We have been here for 5 months now and considering I am out in the garden most days I have not actually been bitten by bugs very much, just a few ant bites and 1 spider bite. Then May and June arrives, the weather sores and the mosquitoes come out in force. I haven’t been bitten excessively, I have about 8 bites on my arms and legs but the issue with me is the bite itches like hell and I scratch it at night, then it becomes infected and swells. I scratch it more, then it bleeds and eventually heels leaving a nice scar. So one bite can last around 10-14 days for me.

We have just purchased one of those plug in deterrents and hubby went to the pharmacy today and got some insect repellent with DEET which smells like a sweaty rugby players arse! He also got some gel for after bites. I do hope it works otherwise we might have to get a mosquito net as I’m being bitten at night as well as in the garden. I’m reluctant to buy the net as I often pee 2-4 times a night and sometimes when I get up I have no clue as to where I am and walk into the wardrobe in the dark and I just think I will get up and walk towards on-suite taking the net and half the ceiling with me. I find having the air con on at night helps as I itch less than when it’s cool.

I was a bit delirious last night and didn’t have the stuff from pharmacy so was trying everything in the house: ice cubes, tea tree and eucalyptus oil, MAC prep and prime (I was desperate), baking powder (I don’t have bicarbonate of soda) and it seemed like a good idea at the time as similar looking products, then ended with natural yoghurt (well it works for fanny thrush itch) sadly nothing worked and I just made a big mess, but hey that’s nothing new?

I’m a lucky lady as I have not experienced any tics yet.
I have just tried the Fenistil gel on my ankle bite and it’s fantastic. Hallelujah!

Update:

I have recently read that Avon ‘Skin so soft’ and Victoria Secret ‘Bombshell’ oil & perfume spray repel mosquitoes really well. I am definitely going to investigate this as most likely cheaper than the tiny roll on DEET product which cost 11 euros in the pharmacy and I can smell beautiful whilst gardening.

Further update:

I have managed to source the Skin so Soft from Avon UK and After Bite from Amazon UK. The After Bite used to work great when I was a child so I hope it works as well now. The aim is to put some on as soon as you are bitten, the sooner the better. This prevents scratching and bleeding and the 2 week cycle of healing.