Talking Allergies

I am not sure if this is normal but when dd, dh or myself have ever been bitten by a mosquito it is just a small white welty bump with a bit of red but it goes away quickly. DS has been bitten this week each bite has lasted days and leaves a definite large hard raised area, all red, huge white welt right under the bite. I have actually had to give him benadryl to try get the bite site down.
Does anyone else react like this..is it normal or is this the beginning of another type of reaction.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

my youngest is anaphylactic to multiple mosquito bites. An odd, and very rare allergy, but yes, it does happen. For her, it started similar to your son, but then, she started getting hives where she wasn't bitten. Now, we have narrowed her "window" to about 15-20 bites in 15-20 min - that's when she is at her highest risk of anaphylaxis. I've seen it when she starts going pale and shaky and has a hard time breathing. Of course, bad mommy, didn't use the epipen - just gave her benadryl every 3 hrs for it to settle. Got a lecture from the allergist and was told that was exactly the time to use the epipens.

FYI - little one was dx'd when she was 4 yrs old, she is now 8 yrs. We have learned to "live" with this allergy. She "knows" that her "perfume du jour" will always be "bug juice" for spring/summer/fall, and that she has to carry her epipens. We still go camping and enjoy the outdoors, but she wears her epipens, carries benadryl (for the under 15 bites reactions) and wears the heavy duty bug juice. We also use the benadryl spray or dabbers on her bug bites to help calm the immediate reaction.

good luck.

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Dawne - Ana to all pitted fruits, POTATOES, strawberries, kiwis, pumpkin, apple, pear; + asthma, hayfever, migraines, fragrance sensitive
dh -nil
DD (1999) - asthma, hayfever, latex/red dye sensitive
DD (2003)- ana to mosquitos (risk all stinigng insects)

My ds always developed what I joked were "tumours" when he was bit by mosquitos as a toddler. I'm not kidding you, these were giant bumps. I remember one that covered almost 1/2 of the length between his knee and ankle. The Benadryl spray seemed to work well on them, but sometimes they would take days to go down. As he grew though, they became less of a problem. His total IgE has come down significantly as well. Looking back, those were the years that his skin tests flared up on almost everything environmental, and now those are all gone except for a few molds. No idea if there was an allergy connection, but no one else in the family reacted like that, and no one else has allergies.

I have a pretty bad mosquito allergy, and get the huge, hard, hot welts. If I get too many I can develop a fever (with fatique and extreme itchiness), antihistamines help. I have tried various topical creams, but suprisingly toothpaste seems to be the best.

Unfortunately I am a mozzie magnet, and already have dozens of bites, although my family is bite free (ie there are hardly any out yet!)

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DSs 7,7,9 all PA

Mine is similar to Becky's except no fever, ever. My bites, especially in tropical climates, get huge, like golf ball to tennis ball size, hard, hot and take days to go away. I didn't really think of it as an allergy, but rather that I was sensitive to mosquitoes (and other biting insects. . .had an experience with sand fleas in Mex). They are also particularly drawn to me. I find baking soda tooth paste smeared onto bite immediately sometimes helps.

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DD 2004 Allergy to peanuts, egg, sesame, and new: lentils and chick peas
DS 2006 Allergy to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, egg, kiwi fruit, eczema

Thanks so much everyone. I'll really keep an eye on any bites ds gets this summer to see if this is something which gets worse with more bites at once etc.. DS is like you Becky, no one else has bites in the house but him. Great tips on the baking soda and toothpaste, I'll try both and see which works best on DS.
Everyone!!!

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

My son gets huge welts from a single mosquito bite. They are very itchy and can last over a week. Bites and stings from insects he's actually allergic to are worse though. an example of an allergic reaction he had at 2, he got bit on the ankle and his entire leg, right up to the hip, doubled in size, was beet red and very hard.

I give him benedryl for mosquito bites because it relieves the itching.

Recently I purchased Insect Defend patches. http://www.insectdefendpatch.com

They are Deet free. vitamin B1 patches, safe even for small children. (They would have to be put where a small child can't pull them off if they might eat them due to choking hazard though.) We have found them in drug stores and camping areas of Canadian Tire.

I don't know yet how well they work as the week he was out in the woods it was cold.

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self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings

I forgot to post that I did phone and talk to the nurse in our allergist's office. She is awesome and will always quickly go over anything I am concerned about. I was really concerned as his last bite took days to go down and as mentioned by others of you it left a huge circular bruise. She said that stinging and biting insects are not related, so I don't need to worry about bees. And that such reactions in young children is actually normal.
She also said that such reactions as I described to the mosquito bites are not worrying unless they cause a systemic reaction. In that case she reminded me we already have an epipen on him so we would just use it and go to the hospital just as with any other reaction.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish