An early night was on the cards… the need to catch up from a couple of sleepless ones was getting desperate. On the point of turning off the machine and calling it a day, an email came in that had to be dealt with… and suddenly it was midnight again.
Never mind. I had made my preparations…layered every anti itching/healing and insect repelling thing in my arsenal on my mosquito-bitten legs and headed to bed, swallowed antihistamines and anti-inflammatories (I really do react very badly to mozzies…) I was going to sleep…
I did… blissfully… deeply.. wonderfully… for an hour…
Then stomped downstairs again. Itching.
Ani covers her nose with her paws in despair…you can see the mind working… Not again….Computer first, then kettle while the poor, overworked machine wrestles itself back into life, glaring at me from its corner and muttering about the need for rest. Ha…
Have you any idea how weird some of the home remedies are for mozzy bites? I could offer you a long list… but I was determined to find something that offered relief… the need for sleep was nearing critical… wandering off into the red zone…
I was ready for anything… painting the bites with nail varnish… vinegar poultices… ice… alcohol… yes, that sounded a good idea…
Which is why, by 3am, I was blissfully sitting with a very confused small dog… not itching… and smelling strongly of peppermint.
You could see it on her face… she loves mint, is desperate to get at the toothpaste, but realises it is out of bounds. She watches every move as I brush my teeth. To have layers of it… great swathes of the stuff… within reach was too much temptation… the nose was twitching, the tip of the long, pink tongue tasting the air like a hairy lizard…the neck craned in the direction of my legs…
I can only admire her self restraint…either that or she knew I would defend that toothpaste to the hilt… it was working…the itch went and remains gone… and I finally slept… far longer than I intended and right through the alarm I leave set as a fail-safe.
I bless the person who came up with that one. They have my eternal gratitude… and sympathy. I can see the desperation that led down that avenue of exploration… I understand the end –of-tether moment that reached for the tube of toothpaste, empathise with the near madness that was ready to try anything…
Which just goes to show that even on the edge of the pit of despair there may be unexpected solutions in unlikely places..
Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to reapply the toothpaste before I go out… messy, but who cares?
Hmm… wonder if mouthwash would work….
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Oh I do feel for you in your itching, Sue; I think I’m coming out in sympathy! xxx
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The toothpaste is a God-send 🙂 xxx
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And no matter where you go you generally have toothpaste along; is there a recommended brand?
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So far I have grabbed three in passing… all seem to work just fine 🙂
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Thank you for the tip, Sue. I’ve had the same struggle this week with welts from chigger bites. I’ve been using clear nail varnish and tea tree oil, which give temporary relief. Next bite I’ll grab the toothpaste! Hope your bites heal quickly and that you catch up on the shut eye soon.
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Honestly, the toothpaste gave relief within minutes and the amount of healing today has been a real eye opener! Well worth a try!
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Well, since mint settles upset stomachs, there is an odd logic that it could soothe the skin, also. I will probably have a chance to use it on my husband within the hour, as he’s out in the garden on this muggy wet day.
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I’m fairly certain it must be the menthol given some of the other suggestions 🙂
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I can commiserate – I react very strongly to poison ivy and blundered through a patch a few years ago… I tried anything and everything to alleviate that itch I wish I had thought of toothpaste! Hope the bites subside soon.
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They eased straight away, Katie.. and are far better today than I could have hoped! Bear the toothpaste in mind!
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Haha, never heard of using toothpaste, Sue! I lived in Kenya for years and was hit by recurring malaria, but fortunately a horrendous drug knocked it out of me for good and all.
While I’m talking to you, something I wanted to ask. You kindly recommended a book to me recently, and I’m wondering whether you can make any similar recommendation for something readable on Paganism?
I have two useful books on this subject at present – “Paganism for teenagers” (!!!! 🙂 ) by Jess Wynne, and “Pagan in the city” by Cassandra Eason.
I’m looking for something readable that will give me lots of information. Any ideas? Many thanks! Adrian
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Hi Adrian, I answered on the other post 🙂
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Apologies for the duplication, Sue – WordPress has done it again – I made this Comment here but it seemed to disappear, so I made a differently worded one on the other post – all is not well at WordPress I think! A
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🙂
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