Cleg (horse fly) bites

[shivvy]

Any time I get bitten by a cleg I get quite a lot of swelling around the bite (approx 4 inch diameter) which goes very hard, very hot and itchy.

I know that there are lots of answers online about what to do if you are bitten but I was wondering if anyone has the same problem, and if anyone knows any preventative measures to minimise them picking on me in the first place!
I have heard of bracelets that release citronella and of course I could cover myself with cream every day but (because I only get a few bites per year so don't fancy those options) I was wondering if there is anything I could include or exclude in my diet to deter them?

Thanks.

[Sqad]

There is nothing in your diet or persona that predisposes you to these bites. No scientific evidence that i have seen convinces me otherwise.
When you are bitten, then smear antihistamine cream on the affected area.

[Khandro]

"There is nothing in your diet or persona that predisposes you to these bites." Squad, with respect, how are you so sure of this?

[sandyRoe]

I think I read somewhere that garlic in the diet is repellent to biting insects. Don't know if there's any truth in it, though.

[Sqad]

Khandro.....I have never seen any medical studies which have shown any predisposition to insect bites.

Perhaps i should look harder.

[Khandro]

squad, I ask because I am mercilessly attacked by all sorts of insects ,(my wife not at all) At the moment I'm trying to find relief by taking vit.B in tablet or Marmite form, which (dare I say) maybe having some effect. I thought it might have something to do with blood groups- me A pos. she O neg. But last year, on the Isle of Elba, we shared a villa with a young couple who had twin 9 month old baby girls who slept side by side in similar cots and in the morning one was covered in bites and the other had none, I checked, and they had both the same blood group. Why, I wonder ?

[Sqad]

Khandro....I reiterate, I have seen no reputable publications to suggest a relationship with blood groups and susceptibility to insect bites, which doesn't mean that they don't exist.

[LoftyLottie]

Surely insects bite everybody in the same way, it is the reaction to bites that is different. Some people react badly, others don't.

Well, that's what I have always been led to believe.

Also different people react differently to different insect bites.

In other words I agree with Sqad. Insects do not pick on particular people.

[jackthehat]

Mrs JtH got bitten by a horsefly and her arm swelled a little.

She ignored the bite, the swelling went down but 2 years later she had to have a small operation to remove the nasty cyst that had formed around the horsefly's mandibles, which it had thoughtfully left behind when it bit her !!
So, if you have any long-term problems with any bites, bear that in mind!!

Whenever we go on holiday Mrs jth and jth, jnr get bitten to death and I get left alone........none of us do/don't do anything in particular different.....it's just the way it is!

[jno]

I wish I attracted people and repelled insects instead of the other way round.

The garlic doesn't work on French horse flies

[LoftyLottie]

I still have a nasty scar on my leg from a horse fly bite from years ago. That bite ruined my whole summer!!

[shivvy]

Thanks for all your answers.

Jackthehat - your answer made me squirm and had me doing some very close up examination of the bite!

The area around it is rock hard now and very very hot. If this goes the way of previous bites then I'm expecting the actual site of the bite to ooze a bit of fluid before it goes a bit crusty. Lovely, just delightful!

[jackthehat]

Apparently, it's not that uncommon for them to lose their 'jaws' in your flesh when they bite....:o(

It's just that instead of them working their way out, or Mrs JtH going to the Doctors promptly, she waited for 2 years.....