There I was in the Springport Tavern raising a glass of Buzzsaw IPA to my lips when my phone went off.
Looking at who it came from I looked across the table and told "J", "I probably ought to take this."
"What do you need Kubota?" I asked.
"I got stung by a bee and it is swelling" he told me.
"Take some Benedryl" I advised.
"I did" he informed me. "I want you to look at it."
Kubota is pretty tough.
"I am in Springport. What are the symptoms?" I asked.
"My face is swelling" he said.
"Swelling?" I parroted.
"Yeah. A lot" he confirmed.
"Go to the Emergency Room" I advised.
No sooner had I raised the tall, frosty glass to my lips and taken my first sip when my phone rang again.
I looked at the display, fully expecting it to be Kubota. It wasn't. It was Belladonna.
"Did you see the picture of Kubota's face?" she asked.
"Nope" I said.
"You better get your ass to the Emergency Room!" she advised me.
Belladonna has what you call "Medical Training".
"J" had been listening since I had my phone in speaker mode.
"Don't worry about it" he said. "I will cover the bar tab."
"J" is a very good friend. He doesn't have any kids and at times like this he probably feels justified in that decision.
"Thanks. I owe you" I said as I hustled out the door.
Miscellaneous notes
Buzzsaw IPA has lots of citrus notes in the hops and is a well balanced IPA.
Epinephrine injections make some people projectile vomit.
A combination of diphenhydramine, Epinephrine and Steroids can turn a tightly stretched balloon into a human face in a half-hour.
Doc Brown wrote a script for a couple of Epi pens and scolded Kubota. "The next time this happens, whack your thigh with one of the Epi-pens (and hold it in for a FULL count of ten), chew-up and swallow a couple of diphenhydramine (she used a brand-name) and have a friend drive you STRAIGHT to the closest ER."
Kubota is not a tiny person. If a 5th percentile, adult woman can take two, 25mg diphenhydramine tablets, Kubota can easily take six.
I sent Belladonna a text thanking her for stepping in. Sometimes I need a kick in the azz.
It seems as though in my circle of friends and acquaintances that allergic reactions are getting more severe than before in all age groups. I wonder????? ---ken
ReplyDeleteMore exposures sensitize our systems. Anaphylactic shock is an immune system response. Exposure primes the system.
DeleteNot an MD, didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, just a person whose kid had allergy shots that in effect were multiple exposures to desensitize the symptoms/reaction… after all, didn’t Rasputin take multiple non-lethal doses of various poisons to build immunity/resistance?
DeleteDarned good point. Lemme look into it.
DeleteMake a paste out of water and baking soda. Thick enough to stick to the skin, thin enough to stick together. Slobber* it on the sting. Yes to the Benadryl also, but baking soda first as you will get faster relief.
ReplyDelete*Slobber: highly technical medical lating meaning "slap it on there."
I am not sure that advice should over-ride the M.D.'s advice.
DeleteKubota was stung when he sat in a lawn-chair and leaned back. He got whacked on his back, slightly below his armpit.
For one thing, it would be hard to treat a sting topically when it is on your back. For another, the venom is inside of him and being moved around by his circulatory system.
Your advice might be great for most people, but Kubota just became "not most people" today.
ERJ, I have a much milder case of reactivity to bee stings that did not manifest itself the first or second time, but has become more prevalent over the years. It has become something I am insanely aware of.
DeleteThat said, for people like Kubota that are reactive, an Epi-pen is the way to go. Even once the stinger and venom sack are removed - even almost immediately - the damage is already done.
Hopefully Kubota is okay.
Topical applications of anything will accomplish nothing in a person having a serum allergic reaction. Insect envenomation in allergic people is an Epipen and transport to a med facility.
DeleteIt is like Mother Nature asked "Did that first sting hurt? Yah? Did you learn anything? Well, you had better, because every new one will hurt worse than the last, until you swell up and Die."
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is cheaper now, but a few years ago it took a second mortgage to buy an epi pen, after the big pharma "adjusted" the delivery system of one of the cheapest drugs out there, in order to get it back on patent. They did the same thing with inhalers.
ReplyDelete$302 after discounts that the local pharmacist graciously applied after he recognized our last name.
DeleteYeah- IIRC (my wife used to keep bees) they were about 60 bucks for a two pack 10 years ago. Incidentally, I have heard it is an order of magnitude cheaper to buy the active ingredient in a bottle and use a syringe, as the $$$$$ escalation was due to the delivery system patent, not the product.
DeleteThe fire department I retired from did this several years ago. The epi-pens were mandated by the state for every emergency rig, without compensation. They were very expensive and expired quickly. After a couple years the department switched to vials and needles for each rig. The reason the state did this was because there had been a high profile child death from an anaphylactic reaction and the responding emergency vehicle didn't have one on board. Never mind that needing this is exceedingly rare. In my 28 years on this department there was only once or maybe twice this was possibly needed in 10's of thousands of calls per year. At least one of those, the patient had their own epi-pen. Sorry, I guess this turned into a rant about government over reach. Anyway, I'm glad Kubota is ok, and I agree with the vial/syringe route. It's way cheaper and easy enough to do that most bystanders could be told how to do it verbally and get it right.
DeleteRemind him to check out the epi-pen's acceptable storage environment on the info sheet. As I recall, it has to be in a dark place with a narrow temperature range. A fridge is too cold, carrying it on you in summer is borderline too hot. Maybe a thermos inside a cooler would keep it from getting too cold or hot.
ReplyDeleteI never figured out a good way to keep it handy, so left it in the house, but that won't work for Kubota.
I got nailed in the forehead and experienced a series of minor reactions: minor nausea the first day, then a day or so later my glasses pinched my nose because it was swollen, that went away, then a week or two later I developed red dots wherever my clothes touched my skin. The doc prescribed a course of oral steroids and the epi-pen, just in case, and sent me on my way.
Jim_R
As a beekeeper myself I have been stung just about everywhere but my squishy bits. There are a lot of factors at play with honeybee venom. The age and "caste" of the bee. Worker, guard, forager? The composition and "punch" will vary widely between them. Around here the time of the season has an effect also, it's been hot, and the stings are hotter.
ReplyDeletei know several beeks in the area that have had bad reactions to wasp stings, but their venom is a different story.
I do carry an Epipen in the bee truck though. I have been very fortunate in not having to use it.
And there you were, blog is fully restored. All posts look normal again.
ReplyDeleteNo images.
DeleteI think some of the "reactions " people get to stings and insect bites are due to various bacteria that creepy crawlies are harboring. I'm not allergic to wasps but I stepped on one and my foot swelled up to the point where I couldn't put a shoe on.
ReplyDeletealso;
why the whole "you will eat ze bugs" thing is a more than just insidious plot to punish humans for existing...it's a death sentence. we don't have the gut bacteria to digest bugs like birds, reptiles and other animals do.
Ouch! Glad he's okay!!!
ReplyDeleteYou don't fiddle fart around with anaphylaxis. It kills....quickly.
ReplyDeleteI was curious about epi pens so i did a little research. Checking GoodRx, it looks like 3 places (Walgreens, Target, and CVS) show them <$150 for a two pack. I did some more checking and found several references that "expired" epi pens still had a full dose (>90% of labeled dose) two years after expiration. YMMV. I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
ReplyDelete