Face sting - Allergic Reaction or Not?

[Grandma_DOG]

I've been doing beekeeping for about 4 years, including cutouts and I get stung alot. With no apparent allergic reactions.

Last night I went to go pick up a hive and a bee got in my suit and stung me above the eye on the brow line. I rarely take a face sting. I couldn't get the stinger out for a couple of minutes so I got a full dose. Normally, I'd expect that side of the face to swell up, which it did. Also, within 2 minutes my allergies kicked in hard with my nose running. Thought that was an odd reaction.

But about half an hour later, I feel something in my throat and realize my glottal (little punching bag) has swelled to twice its normal size. It was hard to talk. Yet, My throat felt fine and not constricting, but I was alarmed enough to stop and buy Benadryl to abate any allergic reaction.

When I got home, I researched that it is the glottal that swells up to obstruct airflow with allergic reactions.  So has anyone else taken face stings and had minor glotal swelling? Or have I reached a point I'm allergic, but not yet highly?

[deknow]

the "punching bag" is the uvula, not the glottis (which is further down).

deknow

[Hemlock]

I've taken numerous stings to the scalp & neck.  Never had too much swelling.  The face is different though.  Maybe the venom could have seeped down your head into the nose & throat area.  Like blood from a black eye can seep to the other eye.  I hope one of the medically trained beeks can answer this.

[JP]

I would advise getting checked by your doctor for sensitivity, that seemed awfully close to anaphylactic symptoms. Also kind of far away for your nose to be running from a brow sting.


I get stung in the jugular every now and then and that side of the neck swells a little but mainly the vein will feel bruised for a day or two.

Good luck!


...JP

[Jim134]

Go to a doctor for a sensitivity test to honeybees!!!!!!!!


   BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[AllenF]

Wait a week then go catch a bee and let her sting you in the same place and see if you nose runs this time.   Save the doctor trip.   :-D

[L Daxon]

I'm no doctor so don't take anything I say as gospel, but it sounds to me like it had more to do with where you were stung than the fact that you were stung, i.e. if you get stung pretty often without reaction and then get stung on the face with a throat reaction.

I also think each sting is different. Sometimes the stinger will get you real good and sometimes it is more like a nick with little venom getting into the body.

My doctor son told me to take any sting above the neck more seriously than one on the lower body.

I got a nick this spring for the first time in 20 years on my thigh with little reaction.  Then I got a direct hit on my hand two weeks later and had full body hives and major swelling.  Since then I have been stung at least 10 times (including one time where I was stung twice--once on the ear and once on the neck) with virtually no reaction.  So go figure. 

I think if you have ever had a serious reaction it is important to have liquid Benadryl, if not an epi-pen on hand as a precaution.

[vmmartin]

Not sure about the allergic part or not. But, I did have two get under a veil one time and they both lit on my face. One on the side of my nose and the other on the forehead. Looked like I had been in a fight the next day. Facial stings seem to sell more.

[Grandma_DOG]

Here is what my doctor said:

The face has 'compartments' of tissue. Divided up, basically. Some are larger masses of tissue than others. When the bee venom hits a small compartment, it swells worse than a larger compartment.  ie. if I was stung on my thigh, it is not as bad as a lip.  These compartments are also highly connected with blood flow, so the toxin will be pumped out to adjoining tissues fairly soon. My uvula just got unlucky and swelled. He described it as a 2 liter bottle without a cap filled with water thrown in a swimming pool. If you put a drop of red dye (venom) in the bottle; the bottle will be red then slowly the dye will seep out to the pool via the opening. Eventually, the dye is homogeneous in the entire pool.

He suspects my reaction was angioedema (tissue swelling) caused by 2 factors.
1. I took a full sting since I couldn't remove the stinger for a minute.
2.  the toxin hit a small compartment and the uvula was the only tissue body i could tell swelled.

He also said there is almost no chance I'm allergic to stings given how many i receive.  :) However, because I have been taking sudafed, some medications may increase sensitivity to stings, but he wasn't sure. (Rumor has it that those that end in 'phen' are one of those type) That is the department of a toxicologist and beyond him.

Oh, and I should mention he is a radiologist, but also an old friend who I occasionally wrangle into helping pull supers off of hives.

[JP]

Good of you to get checked out. Those stings you can't take out for a while are the worst, had one in my stomach once for half a day, looked pretty bad, all bruised up looking.

