Horse flies again.

lindsay ormerod · 01-07-2009, 21:22

Further to me having issues with these and their bites a couple of years back I have been bitten again at weekend and have now had one of the e most painful weeks ever! One landed on my hand at the cricket club on sunday and I hit it away as soon as I saw it, not quick enough obviously! My hand has since swelled to about 3 times it's normal size, weeping goo from the bite and was boiling hot to touch and hard as rock. Visit to casualty confirmed the bleeding obvious, that I react badly to the little gits, also the bite had developed into "cellulitis". Cue a sling for massive hand, and a massive course of antibiotics ( 500 mg flucloxacillin x 28) with instructions to go back immediately if the infection kept tracking up my arm.
It now seems to be abating, still massive, still hard, very unpretty to look at, and back to A and E tomorrow for re asssessment.
All the advice I can give is if you get bitten by one of these sods, clean the wound as quickly as possible with water and something anti bacterial, eg Dettol, TCP.,and at the first sign of any swelling or redness go to casualty, they are geting loads of these in at the moment and if not treated promptly you are looking at full on blood poisoning; my fingertips had already lost circulation when I went in on Monday.

MargaretR · 01-07-2009, 21:42

I dread meeting a horse fly - even midges have brought me out in lumps.
It is a sign of a 'sweet' nature

Lilly · 01-07-2009, 21:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindsay ormerod

Further to me having issues with these and their bites a couple of years back I have been bitten again at weekend and have now had one of the e most painful weeks ever! One landed on my hand at the cricket club on sunday and I hit it away as soon as I saw it, not quick enough obviously! My hand has since swelled to about 3 times it's normal size, weeping goo from the bite and was boiling hot to touch and hard as rock. Visit to casualty confirmed the bleeding obvious, that I react badly to the little gits, also the bite had developed into "cellulitis". Cue a sling for massive hand, and a massive course of antibiotics ( 500 mg flucloxacillin x 28) with instructions to go back immediately if the infection kept tracking up my arm.
It now seems to be abating, still massive, still hard, very unpretty to look at, and back to A and E tomorrow for re asssessment.
All the advice I can give is if you get bitten by one of these sods, clean the wound as quickly as possible with water and something anti bacterial, eg Dettol, TCP.,and at the first sign of any swelling or redness go to casualty, they are geting loads of these in at the moment and if not treated promptly you are looking at full on blood poisoning; my fingertips had already lost circulation when I went in on Monday.

Ewwwww that sounds awful.

I hope your hand gets better soon. My mum was bitten by one of these horseflies a couple of years ago, she hardly felt it at the time but soon after her leg swelled up and the bitten area filled with yellow goo.

Horrible.

lindsay ormerod · 01-07-2009, 22:05

Apparently they don't just sting like yer average wasp, they cut with their teeth and then inject a nasty mix of whatever they have been eating to stop your blood clotting, a bit like vampires, only without the sexy image! Grrrr

derekgas · 02-07-2009, 07:23

Oh dear! I hope you recover quickly Lindsay, the ex wife used to suffer whenever she was bitten by horsefly, always a trip to a&e, and usually whilst on holiday! I have been bitten, but I must taste horrible, they dont hang around on me!

jaysay · 02-07-2009, 09:40

Ain't actually been bitten by a horse fly and from what Lindsay says I don't want to. was once on holiday down at my cousins place in Cambridgeshire and was bitten by a Gad fly whatever they are, never heard of them around here, but that was a bit sore for a while although I did bathe it with TCP immediately which took the soreness away somewhat

MargaretR · 02-07-2009, 09:46

I have a problem with midge bites.
When I sit in the sun I am mostly covered up, but my face ankles and feet are bitten.
I look like I have a bad case of acne, and last night my feet and ankles became puffy.
I used arnica gel, and now the swelling has mostly gone.
Ironic isn't it - all winter we long for summer, and when it comes it provides its own problems to spoil the pleasure of it.

yerself · 03-07-2009, 08:59

I'll give you two guesses as to which gender of horse-fly inflicts these bites and it's not the males.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

Ain't actually been bitten by a horse fly and from what Lindsay says I don't want to.

You most certainly don't. Same happened to me last year, hand swollen to about twice size and high dose antibiotics. The doctor said if the antibiotics hadn't started to take effect within 48hrs I would have to be admitted to hospital and have intravenous medication.

jaysay · 03-07-2009, 09:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by yerself

I'll give you two guesses as to which gender of horse-fly inflicts these bites and it's not the males.

You most certainly don't. Same happened to me last year, hand swollen to about twice size and high dose antibiotics. The doctor said if the antibiotics hadn't started to take effect within 48hrs I would have to be admitted to hospital and have intravenous medication.

The female of the species is more deadlier than the male I seem to remember somebody once said yerself

SamF · 03-07-2009, 10:17

Just a note that not everyone reacts to them

katex · 03-07-2009, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamF

Just a note that not everyone reacts to them

Wouldn't like to find out either SamF .. poor Lindsay

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

I have a problem with midge bites.
When I sit in the sun I am mostly covered up, but my face ankles and feet are bitten.
I look like I have a bad case of acne, and last night my feet and ankles became puffy.
I used arnica gel, and now the swelling has mostly gone.
Ironic isn't it - all winter we long for summer, and when it comes it provides its own problems to spoil the pleasure of it.

Just wondered Margaret ... if you had a reaction such as Lindsays ... what would you do, knowing your hatred of anti-biotics ? ... no, not being facetious or owt.

lindsay ormerod · 03-07-2009, 20:59

It's looking a lot better now, thanks for all your kind thoughts! Nearly back to normal size though still very red and with a large crater on the top that is still oozing, nearly a week later! Still on the antibiotics, am really grateful for the top treatment at Accy Vic, like the man there said, it;'s basically blood poisoning and the sooner you treat the better chance you have!

MargaretR · 03-07-2009, 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

Wouldn't like to find out either SamF .. poor Lindsay

Just wondered Margaret ... if you had a reaction such as Lindsays ... what would you do, knowing your hatred of anti-biotics ? ... no, not being facetious or owt.

I do still have a survival instinct

and have been known to take antibiotics when I know there is no other alternative.

The difference is that after taking them, I need to cure myself from the nasty effects they leave behind, which is quite a nuisance and a 'bind'.

So the crux of the matter is knowing your own body well enough (and who can do that better than you?) to realise when your situation is life threatening.

katex · 03-07-2009, 22:24

Ok Margaret ... pleased to hear that ... as it sounds like the only course to take with this sort of reaction. Doesn't bear thinking about what may have happened to Lindsay if we did not have anti-biotics. If the blood poisoning had spread, she would have surely perished years ago ... brrrrrrrh.

jaysay · 04-07-2009, 08:56

Just a little wonder, lucky I've never been stung by anything, so don't know how I would be affected, been bitten by a midge or two that's all. Now I've said that I'll let you all know over the weekend what its like, cuz there's sure to be a bad tempered wasp lurking about somewhere, just waiting to have a go