Mosquito repellentsThe standard way to prevent mosquito bites is to apply a mosquito repellent containing DEET (diethylmetatoluamide) which was originally developed as a pesticide. [1] A study done on Everglades National Park employees in the 1980s reported that one-fourth of the employees using repellents had adverse effects such as rashes, skin irritation, numb or burning lips, nausea, headaches, dizziness and difficulty concentrating. [2] Many years ago a nurse told me about a non-toxic, inexpensive alternative to DEET. One to two hours before you expect to encounter mosquitoes, take 100 mg of vitamin B-1 (thiamine) and you will not be bitten. Mosquitoes dislike the smell of the vitamin emerging from the skin. One 100-mg tablet of B-1 is good for the whole day unless the day is extremely long. When I expected to be gardening most evenings last summer, I took a B-1 tablet every morning and never had a bite. However, this summer I got a bite at 9 pm when I had taken B-1 at 6 am. I moved taking vitamin B-1 to lunch time and was not been bitten again. If you are going to take B-1 daily for an extended period of time, be sure you also take a multiple vitamin or multi-B supplement daily so your B vitamins do not get out of balance. If B-1 seems to not be working for you, smell the tablets. I once had a bottle of B-1 that did not work, bought another brand, and when I opened the new bottle I could smell the slightly-unpleasant odor of B-1. Make sure each new bottle of vitamin B-1 has the B-vitamin odor that mosquitoes dislike. Footnotes
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