First adult sting, Have I reacted?

[Brigsy]

I'd carry any medications necessary to ensure your safety. I'd possibly speak to a doctor and take their suggestions. It will help with you in the long run with your bee keeping.

Yes thank you. I am going to see someone hopefully soon.

 

[Obee1]

In my experience you will wait a very long time to get referred to the allergy clinic - and let's hope you aren't allergic as the advice I was given was don't keep bees. They will only fund treatment here if you are a pest controller or farmer who cannot avoid contact with bees.

But till you get tested you need to take the suggested precautions.

 

[Brigsy]

Thanks.

 

[dpearce4]

In my experience you will wait a very long time to get referred to the allergy clinic - and let's hope you aren't allergic as the advice I was given was don't keep bees. They will only fund treatment here if you are a pest controller or farmer who cannot avoid contact with bees.

But till you get tested you need to take the suggested precautions.

Makes a change that the English NHS is better than the Welsh. Here as long as you can be referred by ur GP its quite quick. Brighton hospital has upwards of 30 people going through treatment at any one time and it takes 3 years so trust me its not easy.

if you want to know how long and whats involved look at my thread that I did while going through it.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21905

Personally I think what the OP has described is not an allergic reaction it sounds like it was surprise and then the OP subconsciously getting stressed causing the reaction the OP described.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

dunno about that - know a hobbyist beek down near here who was seen pretty quickly. All depends on whether your GP wants to spend his money or not I suppose.

 

[Brigsy]

Makes a change that the English NHS is better than the Welsh. Here as long as you can be referred by ur GP its quite quick. Brighton hospital has upwards of 30 people going through treatment at any one time and it takes 3 years so trust me its not easy.

if you want to know how long and whats involved look at my thread that I did while going through it.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21905

Personally I think what the OP has described is not an allergic reaction it sounds like it was surprise and then the OP subconsciously getting stressed causing the reaction the OP described.

I think you are probably right. I think it was a surprise and my adrenaline kicked in hard.

I get the same feeling after hard exertion doing sparring in martial arts etc on reflection.

I am awaiting a call back from an allergy specialist to be on the safe side.

Thanks again guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[psafloyd]

Ok classic method.

As above I would suggest you have company and a phone and antihistimine next visit to be sure. You may find the next one is a non event and have a long and hopefully happy experience with your bees or.........it may turn nasty.

It may be useful to consult your GP but one can pretty much predict the conversation there. Don't do it... would be the advice me thinks....

PH

I have found that if I am dehydrated (easy this time of year) I get a worse reaction. If I am not, I hardly notice them.

 

[Headnavigator]

I suspect if you are having a reaction requiring medical treatment you will be aware of it pretty quickly.
I have never had any problems with stings, though to be clear I usually take an antihistamine tablet before I go to the bees if I'm doing anything other than a normal inspection. Saturday afternoon I was not beekeeping but was stung near my eye while doing some gardening, and I knew within two minutes that I needed my partner to take me to A&E straight away as this was a systemic reaction and not localised to the eye. It involved extreme itching, redness and puffiness of my hands and feet which then spread, difficulty swallowing and pressure on my chest. I was fast-tracked into treatment and kept under obs for three hours or so, by which time my pulse and blood pressure were returning to normal and (being late Saturday night) I was discharged with a five-day course of antihistamines and steroids.
My GP has arranged to see me next week and I guess there are some difficult decisions to be made. I feel pretty down as all the family reckon this is the point at which I should give up beekeeping.

 

[Brigsy]

I'm sorry to hear that and glad you have quickly recovered.

 

[Luka22]

I feel pretty down as all the family reckon this is the point at which I should give up beekeeping.

I am really sorry to hear that and hope there is still a solution for this. I had a similar reaction last year. I got stung on the head, but the whole body reacted within minutes. The feed started to itch and the hands. I had been stung month before on the hand and it looked like my body remembered and the hand started to swell up again. I had red spots around the body and started to shake. I did not get any breathing problems, but because we are about 25min away from A&E, I asked my partner to better get me there, since we did not knew what might happen next. A&E was a bit strange, I was shaking in front of them and they wanted to get through their form first. at least they had a quick check after about 30min waiting and decided to give me 8 tablets to swallow. After that the shaking stopped. It took another 4 hours when I finally saw the doctor and his advice was that I should stop keeping bees. What a solution. I asked him to give me an Epi pen, since we were living very remote, but he said since I did not stop breathing, I won't need an Epi pen. So in his eyes, my body is very sensitive to stings, but I am not allergic and therefore won't get a pen. I did get tablets for another 3 more days and they were so great that I saved 1 day for next time when I have such a severe reaction and I am too far away from A&E.

