Allergic to mosquito bites??

I believe I may have all of a sudden become allergic to mosquito bites. They have never bothered me before, but for the last 2 years now, everytime I get bitten I get a huge welt (about the size of a half dollar) and my legs and feet swell up to twice their size. This never used to happen before! What could be causing this to all of a sudden happen? I don't know of anybody else who has this problem. Benadryl seems to take care of the swelling - so I'm assuming it's an allergic reaction. Could there be something different about mosquitos now? Maybe with all of the genetic modification of our livestock, they're biting them and passing on something that is causing the reaction? I don't know - it just seemed strange that it just started happening. I never had this happen in the last 40 years I've been alive.

Has anybody had this happen to them?

Yes! My daughter became allergic last year, well last summer. She got bit three times on her upper arm and her arm swelled up really bad. So bad that we took her to her doctor. Her doctor told us that she had just got back from a weekend with the boyscouts, who all had severe reactions to mosquitos, and that was all that she was treating. She recommended bringing benadryl or another antihistamine when we go out. The mosquito bites on my daughter were much bigger than a half dollar, they were hot to the touch, hard and right where the center of the bites were, there was a tiny blister. She said that they didn't itch but burned and hurt. She never scratched at them and they swelled like that within a few hours. They took about a week and a half to 2 weeks before the swelling went down and almost a month before the bites weren't visible anymore. We would also like to hear if anyone knows anymore about this.

You know, speaking of mosquitoes, the funniest thing has happened to me. For most of my life, mosquitoes hardly ever bit me. I mean, it could be in the dead of summer and they'd be eating everyone else up, and the first one had yet to bite me. Everyone would be complaining about mosquitoes and I'd say, "What mosquitoes?" However, since I moved from East Texas to Central Texas, I have been getting ate up by them. I mean, I can't even go for a walk without them swarming around me. It's strange, because they never have done that to me before.

I have the same problem with my 3 youngest children.Any time they get a bite is swells up red and about the size of a loonie and then becomes hard with a white blister type centre.My 8 year old has it the worst.Last summer my neighbours thought he had a severe case of chicken pox.They didn't believe me that it was mosquito bites.He has also been stung by a bumble bee and my 6 year old was attacked and stung by 5 yellowjacket hornets.Neither one had a reaction to the stings.Not even the slightest redness or swelling.Odd huh?

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
However, since I moved from East Texas to Central Texas, I have been getting ate up by them. I mean, I can't even go for a walk without them swarming around me. It's strange, because they never have done that to me before.

Mosquitos in Texas are a different breed. If you listen very closely you can actually hear them laughing at you when you're applying mosquito repellant.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
However, since I moved from East Texas to Central Texas, I have been getting ate up by them. I mean, I can't even go for a walk without them swarming around me. It's strange, because they never have done that to me before.

Mosquitos in Texas are a different breed. If you listen very closely you can actually hear them laughing at you when you're applying mosquito repellant.

Peace

I live near cottage country where they can be thick as pea soup fog!

This seems to be a new development for a lot of people within the last couple of years. Any theories? I've never heard of this happening before.

100% agree. NEVER had problems with mosquitoes, then suddenly my girl and I are swelling up like crazy with every bite. and instead of them being gone in a day or two, I have to deal with them for weeks. WTF MATE?
o and yes, im in texas....

They call it Skeeter syndrome

No, seriously, thats what they call it.

Thanks Makeitso - I did happen to stumble across that same website you provided a link to. It doesn't mention anything about extremities swelling though. Last night my left leg and foot were so swollen I couldn't even walk! My husband just gasped at how large they had gotten. This happened to me last summer, but the swelling wasn't quite as bad as this time. All I had were 3 bites on me. Unreal!

My wife has a mosquito allergy and has developed Blue and Red bruises around the epicenter of the bite. Most of the time it's due to a slow immunological response after the initial skin penetration. Here in Kansas it has been oddly wet so far this year and their are far more and far bigger mosquitos than there has been in the past. We are usually a fairly dry state, and last summer I think it only rained once or twice over spring and summer, meaning the mosquito population was at a minimal. This year, because we have had far more moisture than we are used to, the mosquitos seem to be everywhere. I would contribute my wifes number of bites this year to the change in climate.

Having said that, I never get bit and I don't think I have ever been bit before either. I can have 100 mosquitos land on me (quite literally), but they never actually bite. So, I can basically stand in swarm of mosquitos without wearing deet or something similar and still not get bitten...lucky me I guess.

I have become badly allergic to mosquitoes and fleas. I got an infection in my fat cells when a mosquito in Australia bit me on a new tattoo. By the time I got off the plane in the US the next day, my ankle was so swollen I couldn't bend it.

I think that our bodies can become sensitized to certain chemicals over time, and we can develop allergies at any time in our lives, even to insect bites.

And now I wish I hadn't read this thread, because I have a sudden case of psychosomatic itching.

My daughter is extremely allergic to skeeters now too, we do live in Florida though, so the problem isn't going away anytime soon. Anyone who lives in the south can basically claim it as the state bird. eat lots of garlic, it will keep them off of you!

Garlic, huh? I love garlic! What's a lot of garlic though? I already eat a pretty fair amount of it.

I remember vitamin B used to help me not get bit, but even that doesn't help anymore.