite.  She now has three more bites.  They are still small, but I expect they will swell soon.

 

((hugs))  I'm sorry!!!

[Heather in Neverland]

My middle child is allergic to mosquito bites (he is allergic to a lot of stuff!). Benedryl and ice packs work for us.

[Guest inoubliable]

Not to throw this off-topic, but does anyone else have permanent scarring from their mosquito bites? Is there something you can put on the bite to prevent this? We do just like Heather does - Benadryl and ice, sometimes a hydrocortisone cream. All three of my kids and I have scarring, though. If anyone has any recommendations on that, I think it would be worth sharing here for those of us who have Skeeter Syndrome.

[Tap]

DD14 reacts harshly sometimes, not others.  I think it has to do with the kind of mosquitoes that bit her on any given day. 

 

She has had to have prednisone and heavy duty topical steroids at some points in her life due to a few mosquito bites that swelled to over softball size.  Other times, they are normal, smaller than quarter size bites that heal in a couple days.  

 

Her body does react worse if she is suffering from seasonal allergies at the time she is bit.  It seems like her body gets hyper sensitive during those times. 

 

She is getting allergy shots and I asked her allergist if there was anything we could do.  Her reply...prevention.  Mosquito repellent with the highest DEET we can buy.  We buy Sportsmans 40% Deet for her now.  We only spray it on clothes but it really seems to make a huge difference. 

[sparrow]

My middle child is allergic to mosquito bites (he is allergic to a lot of stuff!). Benedryl and ice packs work for us.

 

Heather, this is your son that is of Korean descent, right? Both of my K kids have bad reactions to mosquito bites. We had to cut a camping vacation short, when dd was a toddler, because her eye had swollen shut.

 

 

Not to throw this off-topic, but does anyone else have permanent scarring from their mosquito bites? Is there something you can put on the bite to prevent this? We do just like Heather does - Benadryl and ice, sometimes a hydrocortisone cream. All three of my kids and I have scarring, though. If anyone has any recommendations on that, I think it would be worth sharing here for those of us who have Skeeter Syndrome.

 

I actually posed a question yesterday about acne scarring and Asian skin, but I noted that my ds actually gets dark scarring from mosquito bites, too. His usually fade after *months*, but I think I'm going to start using some vitamin E and C to see if it will speed things up, as suggested in that thread.

[Garga]

Aha!  

 

I haven't gone outside after dark without bathing in Deet in a decade.

 

Until last summer.  Friends wanted to sit on their porch and I thought maybe my days of misery were over.  That somehow it would be different this time.

 

The next day the three other people on the porch had nary a bite.  Me?  I had 21 ginormous bites all over my legs.  There were so itchy that I couldn't sleep for two nights because the bites on my legs would roar with itchiness as I lay on the bed and the bed touched my legs.  

 

I have NO IDEA if this is true, but I just read that if you burn the bite it can make the itch go away.  (like with a hot spoon.)   I won't ever know for myself if this works because I'm not going out after dark without bathing in deet ever again.  http://news.softpedia.com/news/A-Simple-Hot-Spoon-Can-Ease-the-Itchiness-Caused-by-Mosquito-Bites-364682.shtml

[Garga]

Duplicate post

[SunnyDays]

Yes, my son and I both have terrible trouble with any bites we get. Definitely prevent if you can. We like this when we do get bitten, it's the best thing we've found to stop itching: http://www.amazon.com/health-personal-care/dp/B001VLY328

 

KK, as for scarring, been there, done that. If its broken or scratched open at all, I use neosporin, which generally seems to minimize scarring for me... Vitamin E oil has also been recommended to me.

[Heather in Neverland]

Heather, this is your son that is of Korean descent, right? Both of my K kids have bad reactions to mosquito bites. We had to cut a camping vacation short, when dd was a toddler, because her eye had swollen shut.

 

 

 

I actually posed a question yesterday about acne scarring and Asian skin, but I noted that my ds actually gets dark scarring from mosquito bites, too. His usually fade after *months*, but I think I'm going to start using some vitamin E and C to see if it will speed things up, as suggested in that thread.

Yes, the Mosquitos eat him alive and he swells up so much. He has had much scarring as well but most of it does fade over time. My daughter, who is Indian, also scars like that but they don't seem to go after her or the rest of us as much. Just my poor Korean sweetie. Asian blood must be sweeter. :)

[UncleEJ]

http://skeetersyndrome.blogspot.com/

 

I came across this blog in my research. It's by a mom whose little boy suffers greatly from Skeeter Syndrome. She has been able to control his symptoms with doTerra oils. All the information is on the blog. I thought it might be helpful.

 

Also, thank you all for your stories and advice.

[ondreeuh]

Interesting! I never heard of Skeeter Syndrome. In my experience, the mosquitoes themselves can vary a lot by region.

