Bugs/Gnats/Skeeters, Oh My!

...these critters are just drawn to me. They see me and say, "There's Pinger! Let's get her!"
My sister says it's because I emit certain pheramones that they just love.
Just on my right arm from elbow to wrist, I have 8 bites and that's with OFF w/deet. Any suggestions? Also, I have about 15 bites around my waistline...how? and what is biting me?
I wear long/short sleeves, long pants, gloves and spray head to toe with OFF w/deet...
Please help! I'm scratching myself to death! And bug weather really hasn't even started yet!

You sound like you're doing the right thing. Are they actually individual bites or rashy looking? When you mentioned you had them around your waist line the first thing that came to mind was a reaction to laundry detergent. Also, bugs are attracted to fragrances .. is your detergent highly scented? If it is, try using unscented detergent. Bath soap, shampoo, powder and pretty much anything you put on your body with a fragrance is a come hither call.

X

They are individual bites.
I've used the same detergent (Whisk) for years.
I never shower right before I go outside to work and I wear no perfume...nothing!
And the ones around my waistline...it's weird. On one side, I have 2 and the other 15 and 1 in the middle of my back and none on my tummy.
Any other thoughts?

Skin so soft works the best for keeping gnats away. All hair products are bad news, perfume bad news.

Pinger, a bit off the subject, like shampoo you should alternate your laundry detergent every once in a while because your clothes will get "used" to it because all detergent leaves a residue on your clothing and after awhile it doesn't clean as well. I use powdered unscented arm and hammer and liquid unscented wisk as my alternate. Also you might want to add a cup of ammonia to the wash, it's a deoderizer and also cuts grease and body oil. A must for sheets.

X

Wow...did not know about the ammonia...how cool.
I actually do alternate once in awhile...with the Arm & Hammer. I fogot to add that.
I emailed Shoe and he said since they were around my waist, that they were probably chiggars. And now that he has mentioned that and i have had chiggar bites before, I recognize them. They have an insatiable itch about them. An old school cure is to cover them with clear nail polish...it smothers them.

I immediately thought of chiggers for your waistline bites; they love tight places where your clothing might be tight against your skin. It is my understanding that the old nail polish remedy is not as effective as some of the newer OTC chigger stuff at the pharmacy. I think one is called Chigger Rid, neighbors who have tried it swear by it.

When my oldest son (now 40) was about 5 he was covered with chigger bites one day. He has never forgiven me for painting him with PINK nail polish, but that was all I had. LOL

Gotta admit, chiggers was the first thing I thought of after reading your post. I HATE that #&%^$ redbug! For some unkown reason, I'm particurlarly susceptible to them, and react particularly badly to them (scars can last for a year or more). So if that's your problem, here's what I've found: Chig A Rid works just fine for normal people. You won't even notice the red spots after 2-3 weeks. Works great for my wife. But if you've got weird body chemistry like I seem to have, you ought to try conning your dermatologist into giving you a prescription for something called "Clobetasol Propionate USP, 0.05%". I have no idea what that means, but it works! My chigger bites now last no longer than normal people's (2-3 weeks) with no red spots, and no itching. It was a God-send! It doesn't hurt when applied, and stops that awful itching almost immediately.

Well, I guess we'll add fireants to the list. It's been 7 days and the swelling and itching will not stop. Chigarid definately helps. I got down to look under my plastic over the lasagna bed and knelt right into a bed of fireants. 4 bites on one knee, 2 on one wrist, 5 on the other and one on my neck. OUCH!!! To this day, I still feel something crawling on me...freaks me out. LOL

Gonna have to check into that CP Cream, Stono... Thanks for the tip!

Too funny ardesia about your son...lol You should call him Pinky...hee hee

Pinger- Chiggers aka red bugs. Try Skin So Soft bath oil and Deet. If all else fails, go to the doctor and get steroids. They are just torture:((((