Hey all..you may have noticed that I wasn't around ALL DAY yesterday...well, I was at the children's hospital with my youngest. She has reactions (we're still not sure if its allergies..or infections :rolleyes: ) to fly bites. She gets one..and her little body starts to swell...now its not the kinda reaction that requires us to carry around an Epi-pen..but I do have to keep Benedryl handy at all times.
So...on Fiday nite, she got 2 bites..one above and one below her left eye...the poor kid looked like someone gave her a beating!! So..after a full 24 hours of treating her with Benedryl..we ended up going to the hospital cause it was getting worse instead of better. After waiting for 31/2 hours and still probably another hour to wait...we left..the triage nurse just said to come back if it didn't start to improveand to continue treating with Benedry, and sunday morning when we woke up..the swelling was almost gone completely.
Well...Monday was beautiful, we decided to BBQ and have dinner on the deck. I swear we were only out there 15 minutes or so..before I noticed another bite...ON THE SAME EYE!!!!! I gave her Benedryl immediately, and there was no swelling at all...I thought we were in the clear. But when she woke up yesterday morning...her eye was swollen almost completely shut. I called the hospital and the nurse said bring her in right away..so off we went for another fun-filled day in the hospital emegency waiting room. After only 2 hours..we were actually seen by adoctor, and given a prescription for antibiotics as well, they increased her Benedryl dosage..I have my fingers crossed that her eye gets better instead of worse..iotherwise, we'll have to go back to the hospital for a course of IV antibiotics. CRAPPY!!!!
Does anyone else have this problem?? Or are these Newfie flies a special breed???
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i'm gonna have to agree with her :D
Ok maybe my friend is right ( I am crazy) as I sit here in a skirt and pearls :laugh:
yup!!!!!!!! :D
so you are gals still in your pjs? :laugh:
Oh I can't take blackflies at all. We moved to blackfly country when I was about 11 and they nearly drove me insane for the 5 years we lived there. I get itchy just thinking about them.
Anyway, I am wondering if they might react the same as mosquitoes. Rumour has it that people that eat bananas attract mosquitoes while eating oranges repels them. Now blackflies hate citronella as I recall from the smelly junk I used to have to wear, so maybe having your daughter eat an orange a day or drink some juice would help? Even a light spray of some citrus juice might help and not be as toxic as some other things.
Otherwise I suppose you teach her play beekeeper or bride so she can wear netting over her face until the little creeps are done their cycle. With the kind of reactions she's getting having her covered may be really worthwhile.
Here's hoping she doesn't get bothered anymore because being on a first name basis with emerg staff tends to get old fast.
Oh I had a playdate with a friend and her little guy here all morning! :D
BIGMAMA!!!...we've been wondering where you were today!!! :D
Mel I hope your little girls eye clears up and she does not have anymore problems. I had a friend whose Ds only had trouble if he got bitten near his eye but no problems if he got bitten anywhere else :confused:
im so sorry to hear about your little girl...i hope the antibiotics work for her. I dont know what to tell you, however i know i swell like crazy with bites, just not fly bites....black flies and sqeeters. I wish her well Mel :) give her hugs!
smiles
janetc
my favs are my Betty Boop ones :D
"Are you a Scottish lumberjack?? No?? Then say bye-bye to your putred plaid!!!!" *Clang* :D ;)
I think those jammie bottoms look super-comfy. I'd wear them in plaid or any other pattern -- the wilder, the better :)
of course what else would it be :D
Yep...thats me!! Although I have my "sleeping" jammies which are generally pink or some other "outdoor inappropriate" colour and then when I have to run to the store or the mail..I put on one of my plaid pairs....LOL...I know..what the hell would Stacey and Clinton say to me???
lol..yep that's Mel
funny thing is that i occasionally do that also...and it never fails that when we're sitiin in the car at the bottom o driveway waitin for the bus DS#2 ALWAYS gives me a hard time about gettin on the bus the days i'm still in my jammie pants...and of course i live on a major highway...tons of traffic...trucks cars....ppl we know...you'd think i'd learn
ok then it isn't you, otherwise we would have tons to talk about at the next play date! :D like jenjen, for one, hehe (only good things though ;) )
Are you one of those moms that wear jammies pants as normal day wear!
My kid takes the bus.. :biglol: :biglol: I am still in my jammies.. :p
what she always wears...either just her towel...yea i know bad visual...or jammies...that's pretty much Mel's wardrobe :biglol:
ok, what were you wearing today when you dropped your kids at school this morning?, lol
i know!! :D
I have only seen her wearing them, haven't bought them myself, so not 100% sure what it is, but it looks oval in shape, slightly padded plastic with a picture on, and it has a sticky backing that sticks to the clothing. She got it at the pharmacy. It might be only for mossies, but maybe it works for the flies too?
Thanks jen for th einfo...you rock my friend!!!
