Insect Bites Forum - 6 Month Lasting Bite


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thane62

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy

Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 1
Location: raleigh

6 Month Lasting Bite Posted: 04-23-05 17:25pm


I think I was bitten by an insect about six months ago. The problem is it won't go away. It hasn't gotten any bigger, is still red, and has been an annoyance(itch) for the same period of time. I've used calomine, benzocaine and isopropanol. It won't go away. Help please.

jcp

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Joined: 09 Jun 2005
Posts: 1
Location: Raleigh, NC

Posted: 06-09-05 11:57am


I hope someone who knows what they are talking about responds to your ailment because I received a bite 14 months ago that sounds exactly like yours! Your symptoms are identical to mine. I hate to tell you that after 14 months, nothing has changed. I, by the way, also live in raleigh. After about 6 months of suffering, I finally asked a doctor about it when I went in for something else. She prescribed an antibiotic and itch cream. Neither helped. I now have another bite that I received 2 months ago and it is following the same pattern. I am wondering if there is something in our systems that is keeping us from eliminating the toxins associated with the bites. This past weekend, I pulled a deer tick off of me and the bite has swollen to the size of an oblong quarter. You can imagine how frightened I am that I will now have a third spot that will itch indefinitely. Good luck to you!!!

nursebmern2002

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Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 1
Location: Wilson, NC

Insect Bite Posted: 06-11-05 10:10am


I am from wilson, nc, approximately 45 miles from raleigh. My husband was bitten by a tick over 2 months ago at the golf course, the itching would not go away. The other night he landed in the emergency room in major respiratory distress and red whelps with small spots all over him. After they got his breathing back under control, he happened to remember the tick bite and told the doctor about it and showed him the tickbite site. The doctor ran a test and came back and told him he was positive for rocky mountain spotted fever, even though the usual incubation period for the disease is 7 - 14 days. Thank god he remembered the tick bite and antibiotics, steroids, etc could be started and probably saved his life with the right diagnosis, instead of a diagnosis of allergic reaction with unknown etiology which would not have prompted the doctor to order the antibiotics. Get checked out you guys !........It may save your life. His symptoms were acute (came on suddenly with the respiratory failure ). We had missed the other symptoms of muscle aches, headache, abdominal pain as all were chalked up to working too hard, being out in the sun on these hot humid days, etc. Don't play around with this infection. Go see your doctor and tell him of the bug bite, please. Good luck and keep me posted.

dfb

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Joined: 07 Jul 2005
Posts: 1

Tick Bite - Still Itches After Almost a Year Posted: 07-07-05 01:59am


Absolutely - if you've had a tick bite, get tested for lyme and any of the other tick-borne diseases local to you - they are no joke. If you've been in areas where there are ticks, and have had any flu-like symptoms, aches or pains, get tested even if you've never seen a bite or rash. But just so that you don't panic - you don't always get sick from a tick - even if the bite site gets big and red and blotchy and swells. I pulled a tick off my arm almost a year ago - and it still occasionally itches terribly, although I got all of the tick out - alive and intact (i count the legs, and make sure its head is intact, and keep it as a present for my doc so she can get it tested in case I get a lovely bull's eye rash). I live in rural nj - high lyme country. So far, though i've pulled many deer ticks off myself over the years, i've been lucky. But this one bite is taking forever to heal and disappear. In january I went snorkeling in salt water for a couple of hours, and I suddenly felt a really jolting stinging pain at the bite site. Then all traces of the bite gradually went away over the next month. Then, one day a few weeks after it seemed the bite was completely gone/healed, the bite was back and as itchy as ever. It's maddening. I'm hoping that in time the thing will just go away, since there's not much else to can do. I've seen spider bites that also last a very long time. All you can do is not give in and scratch.

brafford

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Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 1
Location: sanford north carolina

Bug Bite That Last For Months Posted: 10-13-05 15:49pm


I live in sanford north carolina near raleigh, I got bit by a bug in the shower about 4 months ago. It was a black insect with wings about 1/4 of and inch long. I tried to push it down the drain, it felt like a needle stick. It swells some and itched. The swelling is gone now but it still itches very badly. It is on the inside of my right ring finger. Any suggestions beth :twisted:

CHAF

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Joined: 28 Mar 2006
Posts: 1
Location: New Jersey

