Insect Bite Remedies

I was just wondering if the ACV would work on Flea Bite Dermatitis I have read alot of the post and a lot on itching. I have tried everything but vet says all it takes is one bite to have a reaction. I dont want to keep her on steriods and am looking for relief for her. She has lost all her hair from the hips down. And yes we have been through all the testing. Yeast, mange and such. But am looking for relief for her. Any suggestions?

My husband got stung twice by we think, a Yellow Jacket, was on his elbow, he never came and tell me until maybe an hour, which by then the venom was really in his body, he has never been affected by bee stings, he owned 90 Bee hives over the years and has been stung many many times, but this time he really was attacked badly. I managed to get the swelling down using a comfrey poultice, but he has got bad Diarrhea, I would say all the venom in the body from the stings, I am giving him Ginger tea, what else can I do for him, all I know is the venom has to come out, like he is detoxing it out of his body, what else can I do please, yes I am a worried wife, worried that I am doing the right thing?

Would appreciate any feedback help anyone can offer.

Regards, Jacqui

Try giving him an oral activated charcoal solution. It will bind to the venom (poison)and prevent the further spread. It will cause black stool, but better than the alternative.

Hi Jacqui, yellowjackets are scavengers. It could have picked up bacteria from soil, garbage or animal feces before it stung your husband. Years ago I had multiple wasps stings on one finger tip. It became infected and the infection spread through my entire finger and most of my hand. I went through several rounds of antibiotics until one finally worked against whatever was on that stinger. So it may not be the venom or it may be more than venom that your husband is having a reaction to.

Jacqui, in addition to the Activated Charcoal remedy, give the herb Purple Coneflower aka Echinacea.

He was probably stung by a "killer" bee, instead of a yellow jacket.

Yellow jackets are wasps, it's extremely rare to be allergic to vespids (wasps) and bees. Most people think they're allergic to both but it's highly unlikely, only a skin test will tell you for sure. APIs works well for wasp stings.

I caught poison ivy from a bar of fels-naptha that my husband had used for his previous case of poison ivy. The oils evidently weren't completely broken down on the bar and then were transmitted to me later. I use fels-naptha for mosquito bites - highly effective!! - but after his poison ivy use, I ended up getting poison outbreaks on several mosquito bites where I applied the fels-naptha. I had mosquito bites from the same day for which I didn't apply the fels-naptha, and these areas did not develop poison, so I know it was the fels-naptha.

If I ever use for poison again, I will cut off a piece of the bar and use it and then toss it. (It did seem to help my husband's poison ivy. ) I threw this bar away and will buy a new one for mosquito bites (& laundry use).

Rub a wet bar of fels-naptha soap (found in laundry detergent aisle for about $1.50) onto bug bite/mosquito bite. Rinse with cold water. Itching disappeared for me in about 1 min. Redness and swelling visibly reduced or disappeared. May need to repeat this if symptoms reoccur. You can also leave a bit of soap to dry on the bite. My usual week-long mosquito bites disappear in no time with 1-3 applications and no itching.

Lisa, thanx for all your informative posts.

Problem in Ky isn't Mosquito's, but an army of ticks and chiggers; and plenty of fleas on my kitties (generic frontline works good and a full tube is enough for 2). As for prevention I have read somewhere that eating garlic is good against the little vampires. As for the chigger bites I am finding best results by giving the affected spot a good squeeze so to bleed and drain the toxins out - wipe clean - apply old timer's Potter's Salve - wait for first frost (lol).

Hi Timh, Again, thanks for reminding me to write you. I keep meaning to! Thank you for all of your amazing posts. You are a force on this site that helps so many people. It is obvious that you have learned so much on your journey. It appears that you have overcome so many odds! Thus, through first-hand knowledge you reach out to help others. It is much appreciated...

