Bee Stings - Bad reactions

[madasafish]

What would the opinion be for very little reaction to facial stings? I had an open veil moment on an aggressive colony a while ago, well over 20 stings to cranium, forehead, cheeks, nose and lips. As expected the lip was swollen for a day but rest of me was fine after an hour or so.
Guess this makes me abnormal

Then I am too..

When cutting grass, first sting ever on the septum This am...hurt like xxxx.. No swelling (1% hydrocortisone cream),, but tears in my eyes and right nostril hurt for 30 minutes)... (but then I am used to 70-80 stings a year, YTD count 45).

Backs of hands swell still with multiple stings , especially directly over a vein..

 

[Thymallus]

(but then I am used to 70-80 stings a year,

My local well adapted bees were giving me similar results. Only one hive left to re-queen....but my queen rearing this year has been crap! But not had a nasal sting to date. Although there was that lunatic student project that found the most painful place to be stung was inside the nose.

 

[Dave /Oscroft]

sting on eye brow

weekend before last I got a sting on the eyebrow, not very nice, looked like i'd had a row with the Mrs and came off worst !

Dave

 

[dpearce4]

weekend before last I got a sting on the eyebrow, not very nice, looked like i'd had a row with the Mrs and came off worst !

Dave

I normally do

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What would the opinion be for very little reaction to facial stings? I had an open veil moment on an aggressive colony a while ago, well over 20 stings to cranium, forehead, cheeks, nose and lips. As expected the lip was swollen for a day but rest of me was fine after an hour or so.
Guess this makes me abnormal

That makes two of us then - stings to the face and head have no effect on me - got stung on the nose yesterday (bleeding cataracts - i sometimes have to push the veil close to mu face to study something in detail), smarted for about two minutes, then nothing, not even a mark.

 

[Thymallus]

(bleeding cataracts - i.

Aye, something my optician tells me I have to look forward to. I can't wait!

 

[Obee1]

My son did. He's buried in the local cemetery

So sorry for your loss

Obee

 

[For want of a better word]

Bee stings can and do kill... I react badly to facial stings.. my poor wife suffers anafalaxis and has twice gone into shock.. which is a 999 call.
Poor lass carries the statutory kit including two Eppipens......

A REMINDER .... EPPIPENS ARE FOR SHOCK... TO HOLD BLOOD PRESSURE UP WHILST EMERGENCY AID IS ON ITS WAY... they are not a cure-all for bee stings! and should not be administered unless prescribed.

We lost a friend and beekeeper a couple of years ago in Plymouth... he foolhardily opened a colony without wearing a full beesuit.. in fact bare to the chest... he did have an underlying and undiagnosed heart problem.. made a lot of us sit up and think.

Not suffered it myself, but has anyone gotten stung on the happy sacks???... OUCH


Yeghes da

 

[Obee1]

Bee stings can and do kill... I react badly to facial stings.. my poor wife suffers anafalaxis and has twice gone into shock.. which is a 999 call.
Poor lass carries the statutory kit including two Eppipens......

A REMINDER .... EPPIPENS ARE FOR SHOCK... TO HOLD BLOOD PRESSURE UP WHILST EMERGENCY AID IS ON ITS WAY... they are not a cure-all for bee stings! and should not be administered unless prescribed.

We lost a friend and beekeeper a couple of years ago in Plymouth... he foolhardily opened a colony without wearing a full beesuit.. in fact bare to the chest... he did have an underlying and undiagnosed heart problem.. made a lot of us sit up and think.

Not suffered it myself, but has anyone gotten stung on the happy sacks???... OUCH


Yeghes da

I'm betting they would be unhappy sacks if they were stung. Mick jagger tried to enlarge his penis with a bee sting. Allegedly.
Men...... Really?

 

[For want of a better word]

I'm betting they would be unhappy sacks if they were stung. Mick jagger tried to enlarge his penis with a bee sting. Allegedly.
Men...... Really?

Thought that was P J Proby????... some lads should be more careful where thay stick their tallywacker!

