UKC

I've just returned from a trip to Haute Savoie.

I was going well until on the second day I got bitten on the back of my leg by an insect which I think was a horse fly (although it looked remarkably like a Tetsi fly). It was quite painful at the time, the the area swelled up and itched like mad. Th next day I felt fine and was going OK. Then the following day I was stung on the arm by a wasp. It was not unduly painful, but by the evening my arm was noticeably swollen in the vicinity of the sting.

The next day I felt completely spaced out and really struggled to hike up a 1000m. That evening I felt really tired and went to bed early.

The following morning I felt fine again.

My question is can the poisons from insect bites and stings effect you 48 to 24 hours later as badly as I felt, even though the volume was tiny, or was I just having an off day?

I've never been bitten/stung so closely by two different insects before, and normally I have no ill effect from wasp stings.

In reply to Trangia:

I don't think either bite is poisonous as such (wasp stings you usually put something acidic on it, even a fruit sweety would do). But you could have a reaction more likely to the first bite which could last 48 hours. Plenty of horse flies in Scotland at present. I'm lucky - they bite me - I kill them, and that's the end of it, apart from an unpleasant feeling about the whole thing.

In reply to Trangia:

Horseflies and mozzies give me a bad reaction that can sometimes go away and then return after a couple of days - loratidene anti-histamines work very well for me in reducing the reaction. I also found a witch hazel roll on thingy which was very soothing for the itch.

In reply to pasbury:


Was that tasty enough, I prefer bacon on my roll

In reply to Trangia:

Winegar for wasps, Bicarbonate for bees.

Insects do hang around in some fairly dirty places like cowpats so a sting is just as likely to give you a bacterial infection as a venom reaction. If the area is still hot and swollen after a couple of days antibiotics are needed.

In reply to Trangia:

Hate to break the illusion of a complex insect sting conspiracy, but sounds like you might just be getting (Whispers) old



Juan