Itchy Tick Bite Posted: 03-28-06 13:14pm


Hi, i live in nj and was up in sussex county in nov. On a tuesday. The next day I noticed my lower leg itched but figured it was a scratch from brush. That night after I looked closer, I found a little tick. After I removed it, there was a white spot with a red outline there. But it didn't spread or get worse. It just itched. In january I went to the Dr., just to see if he had something to recommend. He ran a lyme test, it came back neg. With no solution offered, I tried tea tree oil. I admit, I scratched the heck out of it prior to applying the oil. But the tea tree oil really helps. I apply it twice a day now and it keeps the itching at bay. If it should itch, I put on the tea tree oil and it stops. The actual bite spot seems to be getting better now, after 2 months of treating it this way. But what a reaction--i've never had this happen before and grew up on a farm, ticks never bothered me before... My mom reported a tick bite on her back gave her the same problem and lasted about a year. Try the tea tree oil. I hope this helps you! Sincerely, connie

himort

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Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 1

Re: 6 Month Lasting Bite
Posted: 10-05-06 12:14pm

thane62 wrote:

i think I was bitten by an insect about six months ago. The problem is it won't go away. It hasn't gotten any bigger, is still red, and has been an annoyance(itch) for the same period of time. I've used calomine, benzocaine and isopropanol. It won't go away. Help please.

i just joined this forum, so only now saw your message of a long time ago. I'm sorry I don't have any helpful info to give you, but I can commisserate. I was bitten by a tick 13 months ago, and it hasn't gone away either. I just went for a biopsy, to see what's in there. I've felt perfectly fine all these months, no symptoms of anything like the flu, muscle pain, headache, nothing except intense itching on and around the spot. Nevertheless, I am worried - why would an insect bit last so long? Do you have any more info?

jhine

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy

Joined: 20 Nov 2006
Posts: 1
Location: Eastern NC

Posted: 11-20-06 21:35pm


I can commiserate and would love an answer to our problem. I live in eastern nc. A year ago, I removed a tick from my knee. The bite won't heal. Actually, it heals for a couple of weeks and then reappears almost like a small bump or sometimes a scab. It is slightly red sometimes but not "angry". But it itchs like heck most of the time. My doctor gave me a round of antibiotics when he suspected a staph infection. That healed it for awhile, but it's back. I don't seem to have any other symptoms. If anyone can help, i'd be very grateful. I don't know where to go. I have assumed I must have left some of the tick's head in the wound, and wonder if I just get a surgeon to exise the area around the wound. Help!!!

jenngga

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Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Georgia

10 Years And Still Itching Posted: 01-05-07 23:21pm


I was bitten about 10 years ago right smack in the middle of my upper back. I was alone and had a time removing the tick. I will never know if I got the whole tick, head and all off of me. It has always itched since. The weird thing is that I was also living in eastern nc (fayetteville) when this happened. I noticed that 4 of these replies were from nc.

debneureka

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Joined: 11 Jan 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Eureka Springs, Ar

Tick Bite Won't Heal Posted: 01-11-07 23:13pm


I live in northwest arkansas. I have had a tick bite that won't heal and itches like crazy also. I had this for almost a year. Any suggestion as to what I might use to make it heal?

Dragonmama

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Joined: 18 Jan 2007
Posts: 2
Location: Knoxville, TN

Tea Tree Oil Posted: 01-18-07 09:43am


:d to the user who suggested tea tree oil...Thank you so much! I do not have a tick bite, but a bug bite (prob spider) that kept getting worse, and the tea tree oil almost got rid of it in a day, after 4 weeks of itching and pain.

dewgirl21

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Joined: 04 Feb 2007
Posts: 1

Affected In Ohio Posted: 02-04-07 13:32pm


Hello all - and empathies to everyone suffering from these dog-gone bites from whatever the source (mine from a deer tick sometime last summer). My doctor prescribed clobetasol propionate cream. It helps a bit - but haven't found anything to make them go away completely. This is such crap! I'm with I jhine who wrote: "wonder if I just get a surgeon to exise the area around the wound"....Seems like a doable thing - but there's gotta be something to do to make them go away - especially before this tick season rolls around! Argh! Xoxo teresa in ohio

spanglerdude

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Joined: 18 Aug 2007
Posts: 1

Tick Bite Posted: 08-18-07 23:07pm


I live in PA and was hunting in tree stand,and a very small tick go on me! I emoved a tick from my chest about 9 hours after he got in me. I had this rash around my bite and it would get red, swollen, and very itchy!!! It was about 8 months later that i finaly went to the doctor. He told me to get it cut out. I got it surgicaly removed, and it was fine. About 1 month later it got itchy and red again! I dont know what to do?

MarcoPolo2

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Joined: 19 Aug 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Western Australia

Re: Itchy Tick Bite Posted: 08-19-07 23:39pm


I picked up ~20 very small ticks bush walking in Western Australia. I removed them from my leg and I was left with red dots that itched like crazy for weeks. Now, after 4 month, the dots are smaller but still very itchy. Here is the strange thing though: I'm also getting small sores on other parts of the body that look and itch just the same. They don't get infected and come and go, but there's not a day where I'm not itching. Does anyone have a similar experience?

