Fresh from the doctors....

[Poly Hive]

She told me that any person can become allergic at any time to any thing.

Ho hum......

Past non reactions are not a guide to future risk.

I am being sent for allergy testing prior to being prescribed an Epi pen.

Just thought to let you know the happy news.

PH

 

[Frisbee]

That's a bummer PH

How did it all start........gradual build up or a sudden bad reaction?

Frisbee

 

[andypigeon]

sory to hear that pete hope its not to bad. have you tryed telling your girls not to sting you( i try with mine but you know how women are LOL)

 

[Poly Hive]

Nothing really has started as such.

I took a sting on my cheek bone last week and to my astonishment it hurt very badly, eye was pouring tears, and it swelled rapidly. I have never had such a positive reaction ever, so whilst I was in the doc's about my knee, I thought to ask and was told as above that anyone can react at any time.

I thought asking for an Epi pen was the sensible thing to do and so did the Doc.

PH

 

[Polyanwood]

I'm really sorry PH. Hope there is a resolution found that means you can carry on keeping bees. Fingers crossed!

 

[Poly Hive]

Good god I am not stopping. Hell will freeze first.

PH

 

[andypigeon]

you can tell a beek from that we would all rather be swelled up than give up keeping bees

 

[Brosville]

Keep yer pecker up - if the worst comes to the worst you can have desensitisation treatment which isn't that unpleasant!

 

[grizzly]

Tonight I had my Epipen training at the local surgery and picked up two pens, the recent posts, and my own differing reactions to stings prompted me to follow this through.

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.

Chin Up PH, good luck with the tests, get the buggers to give you a couple of pens even if the results are clear.

 

[taff..]

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with my doctor to discuss it, I dont think I'm going to get far though as it seems there may be problems professionally if I'm issued an Epipen.

we'll see

 

[victor meldrew]

Nothing really has started as such.

I took a sting on my cheek bone last week and to my astonishment it hurt very badly, eye was pouring tears, and it swelled rapidly. I have never had such a positive reaction ever, so whilst I was in the doc's about my knee, I thought to ask and was told as above that anyone can react at any time.

I thought asking for an Epi pen was the sensible thing to do and so did the Doc.

PH

Nil Desperandim !
I picked a sting up on the jaw line the other day , morning after I had dewlap like a prize rabbit
I thought I'd got over my tendency to swell up but goes to show it depends on your state of health, where the sting was deployed and it's potency

Up side is , strong local reactions are usually just that 'local' and rarely become systemic leading to anaphylaxis .
As you know I do carry an epipen but thankfully in spite of years of exaggerated swelling ,I've never had to use it.
John Wilkinson

 

[Roy S]

Blimey, thats bad news.....we must have super venomous bees these days, experienced beeks are dropping like flies!

Wonder if they are evolving more potent venom to keep us out of their hives?
Funnily enough though my doctor and I were talking for about 15-20 minutes about bees today, the upshot of it is he may be at the next apiary meeting of our BKA

Glad to hear you are OK though Pete

regards

Roy

 

[Haughton Honey]

I caught one to my eyebrow a couple of days ago (which came from me not zipping up my smock properly....yes yes, it was my fault!). I was expecting to look like the Elephant Man after an hour or two, so popped an 'anti-hist' immediately and pasted the sting site with HC-45 cream.....and.....nothing. No bump, no swelling, no tenderness. I was flabbergasted, given that I thought that I'd have to live like a recluse for a week

Lucky I guess. And I fully respect the fact that it could change at any moment.

 

[shonabee]

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.

 

[tkwinston4]

Oh good luck PH and glad to hear you wont be going anywhere soon. On Wednesday evening our association had a talk from a beekeeping local GP, a beekeeping ambulance driver and also two beekeepers that have had to give up due to their severe reactions to stings and the whole evening was very interesting.
If anyone else gets the chance to attend such a meeting i would highly recommend it.

One point to note is that desensitisation did not work for either of the beeks that had to give up, hence them giving up.

I also think it made people (newbees especially) realise how dangerous our hobby can be.

It certainly made me think that just because i haven't reacted to a few stings that that will always be the case. Being a hay-fever sufferer also seems to make me more susceptible to a more severe reaction in the future.

I think the thing we all came out of with, was to remember to always always wear suitable protection.

 

[victor meldrew]

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.

You haven't been eating new bread have you ? .

John Wilkinson

 

[hedgerow pete]

on a some what differant note. epi pens are fanstatic and save many hundreds of lives each year, but it is only a teporery measure and anyone that has done a decent first aid course will know.

if anyone does get into the situation where they have to use an epi pen on someone. evan though it looks like they are having a instant recovery they still have to go to hospital afterwards, epi pens are there to help you to get to a hospital where you will need evan more treatments
************************************************************************

and as for going allergic .
after i was badly stung by wasps i have a very strong reaction to wasp stings but not to bad on bee stings. but i always were my leather gloves and a full jacket, my days of working bees wearing just shorts are long gone.

does anyone know what the chemical differances are between the two types??

 

[Hombre]

Only to the point that bee stings are acidic and wasp stings are alkaline.

 

[victor meldrew]

on a some what differant note. epi pens are fanstatic and save many hundreds of lives each year, but it is only a teporery measure and anyone that has done a decent first aid course will know.

if anyone does get into the situation where they have to use an epi pen on someone. evan though it looks like they are having a instant recovery they still have to go to hospital afterwards, epi pens are there to help you to get to a hospital where you will need evan more treatments
************************************************************************

and as for going allergic .
after i was badly stung by wasps i have a very strong reaction to wasp stings but not to bad on bee stings. but i always were my leather gloves and a full jacket, my days of working bees wearing just shorts are long gone.

does anyone know what the chemical differances are between the two types??

Anyone prescribed an epipen will (should) be made aware that it is a first aid treatment and 999 must be called after its use whether it invoked a recovery or not !!.
I have posted url for epipen instructions on this forum ad-nauseum !
Also url for accompanying video

John Wilkinson

 

[taff..]

I saw my doc this morning and after describing what happened last weekend and my concerns about if the worst should happen, I take lots of stings and go into shock, and whether or not I'd be able to physically get myself to place where I would be found.

frankly, if something should happen at the apiary, I'd probably be there for a couple of weeks before MrsTaff realises something is not right

he prescribed me the epipen, I also have to have appointments with other people for my medical categorisation stuff.

anyway, the main point of this post is, his advice is to take Piriton in the event of a sting, he specifically said to not bother with the normal one a day hay-fever type anti-histamines, they are different to Piriton, and it is Piriton that the hospital will use to treat a reaction.

the stuff has prescribed me is called Chlorphenamine which unsurprisingly is the same stuff the hospital gave me last week