Sunday afternoon, I discovered I have a very strong reaction to bee stings. I knew I was allergic to insect bites and I assumed that included bee stings. I've been stung by bees and wasps before, but have never had a reaction except for some swelling around the sting site.
I was mowing the backyard and apparently disturbed some bees that were swarming around the ground. I felt a sharp sting, and initially thought I may have been bitten by a snake, but as soon as I looked at my ankle, I realized it was probably a bee sting. My ankle stung a lot, but I wasn't very concerned. I continued mowing for about 20 minutes before asking Justin to finish mowing. At that point, I began itching a lot! I decided to shower. Before I jumped in the shower, I realized my lips were beginning to swell quickly. My whole body, except for my back, was itching and breaking out in a rash. I later found out those were classic hives. Justin came inside a few minutes after I began showering and I told him I thought I needed to go to the hospital.
He kept insisting I get out of the shower and go see a doctor immediately. I finished showering quickly, but much to Justin's dismay. He told me if I died it was my own fault. I dressed and we headed to an urgent care center down the road from our house. I was still very calm since I wasn't having trouble breathing. We filled out the usual paperwork before they took me back. Justin actually did the writing while I sat in the chair and scratched. Even the bottoms of my feet were itching. They took me in and initially asked if I was stung around my eye. Apparently, that was incredibly swollen. I was scratching everywhere! My face was very red and my tongue had swollen by that point and I was speaking with a lisp. I told Justin I thought my bottom lip was going to explode because it was so tight from the swelling. The only pain I had was from the actual bee sting.
Later, the nurse told me that after she took my vital signs, she immediately grabbed the doctor and insisted that he see me right then. My blood pressure was slightly elevated and my pulse was 168. A normal resting pulse for someone my age should be around 90. I did tell her I had been mowing and was probably still a little "excited" from that. The doctor came in and quickly said they would need to give me a shot of benadryl, a steroid, and a pepcid (apparently, pepcid helps with swelling). I took the pills and shot (in my tush!). The doctor initially said he wanted to shoot me with the epipen (epinephrine) because he was very concerned about my throat swelling. I asked him if I could wait and see if the benadryl helped since I wasn't having trouble breathing. They agreed to monitor me for a few minutes before using the epinephrine. After about 10 minutes, the hives started getting better and my lips began shrinking. They watched me for about 45 minutes before deciding I was ok to leave.
I have several medicines to take (steroids, benadryl, and pepcid) and I also now have to carry epipens in case this happens again. The doctor told me in the future, use the epipen, but make sure I call 911. I asked him if this would happen again if I was stung again and he assured me it most definitely would and would probably be a life threatening situation since the reaction would almost definitely be worse.
I'm doing fine now, thanks to Justin. The worst part is my ankle and tush sting. My ankle burns and stings where I was stung. My behind is just sore from the injection. Justin said she really stabbed me which shocked him since I told them how afraid of needles I was. Honestly, the bee sting hurt much worse than the needle. My eyes are still a little swollen, but everything else seems to be back to normal. I got about 90 minutes of sleep Sunday night. They told me the benadryl would probably make me sleepy. That didn't happen.
My reaction to going to the doctor reminded me of when Pam on The Office was in labor and kept coming up with reasons to not go to the hospital. I wasn't avoiding it because I was scared; I just wanted to make sure I was clean since I had been mowing. I tried to get Justin to hop in the shower while I was getting dressed since he had also been working in the yard, but he told me I was crazy.
The urgent care facility we visited is North Atlanta Urgent Care. They were great! I highly recommend them. They were fast, caring, and really seemed to know their stuff.
Hopefully, that was our excitement for the week.
I was mowing the backyard and apparently disturbed some bees that were swarming around the ground. I felt a sharp sting, and initially thought I may have been bitten by a snake, but as soon as I looked at my ankle, I realized it was probably a bee sting. My ankle stung a lot, but I wasn't very concerned. I continued mowing for about 20 minutes before asking Justin to finish mowing. At that point, I began itching a lot! I decided to shower. Before I jumped in the shower, I realized my lips were beginning to swell quickly. My whole body, except for my back, was itching and breaking out in a rash. I later found out those were classic hives. Justin came inside a few minutes after I began showering and I told him I thought I needed to go to the hospital.
He kept insisting I get out of the shower and go see a doctor immediately. I finished showering quickly, but much to Justin's dismay. He told me if I died it was my own fault. I dressed and we headed to an urgent care center down the road from our house. I was still very calm since I wasn't having trouble breathing. We filled out the usual paperwork before they took me back. Justin actually did the writing while I sat in the chair and scratched. Even the bottoms of my feet were itching. They took me in and initially asked if I was stung around my eye. Apparently, that was incredibly swollen. I was scratching everywhere! My face was very red and my tongue had swollen by that point and I was speaking with a lisp. I told Justin I thought my bottom lip was going to explode because it was so tight from the swelling. The only pain I had was from the actual bee sting.
Later, the nurse told me that after she took my vital signs, she immediately grabbed the doctor and insisted that he see me right then. My blood pressure was slightly elevated and my pulse was 168. A normal resting pulse for someone my age should be around 90. I did tell her I had been mowing and was probably still a little "excited" from that. The doctor came in and quickly said they would need to give me a shot of benadryl, a steroid, and a pepcid (apparently, pepcid helps with swelling). I took the pills and shot (in my tush!). The doctor initially said he wanted to shoot me with the epipen (epinephrine) because he was very concerned about my throat swelling. I asked him if I could wait and see if the benadryl helped since I wasn't having trouble breathing. They agreed to monitor me for a few minutes before using the epinephrine. After about 10 minutes, the hives started getting better and my lips began shrinking. They watched me for about 45 minutes before deciding I was ok to leave.
I have several medicines to take (steroids, benadryl, and pepcid) and I also now have to carry epipens in case this happens again. The doctor told me in the future, use the epipen, but make sure I call 911. I asked him if this would happen again if I was stung again and he assured me it most definitely would and would probably be a life threatening situation since the reaction would almost definitely be worse.
I'm doing fine now, thanks to Justin. The worst part is my ankle and tush sting. My ankle burns and stings where I was stung. My behind is just sore from the injection. Justin said she really stabbed me which shocked him since I told them how afraid of needles I was. Honestly, the bee sting hurt much worse than the needle. My eyes are still a little swollen, but everything else seems to be back to normal. I got about 90 minutes of sleep Sunday night. They told me the benadryl would probably make me sleepy. That didn't happen.
My reaction to going to the doctor reminded me of when Pam on The Office was in labor and kept coming up with reasons to not go to the hospital. I wasn't avoiding it because I was scared; I just wanted to make sure I was clean since I had been mowing. I tried to get Justin to hop in the shower while I was getting dressed since he had also been working in the yard, but he told me I was crazy.
The urgent care facility we visited is North Atlanta Urgent Care. They were great! I highly recommend them. They were fast, caring, and really seemed to know their stuff.
Hopefully, that was our excitement for the week.
