The itching is forcing me to make a thread

Flyn

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Some of you may have seen my pics of my inground pool leak in the What the "F" thread.

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https://www.facebook.com/cliff.victoria/videos/vb.100007413544570/1794686370788464/?type=2&theater

I'm digging out the dirt/sand to get to the roots so I can cut them out and make enough room to do a PVC repair.

Worst part is I have disturbed the fire ants in the area. I now have 7 fire ant bites on my foot. My ankle has swelled up a bit.

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I spent the night wandering the house trying to find creams or home remedies to stop the itching. If you ever had a fire ant bite, you know it is ten times as bad as the worst mosquito bite you ever had. My entire foot is one big itch. I'm heading out to CVC now to get some drawing salve to try to pull the venom out.

Then it's back to the shovel and chain saw. We powdered the area with ant killer so I'm hoping the fire ants are gone.
 

Flyn

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Doctor Flyn...

Ichthammol, drawing salve, to the rescue. This stuff looks like crap and smells worse but it pulls the venom out of the skin which helps the itch and lessens recovery time. Stains clothing like you wouldn't believe so I'm going to sacrifice a sock or two.

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EDIT: It has only been 5 mins. since I applied the salve and the itching has gone from depths of hell to tolerable. I'll take a Benadryl and may be able to function today.
 

Primalzer

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Fuck fire ants...was at Sebring last year...and was standing grabbing something out of the car, while it was parked in a field...unbeknownst to me, I was standing on a fire ant hill...fucking bastards all started biting at once...looked like an idiot running around slapping my legs trying to get them off...didn't have the after effects you're having....some sores, and some slight itching, but nothing too bad.
 

Flyn

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Fuck fire ants...was at Sebring last year...and was standing grabbing something out of the car, while it was parked in a field...unbeknownst to me, I was standing on a fire ant hill...fucking bastards all started biting at once...looked like an idiot running around slapping my legs trying to get them off...didn't have the after effects you're having....some sores, and some slight itching, but nothing too bad.

The worst is when they climb up your legs before you notice them. The soldier ants have an instinct to climb upwards until they find bare skin. When they start biting your stomach, that's worse than the feet. I have literally run across the yard stripping clothes off as I went until I was naked in my lanai and yelling for Amy to come check my back.

There are different varieties of fire ants with differing levels of venoms. Also, some people are more affected by the bites, similar to some people being allergic to bees.

Looks like I have a mild allergic response to fire ants. This isn't the worst I have been bitten but the itch was intolerable. Woke up at least half a dozen times last night and had to get out of bed to look for relief.

Most important is not to scratch the bites or pop the blisters. That will cause scarring.

My foot feels almost normal now. Maybe like getting a few mosquito bites which is nothing compared to the poison ivy level itch it had before. I will re-apply the cream a few times a day until the swelling is gone. $9 a tube for this stuff but it's worth having in the home. I tore my house apart looking for it last night and, instead, had to go with Benadryl and milder antibiotic, cortisone creams which don't do much. Ichthammol FTW!

Side note: Damn! Bandages got expensive. I can see why doctors use this stupid tape.
 

Primalzer

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I'm still traumatized by the Ft Myers Beach "noseeums", it took weeks if not a month to get rid of the bite marks.

I had never heard about those, until I was up in Michigan this summer...apparently sun screen prevents them :dunno: I've never gotten them or even heard of them, but my girlfriend was all over preventing us from getting them...
 

Flyn

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Noseeums suck, too. They hit without warning same as the fire ants.

I have a flyswatter on my lanai and I kill anything that moves except for geckos. Geckos eat the bugs and the worst they might do is accidentally land on you. They're like Tribbles that eat bugs.

The ants in the back yard are dead. They just don't know it yet. I plan on eradicating every last one of them with industrial pesticides.

Problem is that works for about three months then a new colony starts up. Most of the fuckers can fly to find new nesting areas.
 

Flyn

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Fire ants are ridiculously hardy and proliferate. They can build a nest anywhere they can dig into the ground. I think they like grassy areas better but there's no reason they couldn't build on the beach.

Look for disturbed mounds of sand or actual ant hills. If you kick the top, you will know instantly if it's a live nest. Fire ants move really quickly and, yes, they can come out at night if disturbed, like by someone having sex on top of them.
 

Flyn

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Back to the pool repair after a couple day delay for the fire ants.

Damned roots. I want to get them all out and paint the ends with root killer.

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Making progress. Not easy to get a chain saw into that gap without cutting the PVC. I took it slow and cut the root way at the back of the hole. Then I pried the already broken pipe up and my son dragged it out.

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zenriddles

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.didn't have the after effects you're having....some sores, and some slight itching, but nothing too bad.

Many times, a first bite scenario causes a lot less grief than subsequent bite events. It can be anaphylaxis. Cliff has been bitten on multiple occasions.
A lot of people do this with bee stings, for instance. Each time one gets stung, the over reaction gets worse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylaxis
 

Flyn

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I think it depends on where you are bitten, too. Could be closeness to veins, nerves, etc. When I have gotten multiple bites, some of them are nothing and some really swell up. Could be how much venom got injected, too. Ants give the most venom with their first sting. If they sting your shoe or sock multiple times and then reach skin, that can lessen the effects. I think the first ten or so bites contain the venom. These things are so damned fast each ant can sting you ten times in less than a minute.

The best answer, after testing many remedies, is to use the Ichthammol and an antihistamine like Benadryl. That combo provides the best relief I have found and greatly lessens the recovery time. Without the Ichthammol, these bites can take weeks to go away. With it, maybe a week or a little more.

The ankle swelling is feeling a lot better with the treatment.

History and uses of "Ichthyol": https://archive.org/stream/cu31924031193984/cu31924031193984_djvu.txt

Warning! This is actually a strong drug that should not be used continuously. It can damage skin and underlying veins, etc. Don't keep using it once it has fixed the immediate issue. I use it for a few days then stop.
 
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