!((HM will be having an eppi by now!)

Yeghes da

 

[einsteinagogo]

Luckily, I do not have anaphylaxis, so bee stings are not life threatening, that said they hurt and a react with severe swelling and cell death.

I was stung above the eye (my fault as I got within 6ft of a hive while wearing aftershave - learn by your mistakes :-/ ) the swelling advanced down my face and after 24hrs I could not open my eye (after a doctors visit resulting in Steroids and Antihistamines - it took 48 further hrs to get my eye open).

I was stung on the edge of finger nail (through my gloves - my fault again as gloves too thin - now bought thicker gloves with gauntlets) this time there was some swelling, but also a big blood blister grew about 1cm away from the sting site, and both sides of the finger went purple too; 3 weeks on and the site of the blister has not healed over.

I refuse to give up beekeeping, but am now much more careful with the right gear, have Antihistamines available at all times and am hoping my body will react less crazily as it get used to the venom (only had 5 stings so far).

Has anyone else had/heard of similar reactions to bee venom?

My history...

June 2013 - stung on the temple - no reaction - it just hurt. (bee crashed into head in garden near hive) - no suit - watching bees to close!

July 2013 - stung on inner thigh (almost near knackers!) - hot, itching swelling for a few days. not too bad. - Too near with the flymo! - again no suit.

August 2013 - too many stings to wrist, and head - head hurt, slight swelling to head, wrist sore, blood was drawn at the site, that many stings - following day, arm swollen up to elbow, like Mitchell-in man, could not bend arm or hand, and both eyes closed, and look like klingon. - quacks for Oral Steroids and Anti-hystamines. - Bees went mad! - suit on! - gloves full of bees! (fine the next day!) Swelling took 24 hours to reach it's maximum.

May 2014 - stung on foot - no reaction - collecting swarm at office, suited with gloves, but no wellington boots!

Aug 2014 - stung on forehead at BBQ! - eye closed, forehead like klingon - oral steroids, anti-hystamines from Dr. (he didn't think serious, and advised take a anti-hystamines before bee-stuff)

Oct 2014 - stung on hand, end of year Oct 2014 - no reaction

May 2015 - stung on middle finger, ouch, it hurt, full inspections, and maniuplations - slight swelling to finger, and back of hand. Probably back to normal on day 3, after sting. - Took a single anti-hystamines after sting.

Dr said, stings to head, are probably worst places, because not a lot of flesh, on the head, so swelling moves...

 

[einsteinagogo]

Bee stings can and do kill... I react badly to facial stings.. my poor wife suffers anafalaxis and has twice gone into shock.. which is a 999 call.
Poor lass carries the statutory kit including two Eppipens......

A REMINDER .... EPPIPENS ARE FOR SHOCK... TO HOLD BLOOD PRESSURE UP WHILST EMERGENCY AID IS ON ITS WAY... they are not a cure-all for bee stings! and should not be administered unless prescribed.

We lost a friend and beekeeper a couple of years ago in Plymouth... he foolhardily opened a colony without wearing a full beesuit.. in fact bare to the chest... he did have an underlying and undiagnosed heart problem.. made a lot of us sit up and think.

Not suffered it myself, but has anyone gotten stung on the happy sacks???... OUCH


Yeghes da

see this research:-

This guy stung himself, at different parts of the body....

The most painful sites were the penis shaft (7.3), upper lip (8.7) and nostril (9.0). “

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic...aces-to-get-stung-by-a-bee-nostril-lip-penis/

 

[Karol]

Bee stings can and do kill...

We lost a friend and beekeeper a couple of years ago in Plymouth... he foolhardily opened a colony without wearing a full beesuit.. in fact bare to the chest... he did have an underlying and undiagnosed heart problem.. made a lot of us sit up and think.


Yeghes da

And there in lies one of the hidden dangers with hymenoptera stings and why contrary to the doc I would always recommend having chlorpheniramine to hand. It is quite possible that it may have helped save his life. Kounis is a much miss diagnosed complication of stings that is slowly gaining the recognition that it deserves. Anyone with atherosclerosis or with a fitted stent is at heightened risk.

