Posted: 8/30/2007 5:28:32 AM EDT
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Who here is allergic to bees? My husband just got stung on his foot two or more times. It has been all swollen for almost 2 days, he is finally going to the doc today. He put ice on it and took benadryl but still it's sore and swollen. I have never really been stung before and am not allergic as far as I know. So what do you do when you get stung? Will the docs be able to help? How long will it stay swollen? |
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There are degrees of allergic reaction. If you sense that you are in respiratory distress AT ALL - you go go to the ER or emergency treatment facility, pronto. All bee stings hurt and swell. Benedryl is a good choice for those without severe reactions. It will past slowly over a few hours. Keep it cool, release any restrictive clothing between the heart and the site to allow good blood flow. |
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First, how old is he? Second, is he diabetic? It's not an issue Benadryl or the doctor will fix, there's essentially a poison in your body you've got to break down. I always found making a baking soda paste and putting it on helps it. Generally, its just going to take some time. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear. |
| A hard sting is going to swell and be painful for several days. If he was going to have a serious allergic reaction he would have had it by now. When I get stung I make sure to scrape out the stinger with a credit card (pulling it out with a tweezer may force in more venom) and put some baking soda paste on the sting. I'm not a physician, but that's what works for me. |
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The doctor will probably give him an injection of a steriod at the sting site. This should drop the swelling considerably in an hour or two. <amazing> I'm not particularly allergic to stings, but I got a bad one on my hand a few years ago when I was trimming a hedge and got into a yellow jacket nest. My hand swelled up like a catcher's mit. The next morning I went to an emergency clinic and the doctor gave me a shot of some steroid at the sting site and the swelling went down like magic.  Be careful that there are no other problems like tightness in the throat and chest area, clenching of teeth, or difficulty breathing. |
Thanks your answer is what I wanted to hear. He is definately not deathly allegric, but the swelling is out of control so I hope the doc will just give him a shot and like you said magically disapate the swelling. |
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I swell pretty bad when i get stung. My doc gave me a prescription for the EpiPen. That thing works wonders on me. The down side to the EpiPen is that you may have to administer the shot yourself. After doing about 3 on myself i can no longer do it. I have to have someone put it in my leg. If you have ever watched the movie Crank, you kinda feel jittery from the Epinephrin like in the movie 20-30 minutes after taking the shot. Oh and your thigh hurts like hell for the rest of the day. ETA: I might add, the EpiPen works great on other insect alergic reactions. I was mowing under an apple tree and one of those catipillars with the poisonous spikes landed on my neck. I had about 100 little spots swell up pretty good and the EpiPen took them down in about 20 minutes. |
Really that's crazy? He is hoping to get a script for the Epipen incase it happens again, as he works in construction and restores old buildings that have nasty bees nests everywhere  I hope he doesn't have a problem using it.
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Lol. If he works with someone else, they usually have no problem getting an opportunity to jab a needle into his leg. At least that’s been my experience. 
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Yea I am sure one of the guys won't mind doing that for him lol. Well he just got out of the doc and they didn't do shit for him, I am so mad. He called and talked to a nurse first and she told him he better go up for an appt then they just tell him don't work today and keep it elevated. Assholes! And I don't think they gave him a Rx for the Epipen. waste of his time that was |
That sound like typical Doctor procedure. I had to make an appointment to get the prescription just so the doc can get your money on the visit. In my experience, the doc talks to you for maybe 5-10 minutes about the symptoms and how your doing. All it is is bla bla bla then he gets you the prescription. Waste of time and money but if you need the shot, it's worth it imho. |
Nope they didn't even give him an prescription. Worthelss bastards! |
If you get stung, immediately flush the area with your urine. Sounds icky but it works. ETA: This won't help if you're allergic to bee stings, but it will help significantly if you don't want it to swell up or piss you off for several weeks. |
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I think we had a State Trooper die here not long ago from a bee sting even after using two Epi-pens.  Edit for a news clip.
