sting reaction

[fincaazul]

Only the fourth sting, not been at this long then?

Wouldn,t be too worried about the swelling, but blisters???
Probably something to brighten your Doctors day tomorrow.
Let us all know if it drops off!

had sting on ankle last season which reacted similarly.Doctor diagnosed cellulitis. Needed 7 days antibiotics then all fine again. Seems the sting site had become infected. No problem now.

 

[jackbee]

"I have a theory the body has some sort of 'system memory'. "

you might be right. perhaps that might explain why vaccination works!!!!!

except he's talking about a localised reaction at the site of the previous sting, probably localised memory would be a better description.

I've had the same, a sting on the upper arm resulted in a tingle/itch at a previous sting site on the opposite hand

 

[Chris Luck]

Many moons ago I was bitten in the calf by a suspected rabid dog in India. Fortunately I was near what passes as civilisation and was able to receive the required series of injections...

....but having then been in Sri Lanka for several months I returned to the same location where I had received the bite and my leg reacted severely at the point were it had been bitten just as we arrived.

So, Psychosomatic or what? Did my body remember the place? It may be similar to your sting syndrome.

Chris

 

[drstitson]

"had sting on ankle last season which reacted similarly.Doctor diagnosed cellulitis. Needed 7 days antibiotics then all fine again. Seems the sting site had become infected. No problem now."

rapid changes are not infection/cellulitis.

a good going LOCAL sting reaction may take upto 48hrs or more to peak. and at least a similar time to go resolve. i have a photographic series of just that in my presentation for newbeeks (i got myself stung on face and arm specially for the task).

i'm not saying that stings can't get infected BUT most docs won't have seen much in the way of proper stings (if any) - i hadn't until i became a beek; 15+ years after qualifying.

so a red swollen limb that develops over 2 days and takes upto a week to "respond" to antibiotics is more than likely just a normal sting (albeit quite a bad one) doing what it does.

DOI: synchronous multiple stings to sole of foot and subsequent horsefly bite to knee of same leg has an interesting result to say the least - had to wear oversized theatre clogs/crocs at work for 10 days.

 

[DaveJNeal]

Just curious, does anyone take antihist preventatively ( ie, suit on, tablest swallowed, gloves on, etc ) ?

I'm fairly sure I saw it somewhere but cant find it now of course.

cheers

DaveN

 

[drstitson]

yes. lots do.

 

[REDWOOD]

Bee stings fine even on the head but horsefly bites I swell like a balloon and itch for weeks after

 

[Karol]

"had sting on ankle last season which reacted similarly.Doctor diagnosed cellulitis. Needed 7 days antibiotics then all fine again. Seems the sting site had become infected. No problem now."

rapid changes are not infection/cellulitis.

a good going LOCAL sting reaction may take upto 48hrs or more to peak. and at least a similar time to go resolve. i have a photographic series of just that in my presentation for newbeeks (i got myself stung on face and arm specially for the task).

i'm not saying that stings can't get infected BUT most docs won't have seen much in the way of proper stings (if any) - i hadn't until i became a beek; 15+ years after qualifying.

so a red swollen limb that develops over 2 days and takes upto a week to "respond" to antibiotics is more than likely just a normal sting (albeit quite a bad one) doing what it does.

DOI: synchronous multiple stings to sole of foot and subsequent horsefly bite to knee of same leg has an interesting result to say the least - had to wear oversized theatre clogs/crocs at work for 10 days.

Not sure I entirely agree. Depends on the pathogen as to how quickly the infection spreads. MRSA (necrotizing fasciitis) can kill within 48 hours if not caught early. Admittedly it's rare but there are a few cases each year. Antibiotics have other properties besides being bactericidal. One of those properties being anti-inlammatory. Tight swelling will prevent proper perfusion of the wound which if then infected will be much harder to treat so empirical treatment with an antibiotic is the correct course of treatment in my professional opinion even if it is prophylactic. It is still entirely feasible to get compartment syndrome complicated by an infection which is resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and this would result in symptoms persisting for a week plus. One glove unfortunately doesn't fit all. My advice to anyone who has severe swelling is to seek medical attention to rule out compartment syndrome (at the very least) not to mention avoiding the risk of DVTs developing as a further consequence of delayed treatment.

