Could they be hives?

My guess would be hives. Sometimes I get them from stress even.

Sounds like bedbugs, make sure you wash everything in hot water and vacuum the mattress. Did you get a new mattress or travel lately?

bedbugs

It sounds like spider bites. Hives are more likely to keep occurring in the same area, and spread out from there.

I know many people aren't fans of pesticides and chemicals. However, I have severe allergies, and have very bad reactions to bug bites, especially spider bites. I spray inside my house with Ortho Home Defense. It has a very mild smell and is safe for pets/kids after it's dry. I spray it around windows, doors, baseboards, behind my headboard, etc.

Bed bugs, omg, I have a complete phobia! Have you traveled recently?

Wash all your bedding, take two Benadryl, and call me in the morning, ha ha!

Could it be fleas? Another thought, my sister kept finding bites on her in the morning (and got really worried about bed bugs). It turned out that she was getting bitten from some type of bugs (not fleas) that her dog had, that would bite, but not live on humans. I can't remember what type of bug it was, but once the dog was treated, she was fine.

Edited to add--they were dog mites (also knows as dog mange or canine scabies)

Any new bedding might be worth checking~bedspread/comforter, any pillows, new sheets. Bedbugs aren't necessarily in mattresses only, but can nest in anything fabric-like.

In case it is spiders, your safest way to keep them from you home is using cotton balls with 10 drops of 100% Pure Peppermint (essential) Oil placed around your home. We started doing this ten years ago to keep mice out of our home (we live in a country neighborhood surrounded by bean and corn fields) and it worked. We noticed later that we had virtually no spiders anymore either. I looked it up and sure enough it's suppose to deter them too. Cool, huh?

We buy ours HERE, since it's quite expensive in those little bottles sold in the health food stores.

Justgotabeme, do you put them in all four corners of a room? That sounds like a natural remedy I'd like to try. We are country folk, too :-)

They aren't bed bugs or fleas. I know what those bites look like. I had a spider bite (which got infected) a couple years ago when I was away (not in my house that time!) and these look similar I think. Just weird that a spider would be hanging around all that time through major cleaning, vacuuming, bedding changes, etc. Of course it also creeps me out. I even ripped the bed apart the first time looking for a bug!

Will try the peppermint oil. And I'm going to take the bed apart again and look for critters.

I've only seen hives once and it was more like an all-over rash. Do they look different depending on the situation?

Hives can look different with each outbreak. There are times when I have a break out and it looks like I've been in a fight and have black eyes. Then there are times when mine look like scratches (Oakley's demon thread). Horrible stuff.

ML

This is how the "bite" looks. It looks really like a mosquito bite but after I've scratched it, it gets more red and "spreads out." Hives? Or spider? And yes, I know you're not all medical experts! :)

You may want to take half a Benadryl and see if it disappears. if it does, you may have an allergy to something. (does look like a spider bite, anyone else who shares your bed getting them?)

ML

...another thing to keep in the back of your mind, don't panic. Sometimes MRSA can look like that.

It often starts by looking like a spider bite and then can disappear or grow to look like a boil.

ML

DH has been sleeping beside me every night -- no bites on him.

Here's a thought on the hives possibility. One "new" thing I have had recently is rose wine. I tried it a couple months ago after not drinking red wine in about 10 years due to headaches. But I wanted to try again, and someone told me to try rose as a "stepping stone." I have no idea if I had rose wine before the other two "bug bite" incidents, but it is a possibility. On Sun. night this week, I did have rose wine about an hour before I went to bed. On Mon., I had the bites. So this weekend, we will be away, and I'm going to drink some rose wine and see what happens! If I wake up with "bites," then I'll know they're not from a spider ... unless he hides out in my overnight bag and comes with me!

I have to do a lot of driving today so I don't want to take a Benadryl, though that is a good idea.

Wouldn't I have other symptoms with MRSA? I did see that online too. I also saw that spider bites are pretty uncommon so who knows! It is very strange.

On a continuum with spiders at one and and demons at the other, I think I would choose spiders. Love the Internet!

Your pictures do show a central area that is distinctly redder, raised and pea-sized. Unfortunately, around here that could mean ants, mosquitos, spiders or a host of other insects. Benadryl will probably help regardless of what it is/isn't.

It certainly isn't too early for mosquitoes. We were hiking yesterday in the woods yesterday in northern CT and were covered if we stopped at all.

Yes but the first time this happened to me, it was 6 or maybe even 8 weeks ago. I think if it's a bug, it is most likely a spider. I am really not happy about the idea of a spider crawling around on me while I sleep!

I just searched the bed and surrounding area again... can't see a thing. Not even a little spider web under the nightstand! Just some dust ;)

We've definitely had mosquitoes already! I will get "welts" like that sometimes after mosquito bites. They can be pretty big. It's just a histamine reaction. If you don't want to take OTC Benadryl, I have used topical creams like Allegra bug bite creams.