Some say bee, some say wasp, some say yellow jacket, depends on the link.  |
I'd say he had the worst kind of allergic reation to the bees. I believe he was indoors and a bee came inside and got him. Poor guy.  I know for me the Epipen takes a good 20-30 minutes to reverse the swelling. |
+10 Such a quick and easy remedy. Works for wasps too. A few days ago I was stung on the earlobe. Held a slice of onion on it with ear muffs, and did some mowing. In seconds the hot burning sensation was gone, and after 15 minutes I wouldn't have believed I'd been stung at all. |
You NEED to get to another doctor and get a prescription. If that's his first sting and he swelled up like that, he could be in deep shit next time. THe first time I got stung, it was on the foot and it swelled up like a mother. THen after a few days, skin started peeling off it. doctors told me I was severely allergic and gave me 4-5 epipens. Told me to use it next time. I got stung again, was pretty close to a hospital and went in. I almost didn't make it. I have about 15 minutes before my throat closes off. Every time he gets stung, it'll get worse. You build up a reaction to them and they will get progressively worse. If you want to see something funny, walk into a crowded emergency room with sick people hacking all over, broken arms, blood on people and tell the triage nurse you just got stung and your chest is tightening. They stop right there, stand you up and march you back in the back. You look perfectly healthy and you get a lot of WTF?!?!?! looks from the people with visible injuries. I always feel kind of bad but if I sit there, I die. |
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yea he went to his normal doc but of course didn't see him saw some other schmoe who just told him to not work today and keep it elevated. Acted like he was just looking for drugs my husband said We have a lot of junkies around here that go to that health center so I know how the docs are they but what the hell kinda drugs would you want for a bee sting ya know. My husband said he has been stung a bunch of times and it never bothered him til he got stung on his achilies(sp?) tendon like two years ago it swelled massive, and now this. It is getting progressively worse and I think he should get a second opinion. I am so mad right now and he is too. He can barely walk. Anyways, I am really frustrated, it's always something with him getting hurt at work one way or another. Very frustrating. And he does not get paid when he misses work either Stupid bees!!! |
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I have actually used a snake bite kit on a wasp sting before. It helped remove some of the poison, making recovery time shorter. Also, cigarette tobacco moistened with saliva applied directly to the sting site helps to reduce the stinging sensation somewhat. As far as allergies go, there are two reactions your body has. One is a tolerance, the other is a resistance. This is best illustrated by cases where people die from a single sting late in life, but were beekeepers years before the fatal sting event. A working beekeeper can be stung fairly frequently, and the body develops a high tolerance as well as a high resistance. The tolerance mitigates the body's reaction. After they stop their beekeeping activites for a number of years, their tolerance drops down to normal levels, but their resistance remains high. When theyare stung years later by a single bee, the body's violent resistance reaction is not hindered by a tolerance, and they can quickly go into shock and die. |
 I hear ya on the stuid bees.I must have been stung many times prior to my first swelling. I started swelling at age 20-21~. I also became alergic to shell fish . For some reason my body change around that age. I guess it happens......As someone stated above, get the EpiPen ASAP, the reactions could get worse as time goes on. It hasn't for me yet but im only 25. Go see a good family doctor, have him explain what is going on to the doc and he should have no problem getting an EpiPen. My doctor actually gave me an EpiPen to get by until I got the Rx filled. He's a good guy. You just got to find a good family doctor. |
| Reactions to stings can kill as stated. I carry two epi's in my truck and have them stashed in my house,camper,etc. Get the Dr. to write 3 seperate prescriptions for the 2 pack epi's, the co pay will be the same. That will give you six. Having liquid benadrly is good also. |
Thanks! Our actually doctor is a wicked good guy and would have no problem filling the Rx for an Epipen it's trying to get an appt with him that sucks. My husband is so pissed anyway he is switching offices and doctors. He is only 25 too and this is by far the worst sting yet he said. It's just swelling around teh sting luckily no throat swelling or anything but still. He can't work today, he is limping around and can't do shit, and it hurts. I feel bad. His body has definately changed I guess and I hope he can get the Epipen incase for next time
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