Mosquito bites turning dark & looking ugly -- am I going to die of Mosquito Super AIDS??

Also I tried to take Benadryl in order to bring down some of the extreme itchiness I was experiencing. That's not a bad idea, except I did it in the morning, right before going out to drive Yellowstone.

:baddecision

Benadryl apparently causes drowsiness just like NyQuil does:

https://www.livescience.com/41999-an...allergies.html

I had never taken it before, so I didn't know this. I felt exhausted for about 4-5 hours and couldn't figure out why. Eventually I had to let Ben's mom drive because I couldn't stay awake or alert.

I had a good night of sleep the night before, so I was really confused, and in fact was worried that something was wrong with me. Then we realized it was probably the Benadryl. Sure enough, after its usual 5-hour effectiveness period timed out, I abruptly felt awake and alert again.

Never making that mistake again.

When the bugs weren't bugging you what places did you like the most and the least and stuff?

Also somehow I saw more wildlife in Salt Lake City than I did at Yellowstone.

Not kidding.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Also I tried to take Benadryl in order to bring down some of the extreme itchiness I was experiencing. That's not a bad idea, except I did it in the morning, right before going out to drive Yellowstone.

:baddecision

Benadryl apparently causes drowsiness just like NyQuil does:

https://www.livescience.com/41999-an...allergies.html

I had never taken it before, so I didn't know this. I felt exhausted for about 4-5 hours and couldn't figure out why. Eventually I had to let Ben's mom drive because I couldn't stay awake or alert.

I had a good night of sleep the night before, so I was really confused, and in fact was worried that something was wrong with me. Then we realized it was probably the Benadryl. Sure enough, after its usual 5-hour effectiveness period timed out, I abruptly felt awake and alert again.

Never making that mistake again.

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I'm surprised between you and your significant other that neither of you were aware that Benadryl causes drowsiness. It only surprises me because you're usually pretty up on shit, and I feel like 7 out of 10 adults would know that. Maybe I'm wrong?

I guess neither of you have bad allergies. I always keep it around as a sleep aid/allergy med. I don't use it very often. I buy the children's liquid version and a bottle probably lasts me 3 years, but it's pretty much the go to for anyone that takes xanax or ambien if they happen to be out and need to sleep. If you use it infrequently, it's pretty damn effective, so it isn't surprising it knocked you out. I've been on xanax for 17 years and on the rare occasion I take Bendaryl it puts me out inside an hour.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Benadryl apparently causes drowsiness just like NyQuil does:

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In my medicine cabinet I have a bottle of generic allergy medicine. It's 25mg of diphenhydramine, same as Benadryl.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....BL._SY355_.jpg

I also have a bottle of generic sleeping pills. It's only active ingredient:

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/991...0&odnBg=FFFFFF

Same active ingredient as radio show Sirius?

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Originally Posted by BCR

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Also I tried to take Benadryl in order to bring down some of the extreme itchiness I was experiencing. That's not a bad idea, except I did it in the morning, right before going out to drive Yellowstone.

:baddecision

Benadryl apparently causes drowsiness just like NyQuil does:

https://www.livescience.com/41999-an...allergies.html

I had never taken it before, so I didn't know this. I felt exhausted for about 4-5 hours and couldn't figure out why. Eventually I had to let Ben's mom drive because I couldn't stay awake or alert.

I had a good night of sleep the night before, so I was really confused, and in fact was worried that something was wrong with me. Then we realized it was probably the Benadryl. Sure enough, after its usual 5-hour effectiveness period timed out, I abruptly felt awake and alert again.

Never making that mistake again.

---

I'm surprised between you and your significant other that neither of you were aware that Benadryl causes drowsiness. It only surprises me because you're usually pretty up on shit, and I feel like 7 out of 10 adults would know that. Maybe I'm wrong?

I guess neither of you have bad allergies. I always keep it around as a sleep aid/allergy med. I don't use it very often. I buy the children's liquid version and a bottle probably lasts me 3 years, but it's pretty much the go to for anyone that takes xanax or ambien if they happen to be out and need to sleep. If you use it infrequently, it's pretty damn effective, so it isn't surprising it knocked you out. I've been on xanax for 17 years and on the rare occasion I take Bendaryl it puts me out inside an hour.

