USVI-On-Line

I am a magnet and the Benadryl spray, or gel, doesn't work for me after five minutes. A couple of things that have helped me: No scented stuff, using Peppermint soap, rather than my usual lemon scented bar, and the After-Bite pen. Last trip I forgot my After Bite so I rationalized that since After Bite was a low concentration of ammonia I could get plain non-sudsing household ammonia at a grocery store. Experiemented and found the best relief from full-strength, in a little spray bottle. Not sure how good this was for me (and I know I s m e l l e d but with 40+ bites and the word out that I was the evening buffet I really didn't care. That mixed with some non-drowsy Benadryl caps and lots of rum drinks to numb the pain got me through. A nurse told me that the ammonia was fine and for a really bad or inflamed bite, compresses of ammonia with hot water would help a lot. Not yet totally convinced how good all of this ammonia really is for you but I'm sticking with it. And why is it that the bites always feel better when you're in salt water? Hmm, maybe that's why the Accent tenderizer stuff works, too. I have a script for Elidel cream so I think I will also bring that along this time. Hopefully, the bugs will be minimal and I won't even have to use it (right). If a few bites are the price of being there, I don't care!

Ksea, I learned the hard way that Noseeums can fit through the mesh in screens, so your assessment about your son is probably correct. On our first trip to STJ I got eaten alive as I slept...I stopped counting at 180 bites (my husband had about 30)...I was completely miserable.

Unfortunately the only solution for me is to keep the windows and doors shut at the villa, and if we go into town at night I douse myself in Cutter (I find it works better for me than Off). I’ve done the Vitamin B thing (orally, not the patch), but I don’t know if it helps or not. The last several years I’ve averaged around 10 bites, and I’m really a magnet, even compared to other friends who thought they were magnets until they hung out with me in STJ. I wish I could do it without massive quantities of bug spray but I haven’t found a way yet.

I thought that may be it T_R. This year he gets a room with a/c and the patches. The rest of us used bull frog spray in the evenings and it worked like a charm but man that stuff stinks!