midge bites

[BJJ]

having just returned from a short trip to Scotland I found that I was eaten alive by midges, a group of 10 of us, some bitten, some not, most not bothered by them whereas my bites swelled up with puss coming out of them, Is there anything I can take/do to make myself less tasty, I find the sprays wear off quickly. I did once hear that if you take vit B before trip ot works, but it didn't. Any ideas?

[Gemma1984]

when i went to scotland with my parents me and my dad got bitten loads but my step mum didnt while we were up there we brought some lavender balm and that worked a treat.

[Rystan]

Midges are a relative of the mosquito, and as such should be greatly repelled by any concoction containing a chemical referred to as DEET.

The U.S. brands OFF! and Cutter have versions that contain DEET, if these are unavailable there, surely there is another brand that contains DEET. In general, the more DEET the better, but some say anything over 30% or so is overkill.

Hope this helps.

[KARL]

A roll-on bottle of Mosquito Milk (see Boots, etc.) should work for many hours per application. Apply to forehead, arms (two sides, i.e. wrist to shoulder on top and underneath), ankles and any other exposed areas. I don't know what to do about scalp because they devour me wherever they can and that includes a full head of hair.

[spudqueen]

I so sympathise, both myself and my father-in-law are bitten to death every summer, while everyone else is left alone, it's so unfair! Anyway, last summer I discovered the Avon skin-so-soft range. I use the woodland fresh 'smell' in the shower gel and body lotion, and even though I still got bitten it was not half so bad as usual. I've got a ton of the stuff ready to take to Florida this summer!

[shoe-gal]

I've been reliably informed by my mum that they don't like tea tree oil.

[morg_monster]

Have fought with this one for years, tried out eating marmite, taking vitamins, going the herbal 'natural' route and it didn't work.  Anything with DEET is best, and I always use DEET ones if I am going somewhere with malaria, but elsewhere a non-DEET brand I have found really good is 'Mosi-Guard'.  Smells nicer than some of the DEET ones though still pretty strong!

I do still sometimes get bitten, and my specialty is giant red weals about 3 inches in diameter, very hard and very hot!  I always get some antihistamine tablets to reduce the reaction when I do get bitten.  These will be your best bet if you can't find a repellent that suits you!  Ask at a pharmacy.

[BJJ]

Thanks, i'm going to spend this summer trying these out, sorry about not rating any as I don't know which is going to work but they've all given me something to consider.

[beagle1]

I bought some neat little things that you can plug into a power socket at night which radiate an anti-mosi substance from a damp wick. The ones I bought in France were the best (they had a fluid in a bottle and were refillable) but the basic ones you can get at most airports and at Boots.

Otherwise its a case of spraying every available inch of exposed flesh or suffering the consequences for me too!

[smee.tracey]

Unfortunately it's all down to your pheromones. We all have a distinct smell, undetectable to the nose! If you smell appetising to these pesky critters I'm afraid there's little you can do about it. I have found that Eucalyptus oil works reasonably well though