Fresh from the doctors....

[davethegas]

PH

Good to hear you are ok Pete. Probably swollen a lot due to thin flesh on the site. Take care. Dtg.

 

[Silly Bee]

That's grim. Hopefully will be easily resolved.

I got stung on my tummy last year, and it still looks swollen! My whole tummy, that is, not just the sting site. Have been trying to eat as many pies as possible to force any remaining venom out. Can't imagine why I have large tum still.

Have you been eating new bread, Have you had a pregnancy test?

 

[MuswellMetro]

lolz

My doctor hasn't even bothered to get back to me. i rang him for advice, he wasn't available right then but just hasn't bothered to return my call. I can see it being very difficult getting him to prescribe a pen. I should have changed docs a while back really as he isn't very good. Just not got around to it.

Epi pens are dangerous unless you really do go into shock, most doctors dont like precribing them, but if you persist you may get one,,,mine wont issue me one....just have to run away fast, if they get agressive

 

[MrMicawber]

I was stung a lot in a couple of nasty incidents when I started beekeeping - I'm talking about thirty odd stings in a couple of minutes - and reacted with a bit of painful localised swelling and generally feeling a tad beaten up, but that was it.

Things are much better now, due to re-queening the bees and a vast improvement in my own skills, and a sting is a rarity.

But I got nailed on the finger at the start of the year at a friend's hive, and had a touch of anaphylaxis that I had never experienced before.

About five minutes after the sting - woosh, flushed, sweating, shaky, itchy scalp, slight tingle in lips and tongue, also a strangely fearful feeling which I discovered later after looking up the symptoms on Wikki is a well known thing described in the textbooks as 'a feeling of impending doom'! There was no hint of any breathing difficulty or immediate swelling.

I confess I was wondering where the symptoms were heading at the time, but it cleared after about 20 minutes and I never felt as if I was in danger of being overwhelmed by it.

The last of the symptoms were chased away in the old fashioned way by a couple of **** and a cup of strong, sweet tea.

Spoke to the doc about an EpiPen and he said no. He explained that what I was feeling was a mild anaphylactic reaction to the venom, which is a world away from the full on shock version and just to be more careful. I could, however, easily kill myself with an ill judged use of the 'pen.

Got nailed again a couple of days ago having moved some hives at night in the car.

Driving away, veil off but suit still on, after finishing the job a dopey bee which must have hitched a ride on the outside of one of the boxes crawled up my suit unseen in the darkness and stung me under the chin.

The same symptoms reared their head but again, soon passed.

It's not going to stop me keeping bees, obviously, and after speaking to the doc I do not think I am being reckless, but it is a bit of a bind and from now on temperament is going to be the No1 priority in my colonies.

I'm not too bothered about stingless bees, but if anyone knows of a strain of venom-less honey bees then I'd be more than interested!

 

[oliver90owner]

Question might be: are you, or had you recently, taking any medication?

Ibuprofen is implicated in this context.

Regards, RAB

 

[drstitson]

allergy?

The OP sounds like they just had a "normal" local reaction to a decent dose of venom in a particularly unpleasant place NOT a systemic allergic reaction.

A serious reaction to multiple full stings is not an allergic reaction.

Yes - one can develop allergies at any time.

"And i was also informed that your body does NOT build up a resistance to Bee Stings over time, it does in fact make you more LIKELY to have an allergic reaction. Something to bear in mind for those of us who say it will never happen to me."

Once you start having allergic reactions then yes you are likely to progress down a slippery slope.

However, multiple exposure to increasing doses under medical supervision (crash trolley handy etc etc) is what is used to desensitise allergic individuals, so cumulative dose is not problem per se.

So yes, the more stings you get the more likely you are to develop an allergy (say the chance is a constant 1/1,000 for every sting - unlucky after only one sting, not uncommon after 500).

 

[drstitson]

silly bee

re shonabee

"Have been trying to eat as many pies as possible to force any remaining venom out. Can't imagine why I have large tum still"

The whole post is not serious and intended as such - re-read the last 2 sentences (above).

 

[kazmcc]

The OP sounds like they just had a "normal" local reaction to a decent dose of venom in a particularly unpleasant place NOT a systemic allergic reaction.

A serious reaction to multiple full stings is not an allergic reaction.

Yes - one can develop allergies at any time.

"And i was also informed that your body does NOT build up a resistance to Bee Stings over time, it does in fact make you more LIKELY to have an allergic reaction. Something to bear in mind for those of us who say it will never happen to me."

Once you start having allergic reactions then yes you are likely to progress down a slippery slope.

However, multiple exposure to increasing doses under medical supervision (crash trolley handy etc etc) is what is used to desensitise allergic individuals, so cumulative dose is not problem per se.

So yes, the more stings you get the more likely you are to develop an allergy (say the chance is a constant 1/1,000 for every sting - unlucky after only one sting, not uncommon after 500).

I have never been stung in my life, by anything, but carrying the suits away from an inspection,, I must have picked up an old sting. I didn't notice, and it must have been there for about an hour, as I only noticed it after getting home and while checking my emails. My only worry is that I had started to feel a bit ill, like when you've not eaten that day but magnified. It turned into sweating, dizziness and just feeling really tired. I had to sit down as I felt so dizzy. There was no breathlessness. There was no irritation on the sting site either. The bees had badly stung our mentor the night before, and on checking his suit ( I wash them all ) I found it was covered in dried stings.

My question is this? How would you think I would react to a full on zap? I know some people can feel ill with stings, but is the lack of breathlessness a good sign? What would you recommend? My doctor refused to listen when I told him about the ibuprofen side effects, he said that's what they'd give someone who came in with a sting as it's an anti inflammatory.

 

[winmag270]

could it just be the anxiety of "what might happen if / when i get stung", kaz?

 

[kazmcc]

Oh, I'm sure that will add to it. The thing is, I started to feel unwell before I noticed the dried up sting. I didn't even recognise it was a sting, until later when I was washing the suits and spotted loads ( well, about 15 - 20 ) of them identical to what I'd found in my arm all over one of the suits. Our metor had been stung 17 times the night before, down his pants, lol, as he only had a smock on. I hadn't even seen a picture of a sting at that point.