Here's to your next sting update!  :-D


...JP

[phill]

I think there could be another factor. Other beekeepers tend to dismiss what I'm about to say, but my doctor confirms that it makes sense.

My theory is this: You could be allergic to some plant from which your bees were gathering pollen.

I usually have a normal/mild reaction to stings. But every now and then-- especially toward the end of the season-- a sting makes me swell up much more than usual. I realize every sting is different, and later in the season you're more likely to be stung by an older bee who's collected more toxin. But this tends to happen in goldenrod season, and I know that I'm allergic to goldenrod. It makes sense to me that if a bee has been dragging her stinger around stores of goldenrod pollen, and then stings me, I could get a trace of the goldenrod along with the venom.

In the old-fashioned allergy tests, the doctor would make a lot of scratches on your arm, put a drop of a different allergen on each scratch, and see which ones flared up. It just seems reasonable to me that a sting could produce the same result. If I'm right, a very unusual reaction to a sting might point to another factor.

Does anybody else out there have either medical knowledge or experience with allergies, to confirm or deny this theory?

[VolunteerK9]

I also think each sting is different. Sometimes the stinger will get you real good and sometimes it is more like a nick with little venom getting into the body.

I agree. I think it had more to do with the location than anything, but I have noticed that each sting is different. I was stung several times while trying my first cut out without any effects. A month or so later, I got zapped one time on the foot and within minutes started getting the itchy, tingling sensation all over. I wouldn't necessarily rush to the doctor, but a script for an epi and a bottle of liquid benadryl would probably be in order.

[hardwood]

I take stings almost every day and rarely have much reaction at all. Last year though I was stung in the jugular vein and within 15mins or so my whole body started to itch. It started with my arms/armpits and moved progressively down my torso into my legs. I told my wife to keep a close eye on me thinking this might be that sudden allergic reaction that you hear of in some beeks.

I guess the venom had entered directly into my vein?? Within an hour or so it was gone.

Scott

[tandemrx]

I agree with your radiologist (except for the drug sensitivity part - as pseudoephedrine if anything would blunt the allergic response, being a drug that is an alpha/beta adrenergic agonist, similar in some ways to epinephrine - although pseudoephedrine shouldn't be used to treat allergic reactions).

Facial stings are just more likely to swell more and much of the tissue is more susceptible to problems if it swells (shoulder swells 1/2 inch, no problem, throat swell 1/2 inch . . . problem).

I got it between the eyes last year and swelling was impressive - eye about shut, nose looked like a bull (more like a bull  ;)).  I am not "allergic", but depending on where I get stung the swelling is more noticeable/problematic.  The compartment analogy is a good one.  If my fingers get stung, they look like hot dogs - I hardly notice a sting to my shoulder or leg (except for that horrible itching the next couple days).

Whether you are allergic or not, depending on how much time you spend around bees you can always do what I do . . . I take a non-sedating antihistamine prior to going to the bee yard (no more than once a day).  I take generic loratadine (claritin, alavert), but zyrtec would be o.k. (I think a tiny bit more sedating pharmacologically than loratadine, but still much less so than benadryl).

Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, particularly for allergic responses . . . tough to block histamine that is already attached to receptors and causing swelling - a lot easier to block it if the blocker is already around!

tandemrx (pharmacist, but obviously you should check with your medical care provider for personal medical info)

[Kathyp]

I take generic loratadine (claritin, alavert), but zyrtec would be o.k. (I think a tiny bit more sedating pharmacologically than loratadine, but still much less so than benadryl).

this is great advice and i don't remember if i thanked you for it earlier.  i started following this rec after you posted it the first time.  my sting reactions are awesome  :evil: and now when i do removals or swarms, i pop the loratadine before and keep the benadryl for later if i need it.

[tandemrx]

Kathyp,

seems like a great plan!

During my fall inspection by our state inspector I watched him take a good dozen stings to his hands and was in awe that he could tolerate that (he says they only bother him if he gets stung under a nail).  Of course his hands are so calloused that I wonder if the sting actually reaches any soft tissue!).

He even took off his veil/bee suit during the inspection because it was windy and his veil kept getting knocked around.  that worried me because there were certainly lots of bees in the air and even the most non-reactive could get in trouble with a bee down the throat  :shock: (as unlikely as that would be)