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One would think that super-careful-with-details-Druff would have read the warning label before taking a medication, even if OTC.



Let me zoom that in for ya...



Just a bit more...

P.S. In CDL school, we were warned to not have Benadryl on our trucks, as DOT could issue a violation for having a banned drug on board, and declare a driver "Out of Service" on the spot for a minimum of 10 hours.

What Do Truck Drivers Need To Know About Allergy Meds?
https://www.nationalretailsystems.co...-allergy-meds/

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To help truck drivers distinguish between legal and harmful drugs, the FAA and DOT have provided guidelines for acceptable over-the-counter medications for allergy relief. These include Sudafed (Pseudoephedrine) and Entex (Phenylpropanolamine) as long as they are not combined with an antihistamine as well as Claritin (Loratadine), Clarinex (Desloratadine) and Allegra (Fexofenadine) while an unapproved cold medication is Benedryl.

Some medications, such as antihistamines, can easily cause a person to become sleepy and dull their senses, cause drowsiness, confusion, and impaired co-ordination and decongestants can cause insomnia and nervousness. While antihistamines are known to reduce allergy symptoms, some over-the-counter antihistamines can have the same effect on a person as consuming alcohol.

For example, one study was conducted at the University of Iowa in which 40 allergy sufferers were tested in a driver simulator after taking a standard dose of Benadryl, a placebo, or enough alcohol to be considered legally impaired. After performing routine driving tasks, the study showed that the driving performance and coherence of drivers on Benadryl performed at similar levels as those who were legally impaired.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Anyway, time to share the rest of the (real) story.

The reason these sores/bites/whatever were so inconvenient was because they showed up when I was in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

I took a 2-week trip to Kamloops (British Columbia), Mt. Robson, Jasper, Banff, Waterton, Montana, Yellowstone, and Salt Lake City.

I got absolutely hammered by mosquitoes on a trail near Mt. Robson on Monday night, and I also was bitten in the Fraser Valley (between Vancouver and Kamloops) the day before. The long, skinny mark appeared on Monday (though it started out looking like a bite), and the two raised ones appeared on Tuesday.

It was a pain in the ass finding a doctor in that area. Had to go to Canmore, which was 25 miles south of Banff, and I had to talk them into letting me make an appointment instead of being a "walk in" and waiting for hours. I coughed up $100 Canadian for the visit.

I will post a trip report later. Basically it was a 1-way road trip starting in Seattle (didn't stay there, just flew in and drove) and ending in Salt Lake.

I had two health concerns coming into the trip -- a cold, which I had for about a week, and back problems, which I had for about 3 weeks. The cold was mostly gone and was never an issue. The back problems were terrible for the first 3 days, but abruptly subsided right when the skin problems with my hand started.

I do think I discovered that I am allergic (at least to some degree) to mosquito bites. For most of my life, mosquito bites were itchy and annoying, but looked and felt normal. In the past 5 years or so, mosquito bites often became huge, red, and hot, which was a departure from how they used to be. On this trip, I had the worst reaction yet to them -- and not just the ones on my hand. I also had problematic bites on my legs, stomach, and arm. I'm not sure why this changed, but I heard that this can happen.

I did use mosquito repellent, but it was mostly a fail. Maybe I will try a different version of it next time.

Shout out to the 80 MPH speed limits in Idaho and Utah.

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Most insect repellent doesn't work and contains crap that you don't want to put on your skin.

This might work for you...

Walmart $5.00...All Natural, works for at least 6 hours.

https://www.rei.com/media/product/8289080001

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I got absolutely hammered by mosquitoes on a trail near Mt. Robson on Monday night, and I also was bitten in the Fraser Valley (between Vancouver and Kamloops) the day before. The long, skinny mark appeared on Monday (though it started out looking like a bite), and the two raised ones appeared on Tuesday.

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I'm assuming the Berg Lake trail? Great hike.

Did you make it to Rearguard Falls to see the salmon jumping the falls? Pretty spectacular if you're there at the right time.

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Originally Posted by Hockey Guy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I got absolutely hammered by mosquitoes on a trail near Mt. Robson on Monday night, and I also was bitten in the Fraser Valley (between Vancouver and Kamloops) the day before. The long, skinny mark appeared on Monday (though it started out looking like a bite), and the two raised ones appeared on Tuesday.

