The Discomfort Thread

May 10th, 2015 at 5:32:23 AM permalink
odiousgambit
Member since: Oct 28, 2012
Threads: 154
Posts: 5055
Quote: Face
Bug bites.


I have grown immune for the most part. Chigger bites cause an irritated area but I don't even know I have them unless there are a whole bunch. If I have been out, I can look for them and yep there are a few, but they just don't bother me in the numbers I usually get. Mosquito bites don't leave a mark anymore.

And poison ivy I don't worry about much. The vine has to rub good against my skin to get a reaction.

My wife, on the other hand, is a walking target for all this stuff. Her skin [technically that's an organ] reacts to all that stuff and the whole organ, so to speak, can get going over any multiple site condition. She can get a rash from ordinary vines that aren't even poison ivy. Insect bites, even the no-see-um tiny ones, torture her.
I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]
May 10th, 2015 at 5:37:17 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Generalized hypersensitivity reaction is sometimes amenable to dietary treatment: Vitamin B's, turmeric tea, garlic, onions.
May 10th, 2015 at 3:04:43 PM permalink
odiousgambit
Member since: Oct 28, 2012
Threads: 154
Posts: 5055
I confess, cocktail hour has become my 'rheumatism medicine'

well into my cups now. Trying gin again but again concluding bourbon is more effective. Cutting down on the Aleve which has had side effects, more on that later.

I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]
May 10th, 2015 at 3:34:13 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Vodka is the best, bourbon has too many
impurities from the wood casks it's aged
in. Really messes up the liver. Vodka is
pure grain alcohol, can be made from
potatoes too. Bourbon is vodka before
it's aged. Learn to like vodka, you won't
regret it. That's why the alchies always
drink vodka, not because it's cheap, but
it has a lot milder hangovers because of
the lack of impurities. Beer and wine
hangovers are the worst.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
May 10th, 2015 at 4:06:30 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
Posts: 18633
Quote: Evenbob
. Beer and wine
hangovers are the worst.


From my youthful indiscretions, I pronounce cheap wine as the worst hangover.

It must be true. Wine is usually the last form of alcohol, barring the rubbing and Listerine, any store bothers to lock up. They know..
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
May 10th, 2015 at 5:12:01 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Quote: odiousgambit
I confess, cocktail hour has become my 'rheumatism medicine'
i swear I have no idea why you want to self medicate "rheumatism" with alcohol. There are so many avenues open to investigation: genetics, synovial fluid infections, biofilms, connective tissue properties. This would give treatment ideas that are much more likely to be effective than "go get drunk".

Microbeers without additives make it hard to have a hang over.

Rustic wines are more healthful than the "scared whiskey" sold now.
May 11th, 2015 at 4:43:58 PM permalink
Ayecarumba
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 89
Posts: 1744
Quote: Face
Bug bites. I got about a thousand today and I know how to fix them. Easy peasy.

When one of those blood sucking bastards bites you, it injects its saliva which contains an anti coagulant to keep the blood flowing so it can feed. The proteins in this are recognized by your body as an invader, so it sends out histamines to go take care of it. As the histamines flood the area, the area swells. That's what causes the "bump". And swelling stimulates nerve endings, and that's what makes it itch.

You could just apply ice. Ice reduces swelling and also numbs nerves, so that'll take care of it temporarily. You could also take antihistamines, but that's also temporary and might make you drowsy. Want to rid the itch? Start at the source.

Any time I get bit, I wait a bit. It usually takes about 15 minutes for the bump to appear. Once it does, apply pressure on each side of it as if you were popping a zit. You don't have to pinch the hell out of it, just squeeze firmly until you see a drop of liquid form where the bite hole is. If you had to wait some hours after the bite to get to the squeezing, itch it a bit to make sure you've scratched off the scab and can allow the juice to escape. Squeeze and let it bead up. Once it does, wipe it away and squeeze from the other angle. Let it bead up, wipe it away, and do it again.

Should only have to do it 2 -4 times. It'll stop beading when you're done. Once you do that, you've removed a bunch of the stuff that caused the reaction to begin with. Plus, the act of squeezing will have overloaded nerve endings, making them temporarily numb. By the time they recover and are ready to transmit the slightest tickle again, the histamine reaction will have mostly passed as there is nothing left there to react with.

It's especially useful when you get one of those maddening ones like on a knuckle or an elbow. But it works literally 100% of the time, no matter where you get bit. I can't even think of a bug it doesn't work for, outside of bees. Those hurt so damn much I don't touch them, and I always found their itch mild enough to ignore.

Try it. You'll see. And you're welcome =)


I have heard that going the other direction and applying a hot compress (like as hot as you can stand), actually breaks up the venom molecules, and speeds your body's breakdown of the invaders.

I worry about squeezing, as you could send the juice the other way, deeper into your tissue, and possibly directly into your bloodstream.
May 11th, 2015 at 5:30:24 PM permalink
odiousgambit
Member since: Oct 28, 2012
Threads: 154
Posts: 5055
Quote: Fleastiff
i swear I have no idea why you want to self medicate "rheumatism" with alcohol.


Fleastiff is questioning the use of alcohol? What? Do I remember posts about boozy gambling jaunts ... or am I confusing Fleastiff with somebody else?

In any case, I might be turning a corner. Explanation soon.
I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]
May 11th, 2015 at 6:05:36 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote:
You could just apply ice. Ice reduces swelling and also numbs nerves,


Maybe I should just fill my pockets
with ice cubes before I go outside.
There might be flaws in this, I have
to think it through.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
May 11th, 2015 at 7:11:04 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Quote: odiousgambit
Fleastiff is questioning the use of alcohol? What? Do I remember posts about boozy gambling jaunts ... or am I confusing Fleastiff with somebody else?

Boozy gambling jaunts is one thing, but rheumatism suggests boozy gambling joints in your skeleton.

Now as the Sheriff said about alcohol in a famous Asian Western, Bad Day at Black Rock, "its good for what ails you" but it is usually referred to as palliative care and neither treatment nor cure.