Bug Bites?

[akersten]

I get eaten alive by the sand flees and mosquitoes everytime we go to STJ. I'm hoping they're a bit better this spring. Any advice on what sprays, etc work best?

[lazylane]

YES! West Indies Itch Relief, it's in a blue spray bottle and costs around $7.00, all natural ingredients made on St. Thomas. They also make an insect repellent. My brother is highly sensitive to no-seeums and even made a trip to the clinic year before last for a steroid shot and prescription. This past December we were at Concordia for dinner and needed some spray and they had this there. WOW, INSTANT relief and my brother bought some and used it the rest of the trip and we all swear by it now!!! We bought ours at the shops in front of Skinny's but saw it just about everywhere on island and it REALLY does work!

[jmq]

For keeping pests away, consider Repel HG-406T Lemon Eucalyptus. This non-DEET product gets good reviews on amazon and recent props on a BVI forum that it worked better than OFF at keeping the Anageda no-see-ums away.

[lark22]

In my opinion, itch relief has two stages. First of all (and this is really, really important): NO SCRATCHING or even touching the bites if you can help it. Scratching absolutely makes it worse.

And second, I'm a fan of the topical Benadryl gel (if you're taking Benadryl orally for another reason, you have to be careful, because the topical stuff counts toward your maximum dosage).

[Need2GetAway]

April 2011 - no bites. February 2012 - lots of bites. Never really could see what it was that was biting us...

[toes in the sand]

Rum administered by mouth during waking hours for the length of my stay usually helps.

Seriously, any or all of the below help me;
stay away from shaded, sandy areas,
stay away from the beach at sunset and sunrise,
wear loose clothing when on the beach,
stay in the water.
Repellent with DEET

We usually adhere to the last two, ignore the first three and have very few issues.

[nuendelcapecod]

The bugs were the worst in our four years. We arrived at Cinnamon Bay Campground about 7:30 pm, exhausted from the trip, just threw our stuff in the tent, made up the beds and hit the sack. The next morning husband had some non-itchy red dots on his face and my face was a little puffy. The next morning my face was so swollen I could hardly see - cheekbone area swollen up and out, forehead like a Cro Magnon woman, nose swollen hard and throbbing. We got some Raid from the office, sprayed the tent. When we went back inside there were dead mosquitoes in huge numbers everywhere. Used the painkiller tree leaves on my face after pouring boiling water over them, bought benadryl at $1/pill. Took a few days for the swelling to go down. Next year 1. spray tent first 2. Bring benadryl, caladryl lotion and mosquito coils 3. Absolutely agree with West Indies Itch Relief. Someone left some behind. I'm a terrible scratcher - this works better than Afterbite and is a whole lot more pleasant. Signed up for next year - even the bugs can't keep me away!

[JJShaw]

I gotta chime in...I take the Super B complex along with Garlic tablets...and for some reason it really seems to help me..and very rarely get bitten..if we are out on beach at night..I still will spray my legs.so I still take spray ,but last year we did a baresite at Cinnamon Bay...and I probably didnt have over 5 bites...Lets hope this holds true for this yr...
Not to mention the Vit-B makes me feel better..

[Boston Mike]

I said it before, and I’ll say it again. TEQUILLA! Everyime I load up on tequila the night before, seems the next day the bugs don’t bother me. Patron is what the doc orders.

[Teresa_Rae]

I have also been eaten alive on STJ.

B-complex vitamins seem to help (I take them regularly but increase my dosage a few weeks before the trip) but the best advice I have is to keep windows shut at night at the villa. Noseeums can fit through the screens.

On our first trip to St. John we kept the windows open at our villa and I had over 200 bites. Once we started keeping the windows closed at night I stopped getting bit.

We've had 9 trips now and I've never gotten bitten that badly since our first trip.

[jmq]

Also note that using nice smelling shower gels and such may make you more likely to get bit. Probably better to go as fragrance free as possible.
That said, that advice may not make much difference if you happen to be there during one of the epic mosquito blooms that can happen 7-10 days after significant rains break a long dry spell.

[mindehankins]

BUMP!
JJshaw thank you! We got eaten alive last night at the pool. Blaine has maybe more than 100 bites and he is a scratcher. Tried after bite, Benadryl cream, Benadryl and Claritin and nothing made any difference. In desperation, I went to Chelsea and bought the West Indies Itch Relief.
100% relief. It's oily, but we don't care. 100% relief was a shock. Ingredients per label: soy bean oil, lavender oil, research oil, chamomile oil.
Did I say thank you? We're bringing an extra bottle of this magic home with us.

[CBama]

Minde sorry y'all got bit so bad. I better buy some of this west indies itch cream as soon as possible after arriving. I always get bit just in our yard. Hope you are having a great time.

[lazylane]

That was me, Minde and "I told you so" !!! LOL!! (Just had to say that!!) We were positively amazed at the INSTANT relief. They also make insect repellent. Best $7 I ever spent!!

[mindehankins]

You're right of course, lazylane! Thank you! Great, great stuff!