I also remember reading a little while back, I think to Robyn, that you have been reading much on NDE. Are you familiar with Elizabeth Kubler- Ross? I would imagine you are since much of her life was devoted to this work. I have read many myself and also many accounts from Masters who have walked this earth plane. Baba Muktananda and Yogananda are two of my favorites in their accounts of the human/ God experience. Life is such a mystery... Blessings on you, Lisa

This is to Timh: This was on my facebook wall and of course, I thought of you. I don't know if you have ever heard of Dr. Christiane Northrup but, she is a shining light for women as well, as humankind. Well, she posted this:

"I've long been a student of Near Death Experiences because they contain so much wisdom to help us live well NOW. I have just finished reading Anita Moorjani's amazing story Dying to be Me-- the account of her dying from terminal lymphoma and choosing to return to life-- after which all of her lemon sized tumors disappeared miraculously. She tapped into her magnificent essence and healed. While "dead" she realized that dying was not a failure-- neither was getting sick. She saw that it was FEAR that caused her cancer-- fear of everything-- foods, cancer, pesticides, being disliked. And now as she is eating chocolate or enjoying a bit of champagne, she lives life to the fullest. Fearlessly. Joyfully. In good health. We don't need to die to begin living fearlessly as ourselves right now. Regardless of where we are or what our health is like. Anyone out there had a similar experience?"

I just had to share this with you and thought you might also be interested in the book since you have been reading NDEs lately. Best to you as always and I hope you are continuing to improve! Lisa

Hi Lisa and Tim - I am a believer - when my uncle was dying he was quite isolated and alone I felt great compassion for him and sent him Reiki every night I knew that it would help him in some way and I prayed for him. It was November when he passed and after I heard I was quite emotional but then I saw a butterfly flying around my lounge and kitchen I followed it in wonder as peacock butterflies are never around in November in UK let alone inside, I wondered where it had come from then I realised that it was a sign of transformation and I am very grateful. I could share many other accounts but I think this one will help others. X

Lisa: ty sooo much for thinking of me and wishing me wellness. I don't think i'm familiar w/ Dr. Christiane Northrup, so thanx for the tip.

I know it would make you happy to find cases so far gone as myself, Robyn and the like, make big, miraculous comebacks. As I began reading Robyn's post from you about the dfb, and how severe his MCS is; what, this side of heaven could help? Many NDE'rs get those miraculous cures from God or Heaven or Love, but how can we, save having an NDE, get some of that healing power HERE and NOW.

As the scientific and information age rapidly progresses we are definitely closing in on what exactly a miracle is and how to achieve it. We've got the Gene/DNA/Cloning stuff being applied w/ good success, we've got Chakra healing and balancing making positive impacts on overall health. Since my recent one step improvement from the bottom, I am getting very good results from Love 528 DNA repair harmonics. 30 minutes minimum or best for 1 hr brings a noticeable degree of immediate restoration. Leonard Harowitz, the co-author and rediscoverer of the Ancient Solffagio music scales, also authored a book Walk On Water (which i, regrettably, haven't yet read). So, one big area of study is the rediscovery of Ancient knowledge, most of which has been lost to us, excluding of course, all the esoteric knowledge teaching that do remain. Anyway, the Walk On Water book, from what i've read about it, is a science of miracle, of which I consider Harowitzes spin-off of Kabala text. The science of spirituality or better known as sorcery... Which gives me an immediate jump over to Carlos Castaneda reporting from Don Juan Matus that ALL illness is indulgence. If one could but achieve such a definite separation from the ego and the flesh, virtually anything is possible. I've practiced the Tensegrity exercises only minimally but I do feel some effect, especially w/ the immune exercise. The aim of the Toltek sorcerers was to bridge that gap between the earthly body and the spiritual body through the Tensegrity movements. Yoga plus Transcendental Meditation should have similar effects, as would the Chakra exercises. All these practices combined should put anyone much nearer to true healing and recovery without having the jolted NDE healing. The movie Flatliners depicts, in a rather Hollywood fashion, the intentional and controlled NDE. If one got drastic enough (and many NDE'rs did commit suicide albeit unsuccessfully) the NDE is probably the single greatest method of holistic healing known.

