anaphylaxis

[Ammerbee]

is there any way one can get tested to see if one is prone to anaphylaxis?

 

[Anduril]

is there any way one can get tested to see if one is prone to anaphylaxis?

There is no test that I am aware of.

 

[B+.]

is there any way one can get tested to see if one is prone to anaphylaxis?

No, but earlier episodes can indicate that you are more likely to have a more severe reaction. People with allergic conditions, such as asthma, also appear to be more prone to severe responses.
If you are asthmatic, you may have already had immune response tests (pin-prick tests where they draw a grid on your arm and expose you to different stimuli). These wont really help you with bee sting allergy, but, they may indicate other allergens you should avoid (e.g. foodstuffs such as nuts, etc)

 

[rdmw]

You can do a specific IgE blood test to bee venom, ask your GP


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[B+.]

You can do a specific IgE blood test to bee venom, ask your GP

Good Luck with that.
We all had the test at Addenbrookes after my son died from anaphylaxis. We all had the antibody except my second son (even though we knew he had been stung).
All the test tells you is that you have the antibody, not that you're more, or less, likely to have an anaphylactic response. A pointless exercise IMO.

 

[rdmw]

I am so saddened to hear about your son. That is terrible.
Anaphylaxis is a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction mediated by mast cell bound specific IgE . The higher the specific IgE the more likely anaphylaxis is although it is possible to have high levels and not develop anaphylaxis. A total IgE and a specific IgE to bee venom is a good start to investigation but referral to an allergy physician would be the best plan.


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[B+.]

I am so saddened to hear about your son. That is terrible.
Anaphylaxis is a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction mediated by mast cell bound specific IgE . The higher the specific IgE the more likely anaphylaxis is although it is possible to have high levels and not develop anaphylaxis. A total IgE and a specific IgE to bee venom is a good start to investigation but referral to an allergy physician would be the best plan.

I appreciate that you mean well rdmw but it really doesn't help. Nothing does.
I doubt these tests are done routinely and there was no reason to suspect he would have a reaction. He was only 17 (17 days before his 18th birthday).
Every couple of months this topic comes up and we get no further forward. Everyone thinks they're an expert (for all I know you are) but none of you lived through that day the way I did. Its not theoretical for me.

 

[beebreeder]

I appreciate that you mean well rdmw but it really doesn't help. Nothing does.
I doubt these tests are done routinely and there was no reason to suspect he would have a reaction. He was only 17 (17 days before his 18th birthday).
Every couple of months this topic comes up and we get no further forward. Everyone thinks they're an expert (for all I know you are) but none of you lived through that day the way I did. Its not theoretical for me.

Having spent a day in hospital with my wife after she went into shock I have some idea of how frightening it is, she recovered but now carries two epipens around at all times, this came from nowhere, there does seem to be some unproven links that Beekeepers nearest and dearest seem to be more sensitive, someone explained it to me that they get constant su lethal doses of venom from dust of our bee suits but never enough for the body to react correctly, hence sensitivity

 

[dpearce4]

My Question would be why is the OP even asking the question?

 

[Poly Hive]

dp4?

Possibly changing your tag might be politic given this thread?

PH

 

[oliver90owner]

I am in the camp of believing we beekeepers are likely the unwary, and unfortunate, causes of sensitivity in some others. Not totally proven for sure, but I have experienced at least two cases which lead me to this conclusion.

The beekeeper from whom I bought my first hives was giving up because his wife had become sensitised and years later my wife (who got stung several times, early in my beekeeping with no more effect than swelling and itching) required blue lighted to hospital after a single sting some years later (ambulance had to pause, on the way, for administering adrenalin due to loss of blood pressure).

I put this down to my habit of storing my sting specked beesuit in the house. I also had more response to bee stings in spring. Whether due to stronger venom, or me becoming less sensitive with progressive stings, is debatable. But the tendency was noted. The possibility has been documented elsewhere and this alerted me to the possibility, but only after my wife was issued with an epipen....

RAB

 

[dpearce4]

dp4?

Possibly changing your tag might be politic given this thread?

