Back from honeymoon: PSA

[amileegirl]

Hello all!

I would love to begin my story with wedding reminiscing and honeymoon bliss stories but this Public Service Announcement is far more important and is in fitting with my current mood.

They don''t put this in the brochure.
You hardly hear people speak of it.
But if you are going to vacation near a warm sandy place...beware.

Beware the no-see-um and the sand flea.

No one ever tells you that among your memories of trysts and food and drink and ten additional pounds that you will bring back an unexpected souvenier--an uncountable number of bug bites. The bites aren''t as bad as poison ivy but they are in a very close second let me tell you. The flare ups are maddening! My legs below the knee are covered and I have quite a few on my back and shoulder in neat bite lines. I have three on my right hand that are oh-so-attractive right now. Mine are spread out more, and my new husband''s feet are a messy mass of these bites.

Once on your trip one person might mention that it is suggested that you use the bug spray provided on an island excursion. Take this as a warning that you WILL be eaten. There is no ifs, ands, or maybes about it. Don''t think that the complimentary Deep Woods Off spray is going to touch these guys either. It is my theory that they are immune to DEET and consider it a pre-dinner cocktail.

You''ll think they are mosquito bites at first but you''ll know it by the itch. I am sensitive to mosquito bites and I know that they are annoying. But with a mosquito bite, when you itch it you get relief and then it stops for a pretty good while. No-see-um bites don''t stop itching and if they do stop for a short time that is just a sign that you are about to have a flare-up and will soon want to scrape yourself raw on a concrete wall.

And if your spouse doesn''t have as many bites as you that just means that your blood chemistry is just more tastey and you''ll suffer more because of it.

Had I known this before I could have prepared better.

I''ve since read that upping your intake of B12 a few weeks before you go changes blood tastiness (brewer''s yeast tablets are full of B12 which I had sitting in my cabinet dammit). Bring many different kinds of scent repellants to find one that works the best. Buzz Away, natural teetrea/peppermint/cedarwood repellants, Avon Skin So Soft. Try to avoid the beach at dawn and evening. Avoid wearing yellow and white as apparantly they are attracted to light colors. Bring the strongest itch relieving cream you can find a cortisone or something like itch away (reccommend a spray kind. It isn''t that the creams don''t work, it is just that these things don''t work instantaneously and even rubbing in cream causes a cascade of itch flare up that won''t subside for about five minutes.) Try not to scratch, but if you do I suggest using a cream with an antiseptic.

When I''m sufficiently recovered I''ll post happy things

 

[robbie3982]

Awe, I''m sorry that you got eaten alive! I know how you feel. I once went to the bahamas and while waiting for the plane to take us home, we counted the bites on my legs and on my legs alone I had 1,111. I was miserable!!! I had scars on my legs for a while from all the scratching.

Try taking benadryl. It helps a bit. For me it also made me really sleepy so I could at least forget about the bites for a while.

I''m really glad you brought this up because my experience was over 4 years ago so I wasn''t thinking about all the bug stuff I needed to bring. Where were you for your honeymoon?

 

[amileegirl]

We went to Nassau, Bahamas. We encountered scattered thunderstorms because of the hurricane but for the most part we had some nice intermittant weather.

 

[onedrop]

Oh! I am so sorry to hear about your bad (but really, is there any other type) experience with the no-see-ums!! Hubby and I had the same problem in St. Croix. At every restaurant, especially at dusk they were offering bug spray. Luckily I had experience enough to know these little things are killers and used the spray abundantly. Benadryl also works wonders for the itching. I think even with the bug spray, we were itching for days after our return.

 

[sumbride]

ah, I''m so SORRY!!!

I remember black flies in VA beach, but your experience sounds much worse.

And I''m one of those people that doesn''t get bit much... I do think the Vitamin B is part of it because I take it every day. So everybody, start taking your vitamin B!!!

 

[TravelingGal]

Sorry to hear about your experience. Sounds maddening!

I will say though, that if you really research your destination, you will almost always find information like this. Travel boards like fodors and tripadvisor have reviews similar to the one you posted. A few years ago I was thinking about going diving in Belize (I tihnk it was) and decided not to because it was sand flea (or something like that) season.

Hope you feel better!