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I'm assuming the Berg Lake trail? Great hike.

Did you make it to Rearguard Falls to see the salmon jumping the falls? Pretty spectacular if you're there at the right time.

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The mosquitoes bit me on some fail hike regarding sand dunes, which I easily could have skipped and not missed anything.

Did the Berg trail the next day (that was the 5.5 mile hike I referenced), and I agree it was great. I didn't get bitten on that one because it was during the day, and the mosquitoes weren't out. Was worried Benjamin wouldn't be able to make 5.5 miles (with half of it uphill), but he did it. My ability to do the Berg trail was also proof to me that nothing was wrong with my energy level and that I wasn't sick.

You'll be happy to know that I took most of your suggestions on those maps you posted.

I did not go to Rearguard Falls. From my experience with Alaska, as well as what I read about the BC/AB area I was visiting, the salmon tend to jump in mid-late August, so I didn't think I'd see much.

I did see it in 2014 in Alaska.

This would have been a better story if Druff recorded the stories of his healing process in a daily vblog.

He could call it Projekt: Druff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgJ5eSUhaU

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hockey Guy

I'm assuming the Berg Lake trail? Great hike.

Did you make it to Rearguard Falls to see the salmon jumping the falls? Pretty spectacular if you're there at the right time.

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The mosquitoes bit me on some fail hike regarding sand dunes, which I easily could have skipped and not missed anything.

Did the Berg trail the next day (that was the 5.5 mile hike I referenced), and I agree it was great. I didn't get bitten on that one because it was during the day, and the mosquitoes weren't out. Was worried Benjamin wouldn't be able to make 5.5 miles (with half of it uphill), but he did it. My ability to do the Berg trail was also proof to me that nothing was wrong with my energy level and that I wasn't sick.

You'll be happy to know that I took most of your suggestions on those maps you posted.

I did not go to Rearguard Falls. From my experience with Alaska, as well as what I read about the BC/AB area I was visiting, the salmon tend to jump in mid-late August, so I didn't think I'd see much.

I did see it in 2014 in Alaska.

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Yeah, that Berg Lake Trail hike is fantastic because it's scenic for most of it but is fairly easy as well. Did you go around the lake to the campground on the other side of Kinney Lake or just across the river to that beach & camping/picnic area?

As for Rearguard Falls, the salmon spawn is from July to September, peaking in late July to mid-August, & even though you've seen that type of thing in Alaska, I thought Ben is at the age where he would really get a kick out of it if they happened to be jumping really good & it's just a short easy hike from the parking lot with some really good viewing platforms. This is 1 of those hidden gems IMO in this area & I'm sorry to hear you missed out on it.

Glad I could be of help.

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Originally Posted by BeerAndPoker

This would have been a better story if Druff recorded the stories of his healing process in a daily vblog.

He could call it Projekt: Druff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgJ5eSUhaU

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He put a lot of fucking work into this scam. how much did he end up getting altogether?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cmoney

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BeerAndPoker

This would have been a better story if Druff recorded the stories of his healing process in a daily vblog.

He could call it Projekt: Druff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgJ5eSUhaU

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He put a lot of fucking work into this scam. how much did he end up getting altogether?

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about tree fiddy

was it super aids or lyme disease.


i really want to know.

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Originally Posted by LarryLaffer

was it super aids or lyme disease.


i really want to know.

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I thought we determined collectively that it is Napoleon's Syndrome, right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LarryLaffer

was it super aids or lyme disease.


i really want to know.

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I thought we determined collectively that it is Napoleon's Syndrome, right?

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Oh whoopsie, my mistake. Sorry, no Todd hasn't specified other than a possible recent onset allergy to mosquito bites (a few pages back.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LarryLaffer

was it super aids or lyme disease.


i really want to know.

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I thought we determined collectively that it is Napoleon's Syndrome, right?

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it's napoleons complex.


but sure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LarryLaffer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

I thought we determined collectively that it is Napoleon's Syndrome, right?

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it's napoleons complex.


but sure.

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That. Oops. I should be more sensitive to your disease.

Napoleon's Syndrome, I'd imagine, is better described as the headaches, eye rolling and moodiness brought on by reading your incessant PFA posts - which each of us suffer, daily.