Steriod Use for Fun and Profit

Mosquitoes love me; they've always loved me. Here in Bangkok I'm averaging 2 bites a day, though at first it was much, much more. I could get away from them by staying in nicer hotels in the Farang part of town, but in Peak's old stale house, they find a way to get in.

The Thais deal with mosquitoes in a couple of ways. My second day here, covered in bites, I went into a local pharmacy where they spoke no English. Unable to ask for help, I just pointed to my bite-ridden arm, and the old kindly pharmacist man instantly recognized what was up, and got me some DEET spray. Pointing at my arm again and rubbing on it, he brought up a tube of Clobevate cream (clobetasol propionate). I had no idea what it was, but bought it anyway.

Clobetasol is a miracle drug. Now I wish I had taken pictures of the huge bites I had - the kind where the skin swells up and turns white with a quarter-sized raised bump. I laugh at such bites now. Dab some Clobevate on it and it stops itching immediately. Then, 30-60 minutes later, the bite is completely gone. I mean, there's just no trace it was ever there. I've been plagued by mosquito bites my whole life, I've tried After Bite (tm), benadryl, anything to get them to stop itching.

There is a catch, and a reason it's not available in the US. Clobetasol propionate is a very powerful topical steroid. So powerful that if one were to use it in large amounts, it would absorb through the skin and have the same effects as injecting it. Safety indications suggest that using small dabs on the skin, even in several spots, shouldn't be a problem. Coating my back with it (or perhaps my biceps, yeah!) would be a problem, but I'll avoid that for now.

Strangely enough, the cream seems to have no effect on Peak. She applies it and the bug bites continue to itch and remain. She informs me that there are several other Thai remedies for bug bites that work better. First, eat spicy food. Apparently mosquitoes hate the smell and will avoid people who've had curry, garlic, or peppers (capsaicin) lately. This is no problem for me as I love all three, and sure enough, I've been getting fewer bites over time. If a Thai person gets a bite, they'll typically rub Tiger Balm on it, which alleviates the itchiness instantly, feels great anyway, but doesn't make the bite itself go away any faster.