Picture Diary of a Horse-fly Bite

domane

Retired cob mum
Jul 31, 2005
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We don't have many horse flies around at the mo so when I stopped briefly at Jack's field on Thursday morning to remove his fly rug, I didn't think I'd need to double-layer myself. But, of course, Jack was an arse and wouldn't be caught straight away. Then I decided to Sudocreme his ears so I didn't notice the horse fly on the side of my leg (thru my jods) until it took a chunk out of my skin. At that particular moment my hand was covered in cream (the other holding Jack!) So by the time I'd wiped my hand to swat the fly, it had had a meal. First bite of the season for Janey.

Now, I started eating the ketogenic way back in March. It's been fab, I've lost a ton of weight and I feel fab. One of the benefits of keto is that's it's very anti-inflammatory - so good for people with fibromyalgia etc. Formerly, I needed to take a daily antihistamine as I have always had an overactive nose that runs. A LOT. Well since I'vebeen on keto, my nasal secretions have died down so I don't take any medication more. So.... going back to the horse fly bit, I decided NOT to take an antihistamine, but to see how my body copes with the reaction. The ONLY treatment allowed myself was the use of a hairdryer to blast the toxins with heat. I started pretty much straight away as I went for coffee with bezzie and YM Jen, so I asked to use her dryer.

Thursday evening the bite looked like this...

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Yes, that tiny pink dot. All good so far, but traditionally I know that my bites really flare overnight.

Yesterday morning it was as expected....

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... a little swollen, hot and hard.... but this is the interesting bit... NO itching or pain!

Over the course of the day it got zapped with the hairdryer about 4 x 30 seconds and the lump continued to swell.... but not that much, for me....

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When I got in the bath last night, I fully expected it to instantly flare and itch like crazy, but there was no reaction at all.

This morning the lump has subsided, along with the inflammation. You can just about see a paler ring around the redness where the poison has reached.

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So.... proof that the hairdryer method really does work if you're vigilant and attentive for a few hours. For info, previous bites would by now have been the size of a side-plate - hot, hard, itchy as hell and painful.... and would have lasted about 5 days. I didn't know about heat killing off the toxins so would have been using cold flannels to no avail.

Life-changer. I really don't fear horse fly bites quite as much now. (Next time I'll probs pop an antihistamine too but I wanted to do my experiment cold turkey).
 
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Wow even that's a fairly bad reaction. They do itch for sure. I had a few weeks ago and it itched for days. But I didnt react like that.
 
Gosh you do react badly to them. Mine come up in a big lump very soon, but they soon pass, too. So far in my life I haven't been very allergic to bites & stings *touches wood*
 
I never used to react badly until a few years ago. But then I didn't develop my nasal allergy until I was in my 30's either. I think what triggered my body to react like this was getting 21 bites when I did a day ride with a friend a few years back. I think it was such a huge influx that my auto-immune system went into overdrive, so now its a standard response for me. Still not as bad as @Pete's Mum . PM has to go to hospital!!
 
Interesting about the heat helping, I react badly to them, they get big, hot, hard and angry quickly, occasionally get infected and abscess. I got 2 today, 1 on the side of each thigh while riding, sadly its probably too late now to hairdryer them, I'll try it next time though.
 
Thanks for this @ddomane - how interesting! I'll give it a go next time I've been bitten. It's csrtainly helped yours, hasn't it!

Have you tried taking Brewers Yeast tablets out of interest? My Doctor suggested I do & I must admit, I've been bitten 4 times this summer & although I still reacted badly, I've only needed hospital treatment twice - and both times I got away with outpatient treatment, which is a huge result!
 
Thanks for this @ddomane - how interesting! I'll give it a go next time I've been bitten. It's csrtainly helped yours, hasn't it!

Have you tried taking Brewers Yeast tablets out of interest? My Doctor suggested I do & I must admit, I've been bitten 4 times this summer & although I still reacted badly, I've only needed hospital treatment twice - and both times I got away with outpatient treatment, which is a huge result!
As far as I know the bit in brewers yeast that helps is the B vits, I've been taking high B12 for the last couple of years (after my family in Aus suggested it) and I swear it makes my blood less appealing, I've been bitten way less since. Interestingly my friend with a sweet itch horse said brewers yeast had a huge impact on improving her boys reaction to bites :)
 
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Ahhh, interesting as I've taken complex B vitamins for years to supplement my vegan diet, but the addition of Brewers Yeast seems to help ... maybe I need a double dose :D
 
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Ahhh, interesting as I've taken complex B vitamins for years to supplement my vegan diet, but the addition of Brewers Yeast seems to help ... maybe I need a double dose :D
I think I take 5,000iu of B12, which is masses more than normal supplement levels. Eat lots of marmite too :)
 
Does this method work on mosquito bites too? I've never had a reaction to any bites before until last year. Last summer I had my first to a horse fly bite where my whole calf doubled in size. Then 2 nights ago I was bitten by a mosquito down the yard and now have a very sore 15cm red hot puffy itchy circle on my leg. I've been putting ice on it but maybe should use hair dryer instead?
 
Well by Joe I think it works, tried it on non horse fly bites that have been driving me nuts even with twice daily doses of antihistamine and they have hardly itched since!
I used a spoon in hot water for a few seconds then put on them repeatedly for the 30 seconds because I didn't fancy blasting hot air at myself :)
 
Yep, it works for mozzie bites too @Ale

And @Jessey.... yes I used to use cold compresses but heat really does seem to be the way to go. This is all that's left of my bite now.... a mere pimple (and a little redness which I think may be burnt skin from too much hairdryer!! Lol) I didn't itch it once so there'll be no scar.

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Thank-you, I will give it a go too, just done the first 30 second blast. You can just make out the larger red outline IMAG8036_1_1.jpg
 
Wow the hairdryer is so effective! I've done it twice for 30 seconds now, already less sore and red. I'll try again in the morning
 
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