 

[drstitson]

"What sort of Dr are you?

There is a presentation by Prof. John Warner OBE here http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/what-i...and-symptoms#3"

I am a pathologist and so see the ultimate end result of anaphylaxis!

Your link was very useful for everybody as the page clearly states the features of anaphylaxis.

Localised swelling, no matter how severe is NOT anaphylaxis.

anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction to something.
a swollen face due to a local sting is NORMAL.
difficulty breathing after a sting on the head or any of the other systemic features listed IS anaphylaxis.

DOI: OH has developed anaphylactic response to bee stings. what she gets is in no way the same or related to the swollen limb or face that we all get on a daily basis.

convincing a GP that your normal sting reaction is an allergy and getting prescribed an epipen could kill you if you use the pen after a simple sting.
unfortunately it takes a near miss before an epipen is justified.

likewise everyone getting given antibiotics for a developing swelling 12, 24 or 36 hrs post definite bee sting - it is highly highly unlikely to be an infection/cellulitis and is just the normal progress of the sting. the fact is resolves over 3-5 days on antibiotics is a coincidence.

 

[drstitson]

"there in lies one of the hidden dangers with hymenoptera stings and why contrary to the doc I would always recommend having chlorpheniramine to hand."

karol - nowhere have i said do not take (or have access to) antihistamines for dealing with the acute stage of stings reaction.

my response to the OP was that seeking delayed medical attention and treatment for a normal developing reaction after 24hrs was IMHO unnecessary. Note OP described the face as swollen and eye closed for a further 48 hrs with treatment, exactly as i would expect without.

OTC generic antihistamines are cheap as chips, especially when superdrug do a 2-4-1 offer.
definitely keep a pack in your suit or otherwise to hand.

 

[Hivemaker.]

a swollen face due to a local sting is NORMAL.

Does this make those that don't suffer from swelling after being stung abnormal?

what she gets is in no way the same or related to the swollen limb or face that we all get on a daily basis.

Not all suffer from swelling after being stung by bees.

 

[For want of a better word]

Localised swelling, no matter how severe is NOT anaphylaxis.

Whole chapter on bee sting myths and magic needs to be written up in the Great Book of Beekeeping Myths... and should take as much importance on the myth that Native bees vanished after the Acarine plague of the 29th Century!

I have one Lady beekeeper acquaintance who never seems to react to bee stings... but suffers anaphylaxis after a sting from the common nettle... another foreign plant imported on Roman chariot wheels no doubt!!

Yeghes da

 

[maddydog]

Areas of my body that have suffered repeated stings (fingers) have no swelling and just a little black dot. New areas (calf - last week) swell up for a few days and are a bit painful and itchy. A sting to the shaft of the penis doesn't bare thinking about....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm betting they would be unhappy sacks if they were stung. Mick jagger tried to enlarge his penis with a bee sting. Allegedly.
Men...... Really?

I wish mine was nine inches long...............................................


Instead of this monster I have in my trousers

 

[B+.]

Localised swelling, no matter how severe is NOT anaphylaxis.

anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction to something.
a swollen face due to a local sting is NORMAL.
difficulty breathing after a sting on the head or any of the other systemic features listed IS anaphylaxis.

That is the point I am trying to get across. I feel there is an attempt, whether deliberate or not, to trivialise anaphylaxis by associating it with minor/localised reactions. It isn't. It is a systemic reaction. It is very serious and, as I said in post #2, one which I have seen up close and personal.
To those who have received desensitisation, I say: you are very lucky. You have been given a second chance at life. Don't waste it. Also, don't take it for granted. You will always be at risk just as anyone with asthma or other allergy problem is at risk. It isn't a "Get out of Jail free" card. and it doesn't mean you have carte blanche to take stupid risks. Think of the effect on your families if you were no longer around.
My son had never had an allergic reaction to bee stings but he did have asthma. He didn't get a second chance.