MWR

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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1

Posted: 10-19-07 11:38am


Ok, I had several ticks from hunting in Oklahoma. One in particular left me with a quarter size swolen area that was extremely itchy. If you touched it the itch was incredible. After two weeks of worry, I had some lotrimin AF and I put it on daily for a couple days and that was the end of it. The area did remain a little darker like a scar but is fading. hope this works for you.

cdoonut

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Joined: 05 Dec 2007
Posts: 1

Posted: 12-05-07 00:47am


Hay MarcoPolo2, I have the exact same itchy problem. All over my body. Its not all over at once, but more just in a few places at once. I can go hours without anything, and then periods of time where I itch like crazy. I live in the caribbean, originally from western canada. I went home in July, and the day after I got back to the island, after being in the bush I developed this itch. The sores or rash or hives that I get are just small bumps, that itch, and then go away in a few minutes and the itching either stops or moves to another part of my body. Sound like the same thing? I also get a very itchy scalp at times as well. During the same time that somewhere else on my body is itching. Ive pulled a few ticks off myself in the past 6months. I have a dog and he brought a few home every now and then until I got more tick treatment. SO I have to assume Ive gotten bit more than once and this is the cause of my itch. Going to see doc in the morning and explain all this, see if he concurs.

_bullseye_

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Joined: 24 Feb 2008
Posts: 1

Tick bump on my son's head Posted: 02-24-08 14:47pm


My son was bitten on the head on July 3rd of 2007. It is now February 24th, and he still has a red ITCHY bump on his head! We are in central New Hampshire. I know i got the whole tick, head an all,out when i removed it. First doctor was useless. Made my wife feel better by saying that the head was definately out(my word wasn't good enough?). They just gave us hydrocortozone. After months, my son was still scratching, so another doctor gave us some Bactroban(has a steroid in it?). It really helped with the itching, and the spot seemed to scar over after a few days. The Bactroban says not to use over 5 days. 3 days after stopping the Bactroban, the wound grew larger and started to scab over again. So PLEASE, PLEASE, someone point me in the right direction!

FairMacabre

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Joined: 03 Apr 2008
Posts: 1

Itchy, flaky bug bite thats lasted over a month Posted: 04-03-08 21:09pm


I got bitten by a something over a month ago and the it hasn't gone away, it isn't any larger but now it's sore, itchy, very red and flaky. Somtimes the skin is rubbed off by a pair of jeans because it is right below my belly button. I've tried after bite but it cause a lot of pain (more than it usually would) and i apply polysporin to it twice a day and try to keep it covered. I have no idea what it is or how to get ride of if :S

NRV

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Joined: 21 May 2008
Posts: 1

Posted: 05-21-08 23:03pm


hi i'm new here. did a google search and this topic popped up. I've also been suffering from this for the past... ohhh... 4 months or so? Can't even remember. All i know is i've had these 4 bites on my body since around January and i've been freaking out a little lately. Not so much because these bites are annoying, although they are QUITE annoying, but because i'm worried that these just wont go away and dont even know what caused them. I thought it was bedbugs at first, but i havent read of any cases of bedbug bites lasting this long. Plus i haven't gotten bitten again, so i'm thinking if it had been bedbugs, even more bites would've shown up eventually. Right? The reason i thought it was bedbugs, is because i had been out of my apartment for about a month, and maybe thought over that period some of them got into my room. I did clean up thoroughly after i got these bites though, just in case. Also, my roommate has a cat. Could've been something that jumped off him and onto me (?) Oh lord i'm so sorry for the barrage, but i'm getting a little desperate here.

eeyore46

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Joined: 16 Apr 2008
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Thanks: 21

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Posted: 05-21-08 23:26pm


Get a blood test for Lymes Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted tick fever, and if there is one particular spot that will not heal, it could have been from a brown recluse spider. The Lymes Disease will not go away on on it's own. I know someone that has this disease, never knew he had a tick bite, but after 3 years of being very, very sick someone suggested Lymes Disease. He tested positive for it and the doctors have told him they do not know how he is still alive. He never had a rash or a sore spot. This disease can affect your body and organs without you ever knowing it. He is doing better now, but they have told him it might take up to a year before he starts feeling better. I don't know much about the RMS tick fever, but I do know if you get bit by a brown recluse spider it is isolated to that spot and will eventually continue to spread around the bite and rot the skin around it and aantibiotics will be prescribed to keep down any kind of infection. Also, for all of those of you who are itching over your entire body, could be scabies - any type of red streaks?