I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. It was great to hear from so many of you, especially since I spent the majority of the day in a Benadryl induced fog. I was COVERED in bug bites. You might think I’m exaggerating by saying that I had 2,000 bug bites, but I assure that it is an accurate estimation. I started counting and reached 542 by the time I hit my knee on the first leg.
How on Earth does someone manage to get 2,000 bug bites, you might be wondering. Why didn’t I flee the area if I was getting bit so much? What could possible bite me 2,000 times without me swatting and killing it?
Meet my assailant, the No-see-um. You might know them as biting midges, sand flies, or, if you are a bugologist, ceratopogonidae. If you are like me, then you have never heard of these things before.
On our last night in Marathon, Rob and I took the pups to the Dockside Bar and Grill for happy hour after a day of fishing (fishing, but not catching). As the sun was setting, we started to feel these tiny stings on our legs. We couldn’t see any bugs (hence the name no-see-ums), but we could certainly feel their bites. Unlike a mosquito bite, there was no obvious signs that we were being bit—no red marks, no swelling. It appeared to us that these small gnats were just a nuisance. For the lucky ones (Rob) that aren’t allergic this is exactly all that they are. For those poor souls (me) that are allergic, they will make your life Hell for the next two weeks.
I awoke the next morning to find my legs covered in small bites. Rob of course didn’t have a single bite. NOT ONE BITE! As the day progressed, the welts grew larger and the itch more intense. Benadryl, cortisone cream, aloe, and ice couldn’t suppress it. I knew that I shouldn’t scratch them and when I lost my willpower and did, it only amplified the itch. I spent the next several hours googling no-see-ums and how to treat bites. The following is what I have learned:
- I’m unlucky. It’s not uncommon to have a reaction to the bites. But some people are luckily enough to not be allergic to them, which explains why Rob didn’t have any bites.
- There is a delayed response. It can take up to 24 hours before your bites swell and itch.
- Don’t scratch. This is easier said than done, but scratching only increases the itch, can cause scaring, and may lead to infection.
- Be prepared. These little buggers come out at dawn and dusk and especially on calm nights. The windy nights seem to keep them away. DEET and Skin So Soft appear to be the best repellents. I now carry one of the two with me any time we leave the boat in the evenings. Even at Bahamian prices, we invested in some Skin So Soft. It smells and feels much better than bug spray.
- Heat suppresses the itch. Discovering this fact was the turning point for me. I no longer was pleading with Rob to amputate my legs after I discovered that wrapping my legs in hot towels suppressed the itch for several hours. These hot water treatments helped me get through the week.
- Expect a two week recovery. I nearly cried the first time I read this. TWO WEEKS!?!? As I write this entry I’m nine days into my recovery and it is A LOT better. The itch goes away after a week and then the bites start to fade. I still look like I’m on an episode of Naked and Afraid, but I’m optimistic that the bites will completely disappear in a few days.
We left Marathon the day after my no-see-um attack and started cruising UP the ICW. We anchored in Islamorada, FL and despite the bites, we still made it out for some Key Lime Pie to celebrate my birthday. I knew this would be a birthday to remember, I just wasn’t expecting the reason why.
Practical Sailor had a great article on mosquitos and other bug bites. http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/37_56/features/Necessity-Breeds-Innovation_11764-1.html If you can’t download it the one thing they say that is not approved but worked the best to get rid of the itch is putting a dab of acetone directly on the bite. It killed the itch immediately. It’s not an FDA recommended solution but it works…
Great article! Thanks for sharing. I’ll try acetone if this ever happens again. Honestly I would have done anything to stop the itch!
Practical Sailor had a great article on mosquitos and other bug bites. http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/37_56/features/Necessity-Breeds-Innovation_11764-1.html If you can’t download it the one thing they say that is not approved but worked the best to get rid of the itch is putting a dab of acetone directly on the bite. It killed the itch immediately. It’s not an FDA recommended solution but it works…
Great article! Thanks for sharing. I’ll try acetone if this ever happens again. Honestly I would have done anything to stop the itch!
They get me too!!! Vinegar will take the itch out.
Thanks Allison, we have plenty of vinegar.
They get me too!!! Vinegar will take the itch out.
Thanks Allison, we have plenty of vinegar.
HOLY COW – that is the worst attack I’ve ever seen! The only thing we found to work against no-see-ums was skin so soft bug guard. Jason was the one of us that always got bit much more than I did, so we tried EVERYTHING!
Thanks Kelley…I picked up some regular skin so soft in Bimini…I’ll keep my eye out for it!
HOLY COW – that is the worst attack I’ve ever seen! The only thing we found to work against no-see-ums was skin so soft bug guard. Jason was the one of us that always got bit much more than I did, so we tried EVERYTHING!
Thanks Kelley…I picked up some regular skin so soft in Bimini…I’ll keep my eye out for it!
Sorry you had a rough time with the no-see-ums. As a heads up, they are plentiful throughout the Bahamas. We have joked that Off Spray in the official scent of the islands. We have learned that sprays have various levels of deet. The bugs scoff at anything less than 30%.
We too learned the hard way and were swarmed one evening in the Abacos while walking to a restaurant. We had so many mosquitoes on us they covered the skin. They got in our hair and eventually we made it to the resultant where they sprayed us all over.
Screens on the boat will keep out the biting flies and mosquitoes. No-see-ums get through the screens. We have found that spraying the screens with bug spray keeps the no-see-ums out.
If you are still in Florida, load up on bug spray and repellent before heading over to the Bahamas. It is available here but expensive.
Mark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
Thanks for all of the great tips. We definitely didn’t do a good job of stocking up on bug spray before we left the states. We will have to pick up a lot more as we go along. But I will never get caught without it again!
Sorry you had a rough time with the no-see-ums. As a heads up, they are plentiful throughout the Bahamas. We have joked that Off Spray in the official scent of the islands. We have learned that sprays have various levels of deet. The bugs scoff at anything less than 30%.
We too learned the hard way and were swarmed one evening in the Abacos while walking to a restaurant. We had so many mosquitoes on us they covered the skin. They got in our hair and eventually we made it to the resultant where they sprayed us all over.
Screens on the boat will keep out the biting flies and mosquitoes. No-see-ums get through the screens. We have found that spraying the screens with bug spray keeps the no-see-ums out.
If you are still in Florida, load up on bug spray and repellent before heading over to the Bahamas. It is available here but expensive.
Mark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
Thanks for all of the great tips. We definitely didn’t do a good job of stocking up on bug spray before we left the states. We will have to pick up a lot more as we go along. But I will never get caught without it again!
That has got to be the worst birthday present ever! That sucks! Just looking at your legs with those bites make me pain all over. Terrible sorry you had to go through that. I spend a great deal of time blogging about no see ums and how anyone can get rid of them when outdoors. If you’re thinking about going out again, why not look at the tips I mentioned? Please find link to most recent article attached. How to get rid of no see ums outdoors.
Thank you for the explanation. Was in sanibel 2 nights ago. My daughter must have had an allergic reaction to the no-see-ums because me and bf didn’t get them.
We had passed a huge pile of dung and saw them. We walked right passed and didn’t think anything of it. Apparently they like to feed on dung and human blood.
The delayed response definitely caught us off guard.
I have at least 30 bites per foot and every hour or so they flare up and look like blisters and my feet swell. Taking Benadryl but might hit the Doctor if this keeps up. 2,000 bites is a horror movie I am so sorry to hear that happened to you!