 

I'm told that when I was a baby (in Iowa), mosquito bites would make me so ill I would vomit.

 

I spent most of my life in Oregon, and mosquito bites always followed a predictable cycle. First, intense itchiness for a half hour or so. Then it would form a hard lump with a blanched pea-sized center and a large pink splotch around it. The next day it would form a blister, and in a few days it would scab over and heal. Luckily we lived in a low-mosquito area.

 

We now live in Alaska - and yes, they are CRAZY here in size, number, and ruthlessness! Thankfully, I do not react to the bites much at all. I am super itchy for a half hour and then it's pretty much gone. No blisters, and just a little hardness/soreness. I think Alaska mosquitoes must be especially mild in toxicity - thank goodness because they crawl up my shorts, bite through my shirts, etc. and it's not just at dusk, it's 24 hours a day.

 

I switched to using lemon eucalyptus oil (Repel makes some - carried locally and available on Amazon). It works as well as DEET without the toxicity.

[UncleEJ]

 

We now live in Alaska - and yes, they are CRAZY here in size, number, and ruthlessness! Thankfully, I do not react to the bites much at all. I am super itchy for a half hour and then it's pretty much gone. No blisters, and just a little hardness/soreness. I think Alaska mosquitoes must be especially mild in toxicity - thank goodness because they crawl up my shorts, bite through my shirts, etc. and it's not just at dusk, it's 24 hours a day.

 

I switched to using lemon eucalyptus oil (Repel makes some - carried locally and available on Amazon). It works as well as DEET without the toxicity.

Th good thing about the GIANT Alaskan Mosquitos is that you can hear them coming and feel them land on you. These tiny TX mosquito are silent and I never notice them land until it's too late. And they seem to have super strong saliva, the little creeps.

 

Thanks for the tip about the lemon eucalyptus oil, I will definitely give that a try!

[Plateau Mama]

What bug spray do you all use? The ones I've gotten for my son don't seem to work. I get the highest DEET possible nd he still gets eaten alive. We aren't in a high mosquito area but when he goes camping etc he gets eaten alive and they swell up like crazy.

[Truscifi]

I have it. My swellings usually get anywhere from  3"-4" across. They go from hot and red to massive bruising that's still visible a month or two later. Dh just tells me I need to get over it. When it subsides, they all swell up again when I get another bite anywhere else. I have two to the massive bruise stage right now. I'm not looking forward to to tomorrow as I have to be at the rodeo grounds all day. Town isn't spraying for mosquitos any more since they've had massive fish kills. I think it's going to take someone dying of West Nile before they start spraying again. We had two deaths last summer in a neighboring town.

 

:huh: :confused1:    I don't even know what to say to that.

[Coffeemama]

Wow. I can't believe I just got linked back to this WTM thread while doing a google search on allergic reactions to mosquito bites!

 

My son got about 20 bites on July 4th, they itched, then swelled, and now his foot looks completely bruised. After reading about Skeeter Syndrome, I'm pretty sure that's what he has. So strange that the other kids at our party got one, two or no bites and he was covered. And he and the other kids were wearing bug spray (not DEET) and our yard had just been sprayed the day before with an organic garlic spray to prevent mosquitos and ticks. I was extra vigilant since I just contracted Lyme

last week.

 

While I'm not happy about his condition, I am relieved to atleast know what it is. Will it help for me to go pick up some Benedryl at this point (3 days later)? So far, I've been just applying hydrocortizone cream ( perscription strength - left over from a reaction from poison ivy).

[Guest beekeedee]

Hi everyone. I found this forum thread when I googled mosquito bite allergies.

 

I noticed that a couple of posters had mentioned that their kids with Korean descent had worse reactions and possibly had Skeeter Syndrome, and this is what made we want to post. I'm of Korean descent and as a kid I've always had bad reactions to mosquito bites, but it has gotten much worse as an adult. The first time it happened, I was visiting Seoul, Korea and I swelled up like a balloon. I had one on my cheek and the swelling made it hard to open my eyes all the way. It happened a few times throughout the summer and when I visited a doctor, he gave me a steroid shot.

 

I've been to doctors since then, and none of them seemed very worried about it. They usually just recommend benadryl and hydrocoritisone creme, and tell me to go to the E.R. if I have trouble breathing. Benadryl and hydrocortisone are completely useless by the way.

 

I've had swelling so bad that half my arm would swell up. The only reason it doesn't go past that the elbow is that elbow skin doesn't seem to be able to swell. It's awkward, painful, and I end up looking like Popeye. People are always shocked and disgusted when they see my reaction, and tell me I look like I was beaten with a baseball bat.

Unfortunately, it sounds like there's nothing else that I can do.

 

I am interested to see if there's any relation to Skeeter Syndrome with people of Korean descent though. If anyone has any other information on this, please forward it to me.

