this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026
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đź’‰ Can we get an anti-anesthetic plz? I want to feel the pain of bedbugs stabbing me. (mander.xyz)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by plantteacher@mander.xyz to c/publichealth@mander.xyz
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The insideous nature of parasites (mosquitos, bed bugs, wood ticks) is that they have a natural anesthetic that works on humans. So you feel nothing when they poke you, and thus you unwittingly let them carry out their attack against you.

Fuck that. Gimme some pain please. I would like to take a pill before sleeping that, for ~6 hours, will neutralise the anesthetics of bedbugs. That way I can keep an empty vial to incarcerate the vile motherfuckers that leech a blood meal out of me the moment they attack.

Before hiking in the woods, I want a pill that will neutralise tick and mosquito anesthetics for ~2—4 hours. If I can be fussy, I might still want to be able to take Ibuprofin to reduce muscle pain, ideally to bring the pain of being jabbed more to the foreground.

My search for anti-anesthetics came up mostly empty. I found this:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8850306/

But that’s way to technical for me to make any sense of it.

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[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don’t know of any by name or have proof they exist, but I feel like there are recreational drugs that enhance sensations. I don’t think they’d beat anesthesia though.

I do feel like there is some kind of drug like that that would be used in “interrogation” though. So the way Ibuprofen, that you named, works is, it reduces inflammation that can cause pain. Then you have acetaminophen (Tylenol) which reduces the signals pain receptors send to the brain. You still feel the pain, but your brain ignores some of it. It logically follows that the opposite effect is also possible, but I am not aware of a drug that actually does that that you can buy (I am also unaware of any you can’t buy, to be clear).

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Indeed I don’t have high expectations that something exists. My 1st thought was perhaps this is something that should have some R&D on it. Particularly for ticks (as early detection is critical for Lym disease). But then I figured I should first find out if something already exists.. hence the post.

Regarding inflammation, I was thinking about how part of the bedbug’s evil cocktail is not just an anesthetic, but also a chemical to vasodialate to get blood vessels opened up more. I wasn’t sure if Ibuprofin would have interplay with that.. but you’re probably right.. the anti-inflamatory would not likely counteract an anti-anesthetic.

Reminds me of a fun trick I heard about w/mosquitos. If a mosquito lands on your arm, you can pinch off your own blood supply to the arm which causes the mosquito to react by going deeper and sucking harder. Then you release your blood and let it rush, at which point the mosquito’s pipeline gets flooded and the mosquito explodes with a “pop”. Never tried it myself.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

In case of mosquitoes, body hair works pretty well, as that not only makes it harder for the mosquito to make a good perch, but also lets you feel the mosquito before it has the chance to use its chemicals.

On the other hand, it is kinda hard to make it work with stuff like ceiling fans, because the wind currents are already causing enough feeling to make it harder to differentiate between those and the mosquitoes.
When I am sleeping, most of the times, 2-3 mosquitoes have already bitten me by the time I manage to wake up.
On the other hand, I definitely feel them. So maybe the variety in my area doesn't have a good enough anaesthetic?

[–] plantteacher@mander.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I often feel mosquitos when I am awake. But certainly I wake up with new bites I was unaware of. That’s rare though. The ceiling fan is probably creates a physics problem for them. In the summer I keep a floor fan blowing on me all night long. The mosquitos have no hope of doing a cross-wind landing under such strong winds. I suppose a ceiling fan’s downward airflow might not be a problem for mosquitos.

But spring and fall are tricky because the fan can make me uncomfortably chilly, which I try to counteract by piling on more covers than I would normally need.

I was actually wondering if shaving my whole body would make it easier to feel bedbugs walking on me. Now you’ve caused me to question that idea.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 2 points 2 weeks ago

I have luckily 0 experience with bedbugs.
And for the ceiling fan, I saw mosquitoes trying hard to go above the fan, from which they then use the currents to land right onto me.
When close enough to the body, they tend to find places to hide from the currents.

That wasn't possible when the fan was at full speed (this particular one is pretty fast and I haven't seen other ceiling fans be as fast in years), but I am now unable to run it at full speed as it ends up smelling like something is burning inside which prompts me to turn it off.

[–] lefty7283@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Not really an acute thing, but there’s this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid-induced_hyperalgesia