Last night I awoke every hour itching like crazy. They weren’t mosquito bites but chiggers, sand fleas, or midges, whatever one may call them. The bites last for weeks. One bite can keep me awake all night when the crazy itching won’t stop, no matter what cream or method I use to control it.
A few years ago, Rita gave me a battery-operated zapper that produced heat that seemed to help if I used it within an hour of getting the new bite. Recently, from overuse, it stopped working. Within a week, a package from Takealot will arrive with a new zapper in the shipment. I am looking forward to using it.
It’s not even summer yet when the mozzies arrive. I will continue to use repellent regularly, but it doesn’t seem to work for the bites as mentioned above and irritating allergic responses. I wear long sleeves, long pants daily, and full coverage pajamas at night always doubled up with Tabard roll-on repellent. TIA…This is Africa….it goes with the territory for those of us who are sensitive to insect bites and response to dust mites.
I am not the only person that experiences these bite-related annoyances. I have talked to many locals who share the same situation with no new means of combating the issue.
As for our dental updates…Tom’s two new tooth implants are not causing him any problems. It felt tender the first day they were seated, but he was fine a few hours later. I am hoping when I get the implant for my painful tooth in months to come, my result will be similar to his.
As mentioned earlier, the tooth caused me discomfort in the fourth to the upper right. Once the tooth is pulled, the hole will be shown when I talk or smile. I told Dr. Singh I want a temporary tooth (or bridge) while we wait for the bone to heal over the foundation for the implant, which will be put in place the day the tooth is pulled. It may be three to six months until I can get the permanent implant.
In the interim, Dr. Singh will have a bridge made to fill the hole so the hole won’t be visible when I talk or smile. I’d considered having this three-day process done before we leave for our visa-stamp trip to Zambia/Botswana on August 20 for a week. But, the last time I had a tooth pulled, I had a horrible time with an unbelievably painful dry socket, resulting in me being on pain meds for three weeks. I don’t want to go through that again.
But, certain people are prone to dry sockets. If I had the tooth pulled now, I run the risk of the recovery time running into our travel time and being miserable while we’re gone. There was no way I wanted to take the risk. Instead, Dr. Singh prescribed antibiotics, a three-day Z-Pack dose that didn’t work. He sent me another prescription for a different antibiotic which I’ll get filled and use only if I need to.
The appointment for the extraction is the day after we return from the trip. It was the best decision we could make considering the circumstances. Right now, the discomfort is minimal, and I’ll wait and see what transpires with the abscess in the interim.
Today, we are working on getting our certified vaccine certificate from this site for only those vaccinated in the US. The fee is US $2.00 each, paid by credit card. We may not need this but are doing so just in case we need it for traveling to any country. Today, we checked to discover we won’t need any Covid-19 tests before traveling or returning to South Africa. This is good news.
Have a pleasant day and evening!
Photo from one year ago today, August 3, 2021:
Hi Jess,
So many sympathies with the insect bites. I have exactly the same problem with all insects both in France and now midges in Yorkshire. Ice packs do help but I too have found that hot water from the shower or a hot flannel brings some temporary relief,along with antihistamine pills daily and prescribed cortisone cream – still takes some days to get any relief. Plus, like you, repellant every time I am out gardening – they love hot sweaty humans apparently! I use Mosquito Milk roll on which is good and you only have to put it on in stripes – should last 12 hours! Love, Caro
Caro, they don’t have that product here, Mosquito Milk roll. I will look online. It’s such a problem. I experienced some of the bites while we were in England and worse in Morocco in 2013. I’ll never forget that time! Hope you both are well.
Much love,
Jess & Tom