Mosquitoes love me.
Like really love me.
The problem is that when I get a mosquito bite, the whole area around it swells up and is super painful for days afterwards, sometimes even up to a week.
And I never get just one bite, I get clusters of them which over the years has really impacted my enjoyment of holidays – I’m either so itchy that I can’t enjoy myself or watching out for any flying insect that could be a mosquito.
And for the last few years, I’ve done more research on how bad mosquitoes are in a particular area that I’ve done about the area itself.
But I think I’ve cracked it.
I thought it might have been a fluke the last couple of times we’ve been away but this time, I’m convinced it’s not and that I’ve found a way to keep the pesky little things to a minimum.
We’ve just come back from a week in Lake Garda which is known to be bad for mosquitoes and on the Facebook groups I was in about the area, people were saying they’d come back and were covered in bites but I came back with two and even then, they weren’t painful and didn’t cause me any drama.
It happened earlier this year too when we had a weekend away in skegness in August, they were everywhere and everyone else was bitten loads but I only had the one little cluster which didn’t swell up as much as they usually do.
So, what do I do?
I take an Antihistamine every day for the week leading up to your holiday and whilst you’re away. I used the Clarityn tablets that you can buy over the counter and they worked really well – they make any bites that you do get less itchy and less likely to get inflamed.
I keep a tube of Anthisan cream in my handbag and at the first sight of an itch, I smother it with cream, I don’t run it in very much and leave a layer on the top of my skin for as long as I can. I’ve found that if I can get the cream on before I start to itch then it’s much more effective.
I use Autan insect repellent and spray myself every morning before leaving for the day. I would reapply if I went in water but we’re not usually ones for sitting around a pool so it’s not an issue.
And I have a nice shower and wash with Source Lemon shower gel every night before bed when I’m away as I heard that mosquitoes don’t like strong scents like lemon (apologies that the bottle is upside down).
The first bite of the two I got in Italy was when we’d just picked the car up and there was one flying around in it so before the Autan and lemon showers. I was gutted as I thought it was a sign that I was going to be eaten alive but I got the cream it on ASAP and was extremely happy to see that it didn’t swell up anywhere near what it usually would. By the time we got to our accommodation, it was practically gone.
The second was a couple of days later when a super determined one slipped past all my defences but it caused me no drama at all which is unheard of with me and mosquito bites usually.
Bear in mind that we were staying in area where mosquitoes are notorious at the best of times, our accommodation was right on the lake and we spent a lot of time outside, in no small measures due to the hot tub we had to ourselves! Now do you see why I think I’ve cracked it!
I thought I’d share because anyone who has suffered with mosquito bites in the past will feel my pain and understand how much of a difference it can make to a holiday!
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