I found his reaction a bit strange. After that I decided that I will need better equipment, if I don't want to stop. I bought a full Sheriff suit, so no more climbing under the jacket. I double check that everything is closed proper and that there are no holes in the veil. I use Wellingtons and suit inside them, so no climbing from the bottom. The only problem now is gloves. I was looking at the thick blue Latex/rubber gloves, but my Hands are tiny and the smallest of them still too big, which I think is size 6 and I would need 5, well so they managed to sting me twice this year so far. As soon this happens, I take Piriton, Rescue Remedy and a Hydrocortisone Cream. Last time I had no Piriton with me but an onion and I put that on the hand and this helped extremely well. The swelling and itching was a lot better, so I guess I should always carry an onion with me as well. But anyway, since I now know that they can sting through my gloves, I now were cheap one time rubber gloves under my gloves and on the last stings they did not get through. So all in all, I don't want to give up beekeeping and if I can protect myself till they can not sting me anymore, I will do that

 

[Headnavigator]

Thanks for your encouragement, Luka, so sorry to hear that you've been through it too! Yes, I always gown up pretty comprehensively in a Sherriff suit since I had a 'break-in' with a cheap suit as a beginner. I too have small hands but wear leather gloves with long, long canvas sleeves and long-cuff purple nitriles over the top, this seems to work well as long as I keep my eyes open for any clingers when I go indoors and disrobe! I'll wait to see what my GP says next week. Just had to make the first decision a couple of minutes ago when someone phoned me to get a swarm. Ho hum!

 

[Karol]

Been reading this thread with more than a little interest.

Brigsy you might not have had an allergic reaction in the classic sense but it is entirely feasible that you've had a Kounis syndrome reaction which can manifest itself a bit like a panic attack.

Kounis syndrome occurs when mast cells in the body are activated as part of an allergic reaction. When activated mast cells can cause vasospasm especially of the blood vessels supplying the heart. At the lower end of the spectrum this may cause symptoms similar to an anxiety attack.

The problem with bee (and especially wasp) venom is that the venom can activate mast cells in the absence of an allergic reaction in which case you'll only exhibit the cardiovascular symptoms. Make sure you carry Piriton tablets with you to be safe.

 

[Brigsy]

That's very interesting thank you. Never heard of that. I am seeing a specialist tomorrow.

 

[Karol]

May also be worth asking about something called mastocytosis which is basically overactive mast cells.

Don't be surprised if your specialist doesn't fully appreciate innate activation of mast cells via toll like receptors by mast cell degranulating toxins found in hymenoptera venom.

 

[Brigsy]

Both noted thanks

 

[Headnavigator]

So now I know what the long pocket on my bee suit is for

Seen my GP and been referred for desensitisation treatment, so I'm very grateful for the 'sticky' on here that gives me an idea what to expect.
Two Epipens to be carried at all times (ah that's what the long pocket is for!) and a useful bit of advice from a very experienced beekeeper friend - little as I like it - 'don't go out in the garden on your own' as I might not be found for hours. I'm still suffering from the systemic reaction I had a couple of weeks ago now so I'm inclined to take this a little more seriously than I might. It walloped my immune system to such an extent that I still have something very much akin to flu with an exploding head and pain in all my joints, don't think I've ever felt so ill. I'm normally disgustingly fit and I don't think I've even had a proper cold for years so this is a bit of a shock. Has anyone else had longer-term effects like this?
I've been around bees all my life, this is the last thing I expected.

 

[Brigsy]

Sorry to hear that. I've just had the opposite: the results of my blood test were negative and no epipen needed.

He did drill it into me though that the only thing you can do wrong with an epipen is not use it.

 

[Swarm]

He did drill it into me though that the only thing you can do wrong with an epipen is not use it.

Oh really?
I'll get the popcorn out ...

 

[Brigsy]

I'm only going on what the Dr told me. Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Seen my GP and been referred for desensitisation treatment, so I'm very grateful for the 'sticky' on here that gives me an idea what to expect.
Two Epipens to be carried at all times (ah that's what the long pocket is for!) and a useful bit of advice from a very experienced beekeeper friend - little as I like it - 'don't go out in the garden on your own' as I might not be found for hours. I'm still suffering from the systemic reaction I had a couple of weeks ago now so I'm inclined to take this a little more seriously than I might. It walloped my immune system to such an extent that I still have something very much akin to flu with an exploding head and pain in all my joints, don't think I've ever felt so ill. I'm normally disgustingly fit and I don't think I've even had a proper cold for years so this is a bit of a shock. Has anyone else had longer-term effects like this?
I've been around bees all my life, this is the last thing I expected.

It might be worth labelling that pocket as the one that contains the epipen - you don't want other people having to spend time looking for it if you ever need it.

Out of interest, have you had any tick bites lately?