Cat..do you mean those little yellow things you pin on???Cause I have some of those..never thought to use them for black flies..only for the "skeeters".
Also..that is crazy!!! Are you sure I am not her??? :biglol: :biglol: :biglol:
A friend of mine's daughter also got bitten twice on her eye on Friday (but last friday), by a black fliy. For a second there I thought she might be you! lol
Anyway her daughter is allergic to black flies, and her eye also swelled up, treated it with benedryl, and it went away after 3 days too. How similar in stories is this! :eek:
She wears a bug patch on her clothing, and sprayed with natural insect repellent from the health store, to help keep most bugs away from her, but it doesn't gaurantee she won't get bitten. Basically deal with each bite as it comes.
Control of black flies is difficult because of the number of potential breeding sites. However, satisfactory control has been attained in some states by treating streams with the natural product, Bacillus thuringiensis var. israeliensis (Bti). The breeding sites in streams as well as the potential migration from these sites by the adult female black fly limits the use of chemical pesticides to regulate populations. Breeding site treatments have been used in Africa, but generally have not proven effective. Treatment of breeding sites (streams, rivers, etc.) would involve techniques similar to those used by mosquito control districts for treatment of mosquito larvae in aquatic habitats. Fogging for black flies would have to be done during the day when these insects are actively feeding and when fogging is least effective. These techniques do not seem effective against black flies in the northeastern United States.
Black flies are small enough to pass through window screen or come indoors on or in the hair. They do, however, prefer to bite out of doors. Long sleeve shirts, long pants and fine screen netting over head help prevent feeding. Repellents containing "DEET" formulations are not very effective for prevention of black fly bites. Individuals wearing DEET may actually have more black flies attracted to them than individuals not wearing DEET. Individuals using materials like Avon "Skin So Soft bath oil" have claimed protection for periods of 10 or more minutes. Our tests indicate that some protection is given by two herbal-based treatments, Quantum Buzz AwayTM (Quantum, Inc. P. O. Box 2791, Eugene, Or 97402) and Green BanTM (Mulgum Hollow Farm, P.O. Box 225, Brookvale NSW 2100 Australia), with an active ingredient of geraniol. Both have been obtained locally in Gainesville, FL. Coulstons'sTM DuranonTM Tick Repellent, a permethrin product designed specifically to repel ticks, also works for black flies as a clothing treatment, but it can only be applied to fabrics, such as hats and shirts, and not to skin. Because black flies feed only during the day, our best advice is to limit your exposure to black flies. If this is not possible, try the available repellents in the hope that one of them will be effective for you in protecting against the black flies’ bite.
Thanks Jen..and yeah Smoodgie..it is definitely those damn little swarming black flies!! They are crazy around here!!! My poor veggie garden is NEVER gonna get planted cause I aint taking DD outside untill the flies dies down a little (usually mid-summer :eek: ) and I can't go out and leave the poor lil thing in the house!! Oh well...
Your poor daughter!!!! :( And poor you, having to sit in Emergency for so long :(
I haven't had an experience like this with humans, but our Lab had a reaction to a big bite once, and her entire head swelled up like a balloon. I swear, her lips were as thick as my forearm. My hubby thought it was funny, I thought it was scary!! The vet gave her a shot of Benadryl, and the swelling started to go down immediately. Then I gave her Benadryl tablets for a few days. Luckily, that's never happened again. But I have Benadryl handy, just in case!!
It sounds like your daughter is having a similar sort of reaction. I would guess that it's an allergic reaaction -- but I'm not a doctor, so don't go by what I say!!
Can you tell if the bug bites have all been from the same sort of bug?? It's black fly season around here -- could it be black flies that are biting her?? Or maybe you DO have a special breed of Newfie flies that go for the eyes :eek:
Sorry, I'm not much help, am I?? I hope you can figure out what's causing the swelling so you'll know how to treat it, and hopefully how to prevent it from happening again.
i found this.....
Adult females feed on the blood of humans, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, poultry, other livestock and wild mammals and birds. Black flies are daytime biters preferring low wind conditions. They are not restricted to shaded or humid sites, and usually do not go indoors. They are attracted to hosts from a distance by smell, heat, and by sight. The female flies swarm around and crawl on the host preferring the head, hair, and ears as well as any skin that is exposed or that they can crawl onto. Female black flies are blood feeders whose bites can itch and persist for several days. The flies bite by cutting into the skin and feeding on the pool of blood that forms in the hole they make. Anticoagulants injected into the feeding site by black flies can cause mild to severe allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Strong reactions include fever, nausea and allergic dermatitis. Black fly bites are very painful because of the hole that is cut in the skin, the anticoagulants and other materials that are injected, and the immunological differences between insect and hosts’ tissues. Some people are very attractive to black flies and have strong feeding reactions. Others appear to repel black flies and are bitten little if at all