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Oak Mite Bites aka Post Cicada Torture


Spryte
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We've got browntail moths here. The caterpillars have toxic hairs on them which give a horribly itchy rash if they land on you. They can blow through the breeze so you never even see the caterpillar that got you. Oh, and you can breath them in, too...

Luckily they "only" last through spring and most of summer....

I'm so over EVERYTHING! 

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2 hours ago, saraha said:

For the love of Pete. Microscopic bugs that the wind can blow onto you that create a big reaction 10 hours after being bit?!? 

Yes! Exactly my thoughts!

The itch is like a firey intense poison ivy itch, and the welts are just … spectacular. Long lasting, too.  It’s the kind of bite that has you sleeping with ice packs, no kidding.  

Unbelievable!

@Kanin I’ve never heard of brown tail moths, but that sounds absolutely dystopian.

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4 minutes ago, Starr said:

I can’t imagine!

Right?! 4 weeks ago I had one on my face. (My face!!) Urgent care diagnosed cellulitis, so antibiotics and ointments and follow ups with dermatology.  Then I had another and just sent a pic to my regular doc.  More antibiotics and ointments. And I have an eval with dermatologist scheduled to see if something else is going on.

Yesterday I had yet another - this one truly spectacular in its size and color. Wrote to my doc again, who said she thinks it could be oak mite bites, has suddenly been seeing a lot of them.  Holy cannoli, Bat Man! 

Much ado about a microscopic bug!  

- Never leaving the house again. Yikes. Plagues and hordes of invisible biting stealth bugs. What a year!🤣

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47 minutes ago, Spryte said:

Yes! Exactly my thoughts!

The itch is like a firey intense poison ivy itch, and the welts are just … spectacular. Long lasting, too.  It’s the kind of bite that has you sleeping with ice packs, no kidding.  

Unbelievable!

@Kanin I’ve never heard of brown tail moths, but that sounds absolutely dystopian.

Yours does too! Why, nature, why?!

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1 hour ago, Kanin said:

We've got browntail moths here. The caterpillars have toxic hairs on them which give a horribly itchy rash if they land on you. They can blow through the breeze so you never even see the caterpillar that got you. Oh, and you can breath them in, too...

Luckily they "only" last through spring and most of summer....

I'm so over EVERYTHING! 

We very much need a horrified reaction emoji

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47 minutes ago, Spryte said:

Right?! 4 weeks ago I had one on my face. (My face!!) Urgent care diagnosed cellulitis, so antibiotics and ointments and follow ups with dermatology.  Then I had another and just sent a pic to my regular doc.  More antibiotics and ointments. And I have an eval with dermatologist scheduled to see if something else is going on.

Yesterday I had yet another - this one truly spectacular in its size and color. Wrote to my doc again, who said she thinks it could be oak mite bites, has suddenly been seeing a lot of them.  Holy cannoli, Bat Man! 

Much ado about a microscopic bug!  

- Never leaving the house again. Yikes. Plagues and hordes of invisible biting stealth bugs. What a year!🤣

I googled this last night after you posted and spectacular is the right word

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2 hours ago, Kanin said:

We've got browntail moths here. The caterpillars have toxic hairs on them which give a horribly itchy rash if they land on you. They can blow through the breeze so you never even see the caterpillar that got you. Oh, and you can breath them in, too...

Luckily they "only" last through spring and most of summer....

I'm so over EVERYTHING! 

I am quite relieved that after reading about this, it's the hairs that blow around, lol! https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/vector-borne/browntail-moth/index.shtml

I hate caterpillars, and I was really freaking out about having them blow on me, or that I would get one in my mouth. 

Signed: Survivor of gypsy moth infestations in the 90's.

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My husband got hundreds of them on his feet/ankles/calves the same day my niece had a seizure last fall. This spring we were thinking she might heal from back to back brain surgeries faster than those bites would fully heal. The bites did finally clear up and my niece is unfortunately still healing.

Several years ago my youngest had about 50 bites. I took her to the doctor. She got an antibiotic and was better in a couple days. If we had realized she only got over it that fast because of the antibiotics, I would have taken my husband in, too.

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33 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

My husband got hundreds of them on his feet/ankles/calves the same day my niece had a seizure last fall. This spring we were thinking she might heal from back to back brain surgeries faster than those bites would fully heal. The bites did finally clear up and my niece is unfortunately still healing.

Several years ago my youngest had about 50 bites. I took her to the doctor. She got an antibiotic and was better in a couple days. If we had realized she only got over it that fast because of the antibiotics, I would have taken my husband in, too.

Wow.  That’s intense.  I can’t imagine hundreds of these bites. Mine get red and irritated in a huge circle around the bite.  Did his, too?  Just horrible, he must have been miserable.  And your DD, too.

It’s just awful.  I have been intermittently taking doxycycline all summer (because they become huge on me, and appear infected, ugh!), and using an antibiotic ointment and some sort of heavy duty steroid cream.  One area took about two weeks to clear up, even with those measures.  My latest, though, holy moly, it looks almost bruised, it’s going to take a long time, I think. 

I have never even heard of this, but apparently they are bad this year because of the cicadas.

Sometimes living in a bubble starts to have a vague appeal!

 

I hope your niece is all better soon, too!  

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I looked for a picture but don't have one. The news about my niece made everything else seem unimportant, you know? But Dh was very uncomfortable. The bites covered that area pretty thoroughly, even with me picking the mites off of him.

My niece has made a lot of improvements. She has a good prognosis for someone who had a tennis ball sized tumor. And we thank God for her neurosurgeon who did an amazing job. She isn't back to normal yet, but we have hope that she will get most of the way there in time.

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Oh, thank goodness your niece is improving!

I can’t even imagine more than one or two bites at a time, yikes.  He probably wouldn’t want a pic to remember it!  🤣Mine swell up to a 3 inch diameter red and purple circle. Allergic reaction, I think.  Kind feels like someone punched me, but itches, too.  
 

When is 2021 over, again? I’m laughing, mostly, but wow, Iife is weird!

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