Help - I don't want to give up beekeeping yet.

[chairman dave]

Thanks Phillip
Thats a great explanation
I just bought a better bee suit and I'm glad
Its odd how someone can be stung hundreds of times for years no problem, and then out of nowhere -- curtains

Re the doctors covering themselves
I can usually tell when a posh politician expects a caning
You can see a book shaped bulge down the back of their trousers

I had three heart attacks in May 2014. On the third admission, I told the NHS doctor that I suspected H.A.P.E so he said; ''Well. Alright then. We'll get an x-ray done''.

Unfortunately for me, the same doctor went off duty so I never did get the appropriate treatment.

[Bridget]

Hi
How much venom is in those test is it just a minute amount ?

The dog is very troublesome I think he might have heard me reading Daves post
I found him in the kitchen fiddling with the cooker
He is a short haired Bavarian Biscuit Hound they are very clever

No idea how much. I expect it probably very diluted.
Luckily for our dog we are not on main
Gas. However he does lie in front of a closed up coal fire. Tbh that thread of the posts left me a bit confused. I love the sound of a Bavarian biscuit hound . Mine is all terrier, a cross of Norfolk and PJR



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[gavin]

Can anyone tell me though if someone had a severe reaction once would that mean it will always happen ?
Could a less severe sting, say on the hand just have a normal reaction ?

The desensitisation treatment is to inject you with venom, very small quantities at first then increasing to about two stings' worth. Your body adjusts during the 12 weeks of that. So that implies that a very brief sting with little venom injected *might* go quite well after your anaphylaxis. However it would be unwise to do that in an uncontrolled way and without a medical practitioner looking over you surrounded by rooms with loads of kit that should bring you back to life if need be. (Don't worry Bridget, almost never happens.)

The injection is deeper than a bee reaches so you feel it less and I can confirm that Mr Gardiner is the most gentle injector I've come across .

I don't know the answer to that but maybe someone who has undergone the full treatment would give us the answer to that. How have they got on with bee stings after treatment.
I had to have a specialist check out that I was indeed allergic to bee stings after my reaction. He took blood and also put 4 little injections of something just under the skin, one of which was bee venom and that was the one that reacted though when he did it I didn't know which was which.

Stings after treatment? You head on out after the course knowing that your body is OK with about two stings and you face the bees with only a small amount of trepidation. In almost every case you are cured but there is the very unusual case when the individual needs to go through it again. Very very rare but it does happen. One, a family member of someone on here, was going through that very thing at the same time as my desensitisation.

These exceptions really are very rare so don't worry about them. For almost everyone the whole thing is quite pleasant and you come out not having to worry about the issue ever again. I owe them a lot.

[Bridget]

Thanks Gavin. Very reassuring . Just got to prod this doctor again into getting organised.


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[Calluna4u]

One, a family member of someone on here, was going through that very thing at the same time as my desensitisation.

Yes Gavin, and as you also know it only partially worked for him even the second time around....he was in treatment in total for 6 years.

However.....his initial RAST test results were described by Prof Lipworth as 'quite extraordinary' (quite a statement to come from a major national expert) and the course was embarked on more in hope than expectation. After 2 full rounds of the treatment he still scored a 4 on the test. That's a level that will get you onto the course almost without question as it remains dangerous. I was decided at that point that further efforts would not be worthwhile.

His is a special situation, where he even gets a skin rash if honey touches him, so there will be little or no correlation to what anyone on the forum is likely to encounter.

My daughter, who started off as a 4 on the RAST test, was completely successful, and is able to work bees at a commercial level when required to do so and is my probable successor. She has had multiple stings on occasions since then and does not react any worse than I do.

[Neils]

Can anyone tell me though if someone had a severe reaction once would that mean it will always happen ?

Having been learned well by those in the legal profession I do feel that I need to say outright that I am not a Doctor of history, let alone medicine, and this is purely an account of my experience...

I had a very bad reaction to a sting a few years back, in fact I think there's a thread about it on this very forum somewhere. It was bad enough that I had to ask someone to take me to A&E having progressed through "bloke" symptoms (I'm hot, I'm hungover, It was an old bee, It was an African bee, I wanted to sit down, my legs are tired, being sick is natural, this isn't going away) to finally thinking that I should probably do something about it. industrial strength antihistamines and steroids followed and then sent home.

I couldn't get a referral to the allergy people, I could get a pair of thick gloves and an epi-pen. I spent two years being ultra careful and not getting stung and then I eventually got complacent and was naturally stung on the lip right away... Nothing. I've been stung a lot since then and, if anything, my reactions are now close to none existent regardless of where I get stung. Previously I'd swell up like a balloon regardless.

Do I need to re-iterate that bit about not being a Dr again? No? Good.

From my experience, no it doesn't mean it will always happen but while I was looked after in my journey though the NHS the message was consistent: "Oh, you probably know more about this than we do..." and my GP was far happier to prescribe me an Epi-Pen than allow me to get tested to determine whether I was really allergic.

I don't have a ready explanation either other than I was doing an inspection and took a particularly painful sting to the finger.

[The Drone Ranger]

I had three heart attacks in May 2014. On the third admission, I told the NHS doctor that I suspected H.A.P.E so he said; ''Well. Alright then. We'll get an x-ray done''.

Unfortunately for me, the same doctor went off duty so I never did get the appropriate treatment.

Dave it took me a couple of goes to find H.A.P.E it said high altitude pulmonary edema ?

My neighbour didn't get up Machu Picchu on holiday ,I think he is a bit lazy (sorry Frank)
http://www.incatrail-machupicchu.com...-sickness.html

If only he followed the advice "chewing coca leaves"
He could have run up the trail and lost a few pounds at the same time

Sorry to hear about the heart problems Dave hope its all under control now
John

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Neils
That's good ifo and very encouraging for some people

"I eventually got complacent and was naturally stung on the lip right away... Nothing. I've been stung a lot since then and, if anything, my reactions are now close to none existent regardless of where I get stung. Previously I'd swell up like a balloon regardless.

Just a tip
If you fancy eating a bit of honeycomb check for bees first

My own reactions are confined to a few cuss words and the occasional bit of Morris dancing if they are in the suit

[madasafish]

I keep bare handed - started that way in 2010 and continued. I count my stings - sad I know - average around 70/year but last year 83. After some mild discomfort in early years, I am now virtually immune to swelling. Was stung on the septum last year - exquisite pain for 30 minutes but no swellings...

Early part of the hurts as immunity wears off over winter :-)

I do use marigolds for nasty colonies.. our Association Apiary bees seem to dislike me...:-(

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi madasafish
I use the thin medical gloves rather than marigolds which are a bit thick
Bees can sting through them but they hardly ever do, and they don't seem to be able to deliver more than a slight jab
In the height of Summer two pairs one under another over saves getting sweaty palms in to a new pair
All propolis and gunk stays on glove and gets taken off before next hive (good for lots of reasons)

Up the nose really hurts and its even worse if you scrape the sting off with a hive tool (as recommended on BBKA)