Gnat Bites or Scabies?

If your doctor couldn't tell, we certainly can't. If the doctor can give a more definitive diagnosis with a skin test, I would have the skin test.

why didn't your doctor do a biopsy and send it to the lab for determination?

If you are unsure, get a second opinion.

You might have bed bugs. Is anyone else affected?

what side affects of the medication bother you?

Do you realize that scabies isn't a BITE? But a MITE that burrows under your skin. That's what scabies is. It's not a BITE. Do you have a rash? Does your skin ITCH? What symptoms do you have that make you believe it's scabies?

Just don't have enough information to give you a better answer. Sorry.

I think you have to trust the doctor who actually looked at your skin, or find someone else for a second opinion if you don't trust her.

Reading any prescription warning list can be alarming but they are required to list every single that every possibly occurred to someone once. Short of a direct allergic reaction, I would think that a topical treatment like a cream or ointment would have far less effect on your entire body than a systemic treatment like a pill or injection. I would be inclined to try the prescription for a week or so to see if you see any improvement. If you do, then you have your diagnosis. Given that scabies is so contagious (after all, you caught it from someone else), I would think you would want to err on the side of caution and treat it so it doesn't spread to someone else. A gnat bite would not be contagious, so it seems to me that your doctor has made the prudent choice here.

If you don't trust your doctor and pharmacist, then you need to see another practitioner immediately. Please don't sit around with a potentially contagious condition because your bites didn't perfectly line up with the photos on the internet or because you got so freaked out by reading the fine print on the prescription. It's fine to ask questions of your doctor and pharmacist - and you should - and it's fine to get a second opinion.

If you have to treat your whole family and your house, you're in good company with the many moms on this site who've battled lice and sometimes needed more than one treatment. It's a pain, but if you don't do it thoroughly, then the problem just returns and spreads.

I found this from the American Academy of Dermatology
https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/contagious-skin-disea...

no, without your doctor taking a sample and testing it, there's really no way to know.
there's certainly no way for strangers on the internet to know more than the doctor who actually laid eyeballs on your skin.
how do you expect anyone to 'know for sure'?
seriously?
if your doctor doesn't know, go to a dermatologist.
every medication has side effects. if you're more afraid of them than you are the skin condition, keep on itching.
khairete
S.

I would treat it as scabies if it were me. Doctors don't usually recommend treatment involving medications or ointments unless they are pretty sure - so she must most likely think it's scabies.
Gnat marks are more swollen and can have a little bit of blood. Think of what a black fly bite is like. Generally if you have that many on your body, you'd have a clue you were being bitten. They'd also have to have access (your stomach seems kind of unlikely for gnats). That's just my experience.
I was treated for scabies as a kid - no biggie. We picked it up from hotel linens. It's essential you take the precautions about not sharing towels and washing linens - otherwise they just spread.
I would trust your doctor. They have seen scabies before. Also, I'd suggest talking to a pharmacist if you have concerns over side effects. Scabies can spread at school etc. so if it were me, I'd treat the family to avoid the possibility.

Go to a dermatologist now, so the diagnosis of scabies can be confirmed or excluded.

Scabies and the treatment process can be a nightmare. It is highly contagious and spreads like wildfire, so if you do have it, you and your family risk spreading it to everyone around you (think about your kids at school and all of the other children and school staff they come into contact with on a daily basis). You will also become miserable as the mites spread over your body and the itching intensifies. At the same time, you'll be the one to have to treat yourself and your family and wash everything in your home.

My grandmother had scabies when she was in the nursing home. It spread throughout the majority of residents, and some of the staff ended up with it. When I went to visit her, I was very cautious and didn't bring my son because he was so little at the time, and I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be touching everything.

It is not productive to come to an internet site---this or any other---to attempt to get a confirmation of any diagnosis. Please, see a dermatologist right away to have them test you so you know what you're dealing with.

I hope it is not scabies, but you need to know. Don't wait any longer. Call now, and find out what you have and what you need to do next.

I think it's super weird (and super frustrating!) that the doctor just left you with that answer. I had scabies once. And I was pregnant. Let me just spare you but it was horrible. Because I was pregnant I couldn't take the Rx, it was a nightmare.

I would go to a dermatologist ASAP and do the skin scrape. It is not hard or painful or anything and they can look right under the microscope and figure it out. I remember I had bites on my belly and back mostly, but I don't remember. Plus I also had PUPP (a pregnancy rash) AND poison ivy at the time (really it truly couldn't have gotten worse!) so it was kind of hard to tell what was what! But, yeah I would want to know for sure, especially because it's such a pain to do ALL the laundry and everything that comes with scabies.

bed bugs. fleas, gnats, scabies, mosquitoes, could be anyone of these things.. i suggest you bring your concerns to the dr and talk to them about it.

Scabies start on your hands, they burrow under your skin and live. Then everywhere you scratch you spread them. You touch your foot? The foot has scabies on it now. You scratch your nose? It has scabies too but it's dense and they won't likely get burrowed in before they die.

It truly sounds like scabies to me. BUT, the doc should have known what they looked like. Google images of scabies and see. I believe it won't hurt you to get the meds and at least try them.

I'd err on the side of caution and do the treatment. AND wash everything in hot water! Your bedding, towels, etc.

My son had what the doctor called the worst scabies infestation she had ever seen. He was SO miserable! I thought it was poison ivy and I put calomine lotion on it. What I did was give those little buggers the perfect place to lay their eggs inside my son. I felt so terrible. It was all over his torso (not on his hands, btw, after reading another post...) It took a while for him to heal, it was so bad.