Bloodsuckers! :-(

I'm being eaten alive! And I can't even see what's biting me.

I must really have delicious blood. This morning I woke up to seven fresh bites. I am not a good person to bite because I have a very low threshold for itching. Nasty flying vampires! %-(

It's a wonder I still have any blood flowing, given that I've been mercilessly bitten since childhood. My mom always told me to rub the bite with alcohol, but the relief from itching is only fleeting. Since I moved to the east coast 14 years ago, I've also got bitten by gnats--and the itch from their bite last DAYS, not hours, like a mosquito. Once, my former doctor didn't believe me when I told him I was bit by a gnat. That really annoyed me; I'm the one the squished the bloody booger (literally!) on the site where it just sucked my blood, somewhere on my leg.

I used to hate ALL insects, but I know they're not all completely evil. I have a fondness and fascination with ladybugs, fireflies, woolly worms, fuzzy catapillars, bright butterflies, and yes...even ants! But I'll save them for another post. This one is dedicated to spewing my anger toward the flying kind that bite or sting.

I despise them SO much that I regard any person who I perceive as mean-spirited and treats others badly as an insect. An insect! How much lower can I go to describe them and their behavior than to compare them to creatures I loathe?

If I happen to have the misfortune to be the target of someone's bad mood--particularly from a male stranger who doesn't know how to keep his balls and his brains where they belong, I feel strongly compelled to shout, "You ought to be glad I'm not an insect!" Y'know, like a praying mantis. The female bites off the head of the male. Yuck!

Although spiders aren't insects, black widows do pretty much the same thing. Males in the insect world really have it bad! Slam, bam, thank you, SIR! Thanks for the fun, for fulfilling your biological duty. Have a nice afterlife! %-0

I often find myself waking up in the middle of the night itching my bites with ferocious intensity. That's not a good thing, but sometimes even the hydrocortisone cream I use for the itch isn't very effective.
The itch is intense and so is my dislike for the bloody, biting boogers.

This afternoon, I went online and searched for natural remedies. One was a mixture of vegetable oil and pure lavender oil. I like lavender (just a hint), having just bought a jar of lavender-scented massage cream to use on my clients, but I forgot how powerful pure oil can be! Whew! %-0 Hubby closed the bathroom door. I suppose it helped stop the itch, but not for very long. The scent was overpowering. Way too strong for my sensitive, doggy nose. I later went over my bites with alcohol to try to take out the lavender scent, but there's still a little bit lingering on me. I get sick to my stomach if a scent is too strong.

I'm stuck with the OTC remedies, for now, until I can find a less smelly alternative. Got any ideas, anyone?

Avon had an insect repellant lotion that I bought several years ago. I wonder if it's still effective? I confess I've had it since the summer before my youngest bil got married--I remember I've had it since then because I was at a party and my mil's late best friend spilled the beans and told everyone he was engaged! I sat there amongst the others, smothered in Avon's strongly scented lotion which I could barely tolerate--but virtually unbitten by the swarming mosquitoes, while everyone was getting jiggly and itchy from bites. It was quite pleasant to not get bitten for once!

What are these flying creatures dining on these days that make their venom so powerful? Or am I just getting more sensitive with time? I have a much higher tolerance for pain than for itch.

I got my first sting from a tiny yellowjacket a few years ago. That hurt all day long! %-( That thing was so small it was almost cute! Hubby and I put it in one of those tiny plastic take-out soy sauce containers so I could study it, with the help of the internet. Is that weird? I wanted to find out what it was that caused my neck to burn and sting all day, that's all! Unbelievable how such a tiny thing could have such a big effect. Thank goodness it wasn't an adult-sized yellowjacket. The size alone would have scared the heck out of me!

What's worse? More than a half-dozen unbearably itchy bites distributed throughout your body that lasts for several days or one nasty, burning sting that lasts all day long? They're both unwanted, as far as I'm concerned.

How do I make myself less savory to these flying bloodsuckers? They never ever seem to bite hubby. He says they've had their fill of him! They want new, tasty Chinese food! It'd be nice if they'd have their fill of me someday. I hope so, but it doesn't seem like it, after all these years.