Not to be long-winded here, but i've been contemplating one aspect of the NDE reports that very much needs mention here. Many of the reporters witness their own body at the scene of death and their immediate reaction is realizing it is indeed their own body BUT (and no matter how gruesome the scene) there is an almost total disregard for that former "flesh". Some even laugh at what was once their pitiful physical self. Disregarding the villain folks who get the hell experience, everyone else simply wants to stay in the love and the light and absolutely does not want to go back down to earth and body (pain), they know they are "home".

Conclusion: healing is best achieved holistically; which by theory, admits a place of unity in science/nature - art/spirit. Unity is creation, life, and health. In another attempt at pragmatism, where people simply need short, precise recommendations, Dr. Reginald Cheery, imho, hit the nail on the head when he recognized healing as a process and a path. Praying over our medicine, food, and nutritional supplements is one simple act of unity on the path to wellness.

Hi Timh, Enjoyed your musings. I have spent a lifetime in spiritual study and reading the masters'. I say spiritual rather than religious and I say masters because there have been so many who have walked this earth plane though each religion pretty much recognizes only one. Here in LA, Yogananda has a beautiful place called the Lake Shrine Self-Realization Fellowship where many masters are recognized with statues scattered around the lake and in the chapel, pictures line the walls of them as well. I myself was a student of Baba Muktananda for many years, a guru from India. I learned so much from him through his books and also on the inner planes. My meditations soared with Siddha yoga. Today, I work to do what I call, "living meditation" and that is to know always that spirit is present and I must be fully present to what is in front of me. In that sense, I am most effective in helping my fellow humans.

I don't think this earth plane is an easy one and yet, we "choose" to come here for this human experience. With that understanding, we can learn to "live in this world but not be of it". Not always an easy task with these cumbersome bodies but a noble one! This journey we call life is such an adventure and though at times, it seems long it is so very brief. And with each experience our soul grows in wisdom. Many blessings on you Timh! And may your journey get better each day... Lisa

I had an old farmer live next door for many years and when I got chiggers from cuttting fire wood one fall he told me to rub the bite with Campho Phenique and it would kill the chigger in one application. (and it did) It comes in a small green bottle for few dollars and last a long time, CVS normally carries a few bottles but any drug store should have a bottle on the shelf. Actually it works for all insect bites, I just dip a cotton swab in the bottle and rub it gently on the bite, the odor goes away in a little while. God Bless

As a landscape designer and avid gardener, I've been stung many times by scorpions, bees, wasps, you name it. I've tried baking soda, ammonia and benydril, but it still took several days to get better. Once, I stepped on a scorpion and had to sit with my foot elevated for 3 whole days before I could walk again.

I found a remedy that works nearly instantly!

Someone told me about this remedy years ago. It's supposed to be an old Native American remedy. As the subject says, it's disgusting! However, when I've been stung I can easily deal with gross if it means the pain will go away right now instead of 3 days later!

If you smoke, shame on you! But when it comes to stinging insects, you are in luck! Bite off about half the length of a cigarette and chew it. Your mouth will immediately dry up, but then it will begin to salivate profusely. As soon as the tobacco is wet and chewed up, spit the wad out on the sting/bite site and leave it there. I promise, you won't be much concerned about the taste of the tobacco given the serious pain you're in! :)

The sooner you can get the chewed tobacco onto the sting site, the less time it will take for the pain to go away and all of the poison to be drawn out of the body. Even though the pain will dissipate quickly, the tobacco needs to stay on longer to remove all the poison.

For example: If you get tobacco onto the wound with in 30 seconds, the pain will be gone almost instantly and it will probably only take about 5 or 10 minutes to get all the poison out. If it takes 5 minutes to get the tobacco, it might be a few minutes before the pain is gone and might take an hour to get all the poison out. This is why I always keep a bag of additive free natural tobacco in my bag of gardening tools, so I can stop the pain ASAP!!

