I think I’ve already established that I’m really quite delicious to mosquitoes. I don’t know, maybe I’ve got some sort of chemical thing going on that just makes me irresistible. Well, whatever the case, it tends to make living through the warmer months a hell of a lot tougher than I want it to be. I’d forgotten about that fact up until late yesterday. Earlier that day I was doing my run through some wooded areas. I thought I was relatively unscathed from that run because I remember swatting a large amount of mosquitoes from my arms. I thought I was quite in tune with my body, you know? When I got home I didn’t notice a thing. It wasn’t until later that evening when the welts started manifesting themselves all over. I now have made bites up and down my arms, on my shoulders, on my back and on my legs.
I am one itchy son of a gun right now.
Today at work I resorted to popping some Benadryl. My mistake was not getting the non-drowsy formulation. So, for a good part of the afternoon, and all through this phone conference that I had to be a part of I was quite zonked out. I’d be embarrassed, but…meh. I apologized ahead of time and give the reason for my resulting mumble mouth and disjointed thoughts. They were cool with it all.
I spent a few good minutes searching for some home remedies and didn’t really come up with anything except the usual. I thought that was it until a friend brought up the idea of fighting against the nasty blood suckers with some biological warfare. She suggested that I raise my intake of garlic. Well, I kind of thought of that as a little bit of a “duh” moment, but at the same time I wondered just why I had never thought of doing that before. She suggested that I put myself on an odourless garlic capsule. Even though it’s odourless, it’s supposed to pack enough punch to be able to make mosquitoes search for a tastier meal. Apparently it takes a week for it to really take hold. Eh well, I wanted to give it a good go so I picked up a good garlic supplement and have started taking it with every meal. I’m really interested to see if it makes a difference. By the time these current bites heal I should be back into the trails taking in the scenery, and hopefully I will be untouched. As it is, it’s taking me a heck of a lot of effort just to not scratch my current bumps. Hopefully I’ll behave and not make things worse.
Possibly related posts:
6 comments
Erin says:
Tue. June 16, 2009 at 12:54 am (UTC -5 )
Like… vampires? I’ve never heard of that!
Bong Ortiz says:
Tue. June 16, 2009 at 8:32 am (UTC -5 )
Try applying body lotion on your arms and legs before the trail run. It worked for me, not a single mosquito bite after our long run.
thoughtherder says:
Wed. June 17, 2009 at 1:36 pm (UTC -5 )
I feel your pain, the last few weeks I have been getting bitten heaps, but at least my reaction seems to be less. Now on ly small lumps instead of huge ones!
Jay says:
Thu. June 18, 2009 at 10:08 am (UTC -5 )
@Erin // Heh, yeah. This post about the Culex genus made me think of vampires. Except I didn’t want to head into that direction because of the whole Twilight thing, and…eugh. No thanks, ma’am.
@Bong // Lotion sounds good, but I don’t like the idea of having all this goop all over, especially for someone like me that suffers from excessive-sweating. I don’t know, maybe you’re just used to getting bitten? Hmm..
@thoughtherder // If it’s getting less then I guess your body is getting used to all of the bites. I suppose that’s a good thing, but I sure as hell don’t want to go through the process of mosquito induction. Hah, just made up that term. Aerius, Benadryl, and Lanacane are my friends.
Anne Green says:
Fri. June 19, 2009 at 9:39 am (UTC -5 )
Stay away from anything scented! Try Vick vapor rub on the bites if you have them. I’ve found a sure fire solution at the cottage…
It has been my experience that a nice big glass of wine while you sit in a comfy chair with a good book looking out the window as the nasty little pests bang on the glass seems the best way to avoid getting bit.
Jay says:
Fri. June 26, 2009 at 7:25 pm (UTC -5 )
Vicks is a cool remedy. The tingle distracts your body from the itch, right? It’s probably not a good thing to put on before bed though since it’ll just get all over everything.
Wine, a comfy chair, and a good book? That sounds like the ultimate remedy.