On Aug 7, 2005, at 3:20, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jacquie) wrote:
Suzy, most people will not have anything more than a temporarily
painful
sting from bees and wasps - an icepack will very quickly remove most
of the pain.
Yes, that's what I've always known to be true (and enjoyed the jokes
about killing a bee with an ax, when it was sitting on someone's face).
Until I got stung myself. I suppose I should have been alerted to the
fact that I might be allergic, because I'm "mildly intollerant" to
honey (as I am to milk). But, when I got stung - on the tip of my
finger (I picked up an apple to which a bee had claimed a prior
ownership <g>) - it never occured to me to do anything more than suck
the finger and put a paste of bicarb on it...
12 hrs later - 4AM - my entire arm was swollen to twice the size, and I
was worried the swelling was going to hit the armpit glands any minute,
so I woke up DH and we hightailed it to the emergency unit of the
hospital. The doctor there said that, given I was so stupid, it was
lucky I hadn't been stung anywhere around the head, since I'd have had
about half an hour instead of 12. And he was right, too; next time I
got stung was at an outdoors party (what can I say... I *do like* and
apple-smelling shampoo... <g>). Bottom tip of the ear-lobe, and, by the
time I realised what happened, got worried, reported to Severn, got him
worried, started gathering stuff to head for the hospital - maybe 15
minutes in all - I was beginning to feel a bit woozy and smiling was
becoming difficult (the facial muscles went rigid), as was swallowing
(the throat was swelling on the inside). Luckily, the hostess's DH is
highly allergic to a lot of things, so she had some high-powered meds
on hand. By the time we hit the hospital 20 minutes later (the
advantages of a small town <g>), they began to kick in, and I was
almost back to normal, so I didn't get anything else except the
prescription for the Epi-pen.
A sting on the outside of your throat is no more dangerous than most
other
places.
's not true, if you're allergic. If your throat closes because it's
swollen inside, you can't breathe, and being hit around the head gets
the venom to the throat that much faster. DH, who loves shrimp as much
as I do, is allergic to them, and we've got it down to a science as to
how many he can eat before his throat starts itching and closing - 3
medium ones. Thankfully, our son has not inherited either of our
allergies - he can pig out on shrrimp the way I can and he'd been stung
by a bee with no more than a normal "itch and a bump". Of course, he's
developed his own allergies, but living in CA and never visiting VA in
May or September has kept him breathing normally...
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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