You will know when all the poison is gone if you can remove the tobacco and the pain stays gone. If you still feel pain or it starts to return, put it back on.

The tobacco needs to stay wet. If it dries up and you start to feel pain, spit on the tobacco, or better yet, chew up some fresh tobacco.

****I tried just wetting the tobacco with water instead of chewing on it. It didn't work for me. There seems to be something about the saliva/tobacco/nicotine mix that helps****

If you have fresh sage, mix that in with the tobacco. It seems to step up the relief. I've never tried using sage alone. Frankly, I'm not willing to experiment and find out if sage on its own will work when I am in so much pain. I'll only do that when/if I find myself with out any tobacco!

I have used the remedy countless times and it has NEVER FAILED ME!

I hope it works for others as well. I will surely feel terrible if it doesn't work for someone who braved the disgusting taste cigarette tobacco but didn't find relief!

YEA. My 5yo comes up with terrible welts after being bitten by mozzies. Then he scratches them, they scab, and it goes on for days.

A friend suggested whiteflower oil for the itching. Whiteflower oil is available at Chinese supermarkets where they also sell Chinese medicine. The itching went away instantly! Fantastic for putting on the bites before bed: needs to be reapplied 1-2 twice daily though.

Mozzies = mosquitos

I used to be mosquitos' favourite meal, and I was also quite alergic to their bites: big part of me would swell up and look like a jelly for several days. During last year I started taking vitamin B complex, and large doses of vitamin C (about one gram before every meal or snack). This summer I noticed that mosquitos stayed away from me, even though they got my partner a few times. I am not sure if it was vitamin C, or the B complex. However, I noticed that when a few weeks ago I switched from the acidic version of vitamin C to the ascorbate version, some of the magic went away, and I got bitten again.

Then I made a wonderful discovery. I rubbed the bite mark with vinegar for about a minute, and the swelling and itching dissappeared after a few minutes. I used the unfiltered organic ACV, but I am not sure if the vinegar type mattered.

This is true. It's the only thing that actually takes the itch away completly. I used a flannel dipped in very hot water. Place it on the bites, it will sting and be a little unbearable, make it really hot. Keep on there for a few mins. Manadged to go to bed and sleep with absoloutly no itching!! Amazing, at last a cure for the terrible itching!

Yes! Heat is the best. Whenever I get poison oak or a batch of bug bites while vacationing, hot showers are the only thing that brings total relief. I take a shower as hot as I can stand. The heat releases all the histamines that cause the itch. If I can't shower for some reason, I'll carefully use a blow dryer in short blasts. The blow dryer gives you less ability to control the heat or keep the heat on the area for an extended time. The hot shower feels great, and you get 5-8 hours of relief before you need to do it again.

I am so excited that I found this simple solution. I am very sensitive to bites and for whatever reason, fleas find me once a year and I do not own any pets.

Long story short, I suffered from 10 bites from fleas and they run up and down on my stomach onto my lower chest area. This itchiness was unbearable until I found that applying heat worked like a charm.

I heat up my tin bottle that I use at the gym using a pot of hot water over the stove. It gets really hot, so be careful. When it heats up enough or cools down, just apply on the bites. I don't burn my self, I just leave it on for a second and work my way through each bite. Worked like a charm, never had the urge to scratch it again. I do this once a day before going to bed. Apply more if you have a severe case.

When you are desperate, this is a very simple solution. Those anti-histamine cremes did not work for me.

