Reaction to bee sting, again.

[van from Arkansas]

Been stung all my life, over half century.  Suddenly in 2017 I react violently to honey bee sting.  By 2018, back to normal, bee stings are not noticeable in 30 minutes.

Then 2019, several stings and all is well in 30 minutes.  Just last week stung on finger and no reaction.

Yesterday received honeybee sting on forearm and see the pic for yourself:

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[van from Arkansas]

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I have no idea why I suddenly react,  the swelling got worse than pictured after a few more hours.  I took 2 prednisone yesterday and 2 today.  The swelling is much much less.

However, in minutes, I have to go into a hiveto release a queen and check on queen castle.  This will be fun. Lol

[van from Arkansas]

2017

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[ed/La.]

That looks bad. Perhaps suit up until something changes. If you have insurance get an epipen just in case. They are $125 for two I think. Keep us informed. Hopefully you find a solution.

[FloridaGardener]

A GMO Bee stung you, Van! 

Seriously, I am sorry you had such a painful reaction.  It's probably scary to think there might be a reaction each time now.  Personally, I've had varying reactions depending on:

• If I have a sunburn and my immune system is already reacting to the burn
  If I'm able to wash the sting asap, and put Florasone or hydocortisone on it
  If I was recently stung and there is still venom in my system
  Whether it was a guard bee at peak venom strength, or a younger/older bee
  And of course, how much venom got under the skin, or worked its way around like a bruise

I hope you feel better soon.

[saltybluegrass]

They say you go through 3 stages of allergies where childhood disappears in the 20?s - Adulthood around 30 you may developers more allergies and so on.
I love the ?itchy? feeling the day after - Why?
Because I know it?s not Poison Ivy and not going to end up all over me. So it?s a less than nuisance itch

[iddee]

When my son had a full body reaction, we sent him to an allergist for testing. The doc said there are 2 types of reaction. A blood, and a skin. My son had the blood reaction. He would only react if the sting was on or near a major vein. Maybe that's what you had.  Ask a doc.

[Nock]

Dang Van. Be careful. Hopefully it will pass like before.

[Donovan J]

Probably a bigger than average amount of venom was injected leading to a bigger reaction. Yikes!

[Ben Framed]

iddeeS answer sounds logical to me. His advise along with,  ed/La encouragement of the epipen,  just to be safe. Iddee, What was the doctors remedy to the blood reaction?

[incognito]

Probably a bigger than average amount of venom was injected leading to a bigger reaction. Yikes!

Not necessarily. Van's reactions to the venom could be getting worse.

[Ben Framed]

Mr Van, what did you try to help remedy the problem? Jim has suggested here on the forum of using  Benadryl cream along with Cortizone cream if I remember correctly.  Last year someone recommended using Benadryl tablet along with Zantac. I wish I could remember who recommended this because it was very commendable. I believe this person worked in the ER at the hospital but please don?t quote me. I apologize to the person who recommended this. As to the person who recommended this, Please  forgive me and take credit if you read this as credit is deserved.

UPDATE
I found it and I quote

Vikingcnp
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Re: Went into anaphylaxis yesterday- what now?
? Reply #21 on: June 03, 2018, 04:08:59 pm ?
Quote
I am not practicing outside of my scope. I am a nurse practitioner but not in primary care.

Always have Benadryl with you. Personally I would take a 25mg dose about 15 minutes before starting work on the hives.

Always have Zantac with you. If you are stung you can take Zantac along with another Benadryl as it is an H2 blocker.

Zantac and Benadryl are evidence based approaches to preventing the histamine cascade.

This is a trick I learned from an ER doc in the reserves.

Your going through desensitization and having an epi pen is a smart move.

Wishing you the best.

[iddee]

No remedy. Just carry benadryl and an epi-pen.

[Kathyp]

That's the way all mine look.  Sometimes I swell up so much the skin weeps. 

Two things to try.  1. take Loratadine before you work the hives or do removals and 2. keep some liquid Benedryl with you and if you get stung take a swig right away.  The only time I don't do 2 is if I have a long drive, but I take it as soon as I am home. 

I find the combination of the two reduced the reaction.  The liquid Benedryl gets into you more quickly and because it is the child dose you can take that swig and not worry too much about how much you are taking. 

[Fishing-Nut]

I get stung a good bit and barely notice anything withing an hour or so. BUT....one time I was moving some hives in the rain. I had a homemade nuc box/swarm trap that I had drilled a hole in for the entrance...I had a helper with me and I told him to plug the hole with a stick or something.  Next time I looked at that nuc box i saw a 3 ft stick hanging out of the entrance. It was pouring down rain, I was aggravated and didnt even think twice about grabbing that stick, pulling it out and breaking it down to a reasonable size without first shaking the bees off of it. When I grabbed that stick and wrapped my hand around it I got stung on the callus of my hand. I do construction and carpentry so I've got pretty big calluses.  I figured it wouldnt do much because of where the sting was located.  My hand swelled up so bad that I almost went to the hospital.  It continued to swell into the next day to the point that I could hardly move my fingers and my hand looked like someone had blown up a rubber glove. Needless to say I suit and glove up now.....every time.