How many bee stings is too many?

Tak

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I got stung by bumblebees five times this morning. Not bad stings... one right on my poor bum, though. :eek: I'm having a fairly mild allergic reaction. Itching, swollen, red, rash, blech. My doc said it's reacting badly to one of my medications, plus, I've been stung a few times by different types of bees before and, apparently, the antibodies from the previous stings, react with the new venom. So i get to take heavy doses of antihistamines and it should be ok by Saturday. Did everyone else know that each type of bee has it's own brand of venom and they interact oddly with each other? Learn something new every day, right?
 
Holy cow!
 
I knew the had venom but wow didn't know it was different. I am highly allergic to red wasps. Feel better soon.
 
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I remember hearing something about this a while back. I think you actually get more sensitive to bed stings over time?

All the more reason for bug repellant and staying inside :)
 
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I got stung by a honeybee when I was two. Right on my toe. Couple bumblebee stings and wasp sting over the last thirty years. Then today. I've never had an allergic reaction before. There are some antibiotics that I'm allergic to, but my tongue started to feel thick, I got a little worried. Thankfully, the antihistamines kicked in quick and now I just ache all over... plus some itchy spots.

I feel badly for the bees. Apparently, they were living in my tree that we had to cut down, so they had moved into the nearby four foot trampled, tangled grass. I've been slowly working through pulling all the grass and had 3 stings before I even knew they were there. I brushed one iffy arm as I backed away and found a fifth on my hairline.
 
I’ve never had the displeasure of being stung by a bumblebee. Let along five on the same day.

My sister was stung by a wasp 27 times while on the softball diamond during play off’s one year. I will never forget her howls from the field, it got under her uniform top and got stuck so it kept stinging her... I got my first sting last summer by a wasp as I left the pharmacy. I did nothing to it and it stung the back of my arm.

Bee’s and wasps are the worst. I no longer have any trust for any of them.
 
Unfortunately I'm pretty well versed on insect stings and their various venoms. I'm very allergic and have to carry an epi-pen. I always am afraid of wasps more than bees, because in texas the wasps are so dang agressive. They'll sting you for no reason. I had a scorpion sting that was off the charts too. My hand swelled up till I thought the skin would splint. Then there was the copperhead... we won't speak of how awful that was, so apparently snakes are on my enemy list as well.

My best advice is ice. As much as you can stand to keep the swelling down. And weirdly, the over the counter store brand antihistamines work best for me if it's not too bad a sting. Sadly living in the woods, it's not a matter of 'if' I get stung, it's 'when'.
 
Unfortunately I'm pretty well versed on insect stings and their various venoms. I'm very allergic and have to carry an epi-pen. I always am afraid of wasps more than bees, because in texas the wasps are so dang agressive. They'll sting you for no reason. I had a scorpion sting that was off the charts too. My hand swelled up till I thought the skin would splint. Then there was the copperhead... we won't speak of how awful that was, so apparently snakes are on my enemy list as well.

My best advice is ice. As much as you can stand to keep the swelling down. And weirdly, the over the counter store brand antihistamines work best for me if it's not too bad a sting. Sadly living in the woods, it's not a matter of 'if' I get stung, it's 'when'.

A copperhead! Wow! A scorpion I have, and various spiders. The scorpion one hurt. Like really hurt. I was young. Ice is a ballet dancer's best friend, so I've always had some on hand. Evelyn takes store brand zyrtec everyday for her pollen and grass allergies, so I took that and a store brand claritin that we have on hand for her bad days. Doc said to take benadryl, too, but it will make me pass out, so bedtime only. I have some hydrocortisone cream helping the rash and itching topically. These bees were out for revenge. One on my hairline, inner upper thigh, butt cheek, my ... ahem... breast, and my arm almost in my armpit. Seriously, could they have picked better places?
I’ve never had the displeasure of being stung by a bumblebee. Let along five on the same day.

My sister was stung by a wasp 27 times while on the softball diamond during play off’s one year. I will never forget her howls from the field, it got under her uniform top and got stuck so it kept stinging her... I got my first sting last summer by a wasp as I left the pharmacy. I did nothing to it and it stung the back of my arm.

Bee’s and wasps are the worst. I no longer have any trust for any of them.

Wasp stings hurt, too. I couldn't imagine that many at once. :(
 
As a child I got stung a lot! I grew up in the country, so it was sort of inevitable. The best was a bumblebee sting on my foot inside the house in the WINTER! How he lived so long I'll never know...

The worst was one summer when I was horse sitting fofor the neighbors. I leave over the fence to put the hose in the water trough and the next thing I know something stings my leg, then my arm... by this point I'm panicked and wildly swing my arms and running home. Turns out the yellowjacket got stuck in my long hair and he continued to bite/sting me a total of 5 times while he madly buzzed, scaring me further. Not a fun time.

But that was the last time I got stung until recently. In the fall a baby scorpion got me on my toe (IN MY KITCHEN!!!), and that went away pretty quickly. And a month ago I accidentally stepped on a honey bee by the pool. I was so sad I accidentally smooshed him that I didn't even care he stung me.
 
I had never been stung before a couple years ago, which is surprising considering how much time I spend in the mountains.

I was out hiking with a group (something I rarely do and this story will tell you why). We were all walking single file through a untraveled trail. The guy in front of me got stung and started yelling, BUT DIDN'T MOVE. I started getting stung and yelled at him to move and finally shoved him out of the way after being stung five times. I had what I was told was a "mild" reaction. Every sting swelled up to about a six inch diameter and they took forever to go away.
 

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