Aloe Vera applied to an insect bite is very soothing and anti-inflammatory, reducing the urge to SCRATCH and risk infection. It's also antibacterial and dries to form a protective barrier, speeding the healing process. Store it in the fridge and it feels even better. For instructions for how to use the leaves of the plant and how concoct a spray with aloe at home, check out: www.aloeplant.info/natures-powerhouse-aloe-vera-for-insect-bites-and-poison-ivy/

Does anyone have remedies for keeping chiggers off from you or how to help when you get bites? I'm almost ready to give up gardening! Thank you

Try adding baking soda to your bath! Probably about a cup.

Chigger Bites.... To prevent, bathe with Avons Skin So Soft.... also helps to soothe if you already have them.

I am very sensitive to chigger bites. One or two bites on my feet or lower legs will keep me awake at night for a couple of weeks. I've found nothing will stop the itch, except scratching, which only lasts as long as you scratch it.

The best remedy is prevention. I buy an all-natural spray containing natural oils like cedar and eucalyptus and apply, religiously, to my feet and lower legs before going outside during the summer. I also spray my garden shoes every time. It works, and beats itchy and scratchy any day.

for people bothered with bees on their patio:

I lived in arkansas they have lots of rice patties there so the bees are really really harmfull to kids'. they showed me how to make it safe for me and my family and dogs to set outside with out being bothered. take a small bucket with a handle put enought water in the bottom to just enough cover the bottom place a wire around the center of the handle hanging down. half way down to the botton on the wire push a ham hamhock cheap one with lots of fat on. the bees will eat so much they fall in the water and drown.

hang the bucket at least 10 feet away from the deck in a tree branch. Up high enough kids can not reach it. It really works.

ps my friends used empty gal milk jugs put water just to cover bottonwrap two slices of baccon wrapped tight around the wire even a little sweet on it helps. Slide in hole threw the opening return lid leave enough wire to hang it from a tree limb. now take a phillips head screw driver push holes half way around the milk jug. this way the bees can get in but not out they will eat and fall and drown

throw away jug and start a new one. where the bucket you you have to wash

hang where chidren play and dogs rest. it really works I had them by my front swing so I could set out at night'

ps do not set where flowers pollen they need the bees to grow.

summer tips to make summer more enjoying

on the bucket handle wire a wire about in the middle of the handle let it hang half way down in to the bucket.

I was just about to write the same thing....those "meat eating" "bees" are not the ones we need to worry about b/c they are not the ones pollinating our food. The ideas and suggestions above sound great for handling those horrible wasp pests though!

Vitamins B12 and B6 are listed as the top preventative for insect bites. Can you give me a recommended dosage to achieve this effect? I am a magnet for mosquitos in the summer. When everyone else is unbothered, I am the first one the mosquitos gravitate to. I've tried taking a B complex vitamin in addition to my multi vitamin and this did not do the trick. So I think there probably wasn't enough of B12 and B6 to deter the mosquitos. Thanks!

After getting mosquito bites, put an ice-pack on the affected area for 20 minutes. You will not be itching afterward.

hi e mailed you with a question but think it was misunderstood. had a flea infestation and revieved several bites which have turned brown and look awful. question was referred to pet section. didnt want to know how to get rid of fleas wanted to know if any remedy for the brown spots. have been bit before and never had this happen. thanks for any help

We do backpacking in remote areas in northern Michigan where mosquitoes and black flies can make a trip unbearable. I read about taking Vitamin B6 to prevent bites, tried it and found it completely successful. But one time when backpacking with our daughter, I had forgotten the B6 but was taking Vitamin C up to my bowel tolerance level for a specific medical problem. So my blood and cells were full of Vitamin C. I noticed that my daughter's legs were covered with mosquitoes and black flies and in a few minutes, each bite would swell up and become red. I was surrounded by flies and mosquitoes but either I was not bitten (I did not feel anything) or I did not have any reaction. I think that the mosquitoes do not like the high acid content of the blood (I was taking the acidic form of Vitamin C). In addition, when cell and tissue fluid are saturated with Vitamin C, edemas will be removed by the body very quickly. I think this probably is why bites either do not swell or do not last very long if people are taking Vitamin C.