\"I Was Stung By Three Wasps\".....

Health: A Question of Health: `I Was Stung By Three Wasps and Each Sting Swelled Up to the Size of a Plate'
Wasp worry

I react badly to insect bites and stings. A horse-fly bite will spread steadily over two days until it covers the whole of my thigh or lower leg. The swollen area is dark red, almost liver-coloured, and hot to the touch. The advice given by a practice nurse is to elevate the limb and apply ice, but this treatment is not successful, and the bite area remains swollen and the discolouration lasts several weeks. When I was aged one, and then when I was 21, I was stung by wasps and had a mild reaction. When I was 32 I was stung by three wasps simultaneously and each sting spread rapidly to become the size of a plate. I was given antibiotics and Piriton and told to seek medical advice immediately the next time I was stung. Three years ago I was stung again and the local A&E department gave me Piriton and steroids. The sting did not spread and I suffered no discomfort. I had an IgE (allergy) test and was told that I had "only localised reactions" and was "at low risk of having a systemic reaction". Then last summer I was stung on my upper arm, and the bite spread quickly from shoulder to elbow. My doctor is at loss, and I am concerned, as each reaction is worse than the last.

I can understand your worry - I too would be worried if my whole arm swelled up each time I had an insect bite. Allergy specialists categorise the reaction to insect bites as either local or systemic. Local means that the reaction is confined to the site of the bite (although this may mean quite a wide area). Systemic means that other parts of the body are affected, such as the throat, the tongue and even the heart and circulatory system. Systemic reactions are considered much more serious, because they can be fatal. But local reactions can still be very unpleasant and painful. It sounds as though the only time you managed to survive a bite without a serious reaction was the time that you were given steroids in the A&E department. These are very effective in suppressing the body's immunological reaction: it's not the bite itself that is causing your problem - it's the way your body reacts (or over-reacts) to it. At the very least I would suggest that you use a strong steroid cream as soon as you are bitten. Another option would be to have an emergency supply of steroid tablets. I suspect that if you took a short sharp dose of steroids (40 mg prednisolone) as soon as you were bitten, you would be much less likely to react so severely.

(Am I the only person at a loss after reading this?)
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]