PH

LOL before my desensitisation program with my local immune dept it did feel like that every time I got stung after having 2 bouts of time in hospital due to stings and anaphylaxis.

After my treatment I am still allergic as I will be for the rest of my life, I just don't react to it (that's how it was explained to me by my consultant). I will always have to carry my Epi pens with me as there is still the very small risk that one day I will react again.

 

[For want of a better word]

I am in the camp of believing we beekeepers are likely the unwary, and unfortunate, causes of sensitivity in some others. Not totally proven for sure, but I have experienced at least two cases which lead me to this conclusion.

The beekeeper from whom I bought my first hives was giving up because his wife had become sensitised and years later my wife (who got stung several times, early in my beekeeping with no more effect than swelling and itching) required blue lighted to hospital after a single sting some years later (ambulance had to pause, on the way, for administering adrenalin due to loss of blood pressure).

I put this down to my habit of storing my sting specked beesuit in the house. I also had more response to bee stings in spring. Whether due to stronger venom, or me becoming less sensitive with progressive stings, is debatable. But the tendency was noted. The possibility has been documented elsewhere and this alerted me to the possibility, but only after my wife was issued with an epipen....

RAB

Sensible advice from RAB or Tractor man as I have dubbed the fellow.

Advice from the Eden Unit at Derriford Hosp Plymouth was to wash my suits regularly... I now have three Sherriffs that get put directly in the washing machine after a couple of days hard graft looking after somewhat more colonies than the average!

SWMBO is now on 6 weekly ups!

Looking forward to the next 8 weeks of lambing... God you Townie 2 hivers do not know what real farming is!!

Nos da

 

[Ammerbee]

Lord! I'm so sorry...if it's not too personal, where do you find the motivation for beekeeping after such a tragic incident? I've entered the craft late in life and have all sorts of skin aliments etc, and wondered if I was doing a wise thing, but this story has rocked me

 

[B+.]

Lord! I'm so sorry...if it's not too personal, where do you find the motivation for beekeeping after such a tragic incident?

I'll be honest with you Ammerbee: when my son died, the last thing I wanted was to have anything to do with bees ever again. I just felt like I wanted to get back at them and destroy every colony. I would have done too, if it hadn't been for some members of my local association who looked after my bees for me.
It was a long time before I could even bring myself to go anywhere near them, but, gradually, I began to feel that I had to do something positive to give some meaning to it all. I couldn't let Simons death be for nothing.
Each year, when the season begins, I feel the same way. I know that I have to force myself to go to the apiary. My hands shake and I get quite upset about it. I have to suppress it and just get on with it. After a while, I get absorbed in the detail of what I have to do and it doesn't bother me quite so much....until the next spring. Then I do it all over again.
Maybe you can see now why I am so committed to bee breeding. Even then, I know that no matter how good my bees are, its just a splash in the ocean and any gain I make during my lifetime will be lost when I'm gone. Thats why I try to encourage people to assess / improve their bees. I never hold anything back and share whatever I learn. It may sound daft, but, I would give everything I have to turn back time. Even if I had to take Simons place, I would do anything to save his life.
I see a lot of comments on this forum about how lucky people are to be alive after such an event. They're right. They are....but, it worries me to think that they don't realise what a massive hole they'd leave behind if they weren't so lucky.

 

[Ammerbee]

This experience is amazing and humbling. I have a son and know I would feel the same way about him as you do about Simon. That you carry on in his name is wonderful - so few of us have a cause as noble - the more I know about the chances of myself or others getting hurt by me keeping bees, the more I think I shouldn't do it, but your story makes me feel different. It makes me want to do something like you're doing to be honest. I'm not that turned on by honey production or much of the other stuff that seems to motivate folk (although the best of luck to them for sure). But in my life I've always looked to do things that make a difference, if just a little (I tell my students if 10,000 people do 10,000 small, good things, that's a lot of good done)...I appreciate your candor in this...Simon's story is inspiring...it makes me feel like it deserves a wider audience that a great good thing can come of such loss...thank you...Brian