 

[the beehive lodge]

just been to the hospital and the nurse reckons that i have had a reaction. i am sure that i am not alergic as the paing and swelling is confined to my arm and hand. got some anti biotics. she says that my reactions will get worse with each sting but i am going to have to see how i go and see if react again.
the second two stings wernet a problem and were just itchy so i am conident that this is just a one off (hopefully)

i thought that an allergic reaction was a reaction elsewhere on the body with sever types affecting breathing and eyes etc

i always take a antihistamine before going into my bees
no two sting are the same in my opinona sting every now and then must be good as it gives ones body a dose so it can be like an anti venom as with snakes and spiders
hope you feel better i was in your boat last year hang on in there

 

[drstitson]

Karol - all very valid points and applicable in ideal sensible world.
However IMHO the average beek appearing with this scenario at average GP practice, WIC or minor injuries unit (A&E in old parlance) will not have Nec Fasc or Comp Synd or DVT even considered let alone excluded.

just making the point that there is a lot more actual cellulitis diagnosed and treated out there (rather than abs prescribed for cover only as you suggest) then i believe occurs with stings (bites are a different matter).

By all means get things checked out as suggested BUT pleeeease remember that 99.99% of stings just do what they do over a period of days not minutes or hours.

I am of course still referring here to LOCAL reactions NOT systemic, which of course indicate need for medical attention.

 

[Karol]

Karol - all very valid points and applicable in ideal sensible world.
However IMHO the average beek appearing with this scenario at average GP practice, WIC or minor injuries unit (A&E in old parlance) will not have Nec Fasc or Comp Synd or DVT even considered let alone excluded.

just making the point that there is a lot more actual cellulitis diagnosed and treated out there (rather than abs prescribed for cover only as you suggest) then i believe occurs with stings (bites are a different matter).

By all means get things checked out as suggested BUT pleeeease remember that 99.99% of stings just do what they do over a period of days not minutes or hours.

I am of course still referring here to LOCAL reactions NOT systemic, which of course indicate need for medical attention.

The statistic for hymenoptera stings is actually 99.2% which sounds reassuring. The other way to look at it is that 124 stings out of 125 will result in the type of reaction that you describe - a non-threatening limited localised reaction. That still means that 1 out of 125 people stung will have a more serious reaction. Which doesn't sound too bad but the problem is that it's a numbers game that depends on the volume of stings in any given population and these numbers translate annually into 200,000 to 400,000 people seeking medical attention with 1,000 hospitalised per annum for non-Kounis events (including amputations, anaphylaxis, guillain-barre, etc) and 1,000 hospitalised for Kounis events. So, anywhere between 198,000 to 398,000 people each year get treatment for 'localised' reactions which are severe enough to warrant attention.

Cellulitis is something that needs to be caught early. Again the difficulty being poor perfusion of the fatty layers of the skin means that antibiotics don't penetrate these areas particularly well so catching an infection on a preventative basis (prophylactic use) is logical rather than waiting for a full blown (and therefore more resistant) episode to develop. I know a number of patients in whom cellulitis (resulting from stings) has taken several months to heal and in one case (admittedly in a diabetic) is now 15 months and running. From experience, if the swelling and erythema from a sting hasn't subsided within 8 hours (especially after taking an antihistamine) I would recommend getting medical attention and if it were me I'd ask for a (albeit prophylactic) course of antibiotics. Bites are different because blood sucking insects inject anticoaggulants which are not (as far as I'm aware) present in bee (or wasp) venom and this IHMO can give rise to chemical cellulitis with or without bacterial cellulitis. Again, the anti inflammatory properties of antibiotics also appear to help in this situation.

I guess because my specialty is wasp stings I'm naturally more exposed to the harsher side of these statistics which may make me more 'cautious' in my approach. I do however see a 'cavalier' approach (and by no means is that a reference to yourself) in a large number of people which in some ways resembles the same kind of flippancy that I saw in smokers when I used to provide smoking cessation services working in community. As you say, the average beek will be OK for the majority of the time and moreover, I do subscribe to the notion that beeks develop immunity and as a population anecdotally show more resistance to stings but then beeks collectively get stung millions of times a year.

There is a caveat of course in all of my postings on this subject and that is that wasp stings appear to be more hazardous than bee stings so things do have to be tempered down 'a bit' as far as beeks are concerned but that shouldn't detract from adopting a 'sensible' approach to prevention and early medical intervention.