 

 

 

 

[SKL]

LOL I just posted about this a day or two ago.   Obviously I missed this "skeeter syndrome" thread.  My kids are indigenous Central American, which is basically Asian from a biological standpoint.  One of my kids reacts badly to skeeter bites (and other bug bites).  The other reacts pretty much like the average American or maybe just a little worse.

[Guest Oil Medicine Woman]

I think I am having this reaction to a bee sting.  Do you know if it is the same thing?  I was stung on my second toe and my whole foot got swollen up through my ankle.  Now I have blisters all around the toe.  It's already been a week and the swelling is finally going down as of today.  I need to get heels on tomorrow!!  I'm also half Asian, if that makes a difference.  I'm using melaleuca, oregano and basil essential oils, but didn't have them with me when I was stung last week in Europe.

[GSOchristie]

My middle child has Skeeter syndrome. We have to use Benedryl and Benedryl cream immediately. The other night he went into the garage with my dh for 15 minutes, he came back in with 15 bites. His whole back was a red swollen mess. I hate to do it, but if he's going to be outside, he has to have insect repellent with Deet, nothing else seems to protect him. His swell up to golf ball size within an hour and are hot to the touch.

[Hoot]

I've always had horrible reactions to mosquito bites, though I've never thought to check for fever.  I walked down the driveway to the mailbox yesterday and came back with about a dozen new bites.  They immediately turned bright red, itchy and started swelling.  I can't even go to the garden in the evening because I look like one giant mosquito bite when I come back in.  Last night I was joking with my husband that I had more bites than skin right now.  Honestly, I've never even heard of this Skeeter Syndrome before now and didn't think it was anything more than an oversensitivity to bites.  Blessedly, I've never had any sort of Anaphylaxis.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

My son's allergist recommended protective clothing, DEET, and taking zyrtec if going to be in a high risk situation for mosquitoes. I also read an article recently that said that fans are effective in preventing mosquitoes from landing on you due to the wind power. So if you will be sitting outside and are able to use an electric fan go for it!

[Stacia]

I have a bad reaction to mosquito bites (though not as bad as some described here). Mosquitoes love me. When I'm bitten, bites immediately swell up to about 3-4 inches (or more) across. If possible, I try to immediately wash the area w/ soap & water, then use Benadryl spray. If I get a lot of bites, I'll take Benadryl too (but I don't like doing that in the daytime as I feel so groggy when I take Benadryl). There have been times when I've gotten enough bites that I feel physically sick from all of them -- I guess too much reaction to the bites.

 

Our yard has tons of mosquitoes (very wooded). Mostly, I try to avoid being outside w/out long pants or long sleeves, esp. if I know I will be out for long.

 

I hate covering myself in mosquito sprays (from both the smell & the chemical standpoint). I did recently read about some new technology/mosquito patches being developed & I sure hope they work. I've actually contributed to their Indiegogo campaign ($35) so I can get some of these patches when they produce them. I really, really want to give them a try & hope they've come up w/ a great solution.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kite-patch

(Scrolling down the page will tell you some info about their research, the status of their project, etc... No, I'm not affiliated w/ them in any way. I just suffer greatly from mosquito bites, live in a hot/humid area w/ tons of mosquitoes, & hope they have hit on a solution that will work to fight mosquitoes, not just for my own personal comfort, but also to help stop malaria, which is the main point of their research.)

 

 

[Guest Mkannala]

Dammim: it is uncanny how similar your story is to mine! I just moved down to Texas about a month ago from Alaska and am having the same exact problem.  I had normal reactions to mosquitos up north, but down here I get huge welts and they are insanely itchy! Did you find anything that worked for you? Would love to hear what you've come up with!

[UncleEJ]

Dammim: it is uncanny how similar your story is to mine! I just moved down to Texas about a month ago from Alaska and am having the same exact problem. I had normal reactions to mosquitos up north, but down here I get huge welts and they are insanely itchy! Did you find anything that worked for you? Would love to hear what you've come up with!

Well, I think the spring Mosquitos were worse. As the summer has progressed I have had less issues. I also found that two essential oils from DoTerra to be very helpful. One is called Terra Shield and I use that as a bug spray. The other is Melaleuca (aka tea tree oil), this helps if it do get a bite.

[Tangerine]

Oh my goodness.  This happens to my daughter, but the first time we noticed it, it was a few days after we pulled a tick off of her.  She went on 30 days of antibiotics for Lyme, but then the same thing happened a few weeks later.  Which led me to believe it was something else.  She's getting a blood test at her 9 year check up to see if it was Lyme.  I'm really thinking it might be this!

[Guest]

I'd never heard of this before and I've had it my whole life! I live in an area with very few mosquitoes now because it really is that bad, but it's nice to know that there is a scientific explanation for what is now considered a valid medical condition.