Benadryl also comes as a topical cream and helps with the itching. Looks like a bite to me. I think if it happens again I would go to dr just to be on the safe side. If you can't get in to your dr within a day or two I would go to a walk-in emergency clinic so they can see it at its peak. Also, would it make sense to call the vet to see if it is doggie related? It is strange that it is happening weeks apart.

Just, I am curious as well in regards to the peppermint oil. How many cotton balls do you use per room? We are in the country too. The OOP sounds like an interesting deterrent.

don't think drinking wine would cause such a localized reaction, esp on extremities.

sure looks like a little bug bite to me too! (spider bites I have seen tend to have a more pronounced 'center' tho)

your husb probably isn't as sweet as you- that's why he isn't getting bitten! (some people really do attract bugs a lot more than others!)

I think it looks like a mosquito bite, or another insect/spider, since it has a small, distinct center. Hives are more puffy and raised, like this-

And just fyi, do NOT google images of spider bites. Omg, I was going to post one for comparison, and there were all these revolting pictures of necrotic festering bites from poisonous spiders. I had to close the page :-) Don't look, it is awful!

The topical creams work OK and slower, but if they are really bad and itchy, I will take the Benadryl. Makes sense, since the reaction is internal. The problem is the more you scratch, the worse they get, so you really have to avoid scratching.

Bedbugs can bite anywhere on your body, a flea usually bites ankles and feet. Spiders don't sting unless you are threat to them, they don't like blood.

That photo above looks like a mosquito bite, some people have sweeter blood which is why some people get bit and others don't. I fall under the sweet blood category.

An anti-histamine will help with the swelling and 70% rubbing alcohol will help with the itching, it also helps keep it from getting infected. Benadryl cream works but it's expensive.

If it keeps re-occurring then I agree with some other posters that this could be a skin infection, go to a doctor and get antibiotics.

Sueb, did you look UP for spiders? Get the long vacuum wand attachment and vacuum the ceiling in the room ... just in case!

Ugh! Now I'm itching all over from reading this and seeing the photos! ;-)

Sueb, I think they are noseeum bites. Exactly same thing happened to me.

I was outside for quite awhile 2 or 3 weekends ago, when I came in I was fine. I was dirty from yardwork so I took a shower, a few hours later I noticed a couple of really itchy bites. They got a distinct raised welt and redness. I thought there were a few, the next morning there were more. The next day a few more appeared. Today, they persist although are less itchy now. If I itch them, they will get raised and red again.

I thought about talking a benadryl when they were very annoying, but I put it off one more day and now they are definitly waning.

chispa, I know, it's creepy! (And yes, I did look up!) When I had the spider bite a couple of years ago, I looked up pictures online and yes, they were nasty. In that case, it was late spring and it was one bite, so it sort of made more sense. And again for the record I was AWAY from home -- just in case people are starting to think I live in a bug-infested house. THAT bite was on my chest and got infected -- a red line started moving out from the bite area -- which was a bit scary. I did go to the dr. and was on antibiotics for a while.

I AM more susceptible to mosquito bites than anyone in my family, but it still seems odd to me that there would have been mosquitoes in my house back in March. And these bites are all bigger than my typical mosquito bite.

Depending on how these bites look tomorrow, I may pop into the dr. just to see what they think. I'm not worried, just curious! And of course slightly freaked out about the idea of spiders in my bed. Why can't they at least walk over to DH and bite him a few times too?

By any chance are you near a forested or woodsy area? Another thing one has to think about are deer ticks and possible lyme disease. have you had any fevers or fatigue?

By all means, do check your doctor.

On second thought, no it does not look like a deer tick bite. those bites have a double ring and yours does not look like that.

No. When I got the first bites we still had several feet of snow on the ground!

I always keep topical antihistamines on hand for bites, otherwise I'd dig my skin off itching. I'm OCD and cannot leave anything alone.
I'm going to start another thread on the Peppermint oil.

Spiders loved my late husband, but never bother me--but he would often pick them up with bare hands. I'd rather hold a snake. DH's spider bites usually had a little yellowish 'head' in the middle of the bite--a small bit of pus at the puncture. It's too early for chiggers (that bane of hikers and berry-pickers), especially if there was still snow on the ground when the first bites appeared.

Sounds like a Buffalo Knat. Now is the time of the year when they come out because of spring rains. They're teeny tiny, and when they bite, it swells and itches like crazy. The itch last much longer than a mosquito bite.

You can have one on you and you wouldn't know it until the redness, swelling and itching begins. And remember, just like mosquitoes, some insects like this don't bite everybody. I think it means you're healthy and the insect likes you. :)

They go away once it dries and warms up outside.

I had a bite last year when pulling up some weeds, that looked exactly like yours. On close examination I found the tell-tale double puncture marks indicating a spider bite. Once I started scratching, the evidence was gone. Did you see two side-by-side holes initially?