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Nat4b - The Wasp Sting

12 years ago

What happened? Did the ice help? did you go to a doctor? Is it better?

kay

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Comments (10)

nat4b
12 years ago
Thanks for your concern Kay. Thanks Lisa, Betty, Nate on the other thread.
My husband got stung by a wasp and it got worse. He refused the ice, but got to the doctor today and got two shots.
My father used to catch them with bare hands and it never bothered him. Different people different reactions..
bambi_too
12 years ago
You really need to be careful. I was never really affected by stings but a few years ago I got stung and had a very bad reaction. I keep "sting sticks" handy now and benedryl just for the occasion. I get stung about twice a season. The "sting sticks" are little ampules with cottom in one end that surround a glass ampule, you crush the glass ampule and squeeze it until the cotton is moist and swab the sting area, the relief is nearly instant. Then I take some Benedryl.

Be especially careful if you have potted plants, I have had yellow jackets use the drainage holes in the sides near the bottom for enterance ways and build nests in them. You probably won't even notice them until you move the pot and by the time you do you will be surrounded by them trying to sting you.
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Gee, thanks guys! I appreciate all your replies. At this point, I realize that this has become a phobia for me & that as organica pointed out, chances are that I probably won't be stung again. But I can't remember a year when it was as bad as it is right now here. Of course, we live out in the country & this comes along with all the beautiful views & clean air. It's just something we have to put up with, or go back to the concrete jungle. Still, with global warming & the increase of CO2 in our atmosphere, this may just be another symptom of our sick planet. I know the poison ivy around here has gone NUTS this year due to this & probably the fireblight on my 2 pear trees, too. But I'm still looking for things that I can do to tip the balance in my favor. This is what I've found so far: probably nothing can be "done" to change anything until the first freeze, so going out at sunset, as fishymamas (love that name!) suggested is what I have been doing. Also, if you put out traps in the spring (which you can make yourself with plastic soda bottles), you may get the queen & avoid a major nest being built nearby & giving you problems later in the summer. I might try that one. Lilacs in may (& others): if you have a known sensitivity to bug bites, you may want to consult your doctor for a presciption for an Epi-Pen, an self-injectable dose of epinephrine to keep in your refrigerator just in case you have a major allegeric meltdown from a sting & can't get help in time. It just might save your life. Hottomato: I actually do have some Avon Skin So Soft -- the old kind -- but I didn't think to use it because I had read that it really didn't have any ingredients to repel pests. Also, you're not supposed to wear any sweet-smelling perfume because that's a turn-on to these creatures as well. But reading the labels on the DEET & Picardin products say that they repel mostly mosquitos, ticks, fleas, deer flies -- nothing about wasps, hornets, yellow jackets or bees. So there you are. I still think going out at sunset is my best bet. Finally, Ruthieg & gonefishin, I've seen those big banana-colored spiders in our family gardens for most of my life & I just tend to steer clear of them & peacefully co-exist (can't we all just get along??). Of course, spiders, wasps, hornets, etc. -- all these critters are doing us a favor by eating mosquitos & other tiny pests, so we owe them our gratitude rather than our fear. I know that rationally, but it's still going to be a while before I venture outdoors unafraid. Anyway, thanks for ALL of your comments & ideas & moral support. I appreciate it! Laurene
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Lorna, why did you take your hummer feeder down, because of the ants? You could have just purchased an ant moat to go on top of it or purchase a feeder that has an ant moat. Is there a problem with killing ants too, are they beneficial, cause here at my home I have millions that invade my yards and land and even my home every single year. I was told I have several colonies. I think sometimes they live in my walls. As far as wasps go, they like to build around my back door, they do not bother my hummer feeders, like the ants used to. But......they do get into my house a lot since they build right next to the back door. And there is nothing like having flying wasps in your home, along with ants. I do nothing about either, except kill them when they are in my home.....and use an ant moat for my feeders. Now if I was getting wasps on my feeders, I would probably do something about that. Whenever my daughter tries to weed eat, she get hoarded by bees and gets stung sometimes. I suppose it is the kind that burrow in the ground. She is 16 and scared to death of bees, but still does it. What do we do about this situation? I think in certain situations, you have to do something, whatever that might be, good or bad. Do you get JB's? What do you do about them?? I am at a loss because I think I am going to lose a large tree because of them.
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Bees die after they sting you. Wasps, the Yellow Jackets, do not and one can sting you multiple times and they release a pheromone when they do sting you that alerts oter wasps in the area that one of their own is under attack, by you, come and help. Bees will seldom sting because they are more interested in gathering the nectar and bringing it back to the nest. I have been stung by bumblebees, twice when that bee flew into a door I had just opened, apparently in its flight path and it fell onto my arm and stung me, and once more when one flew up my pant leg and could not find its way out. Otherwise I have been out cutting down flowering buckwheat, asters, and many other flowering plants loaded with nectar gathering bees and they have not bothered me. I have also been out mowing when the White Dutch Clover in the lawn is in bloom and bees were working those blossoms and they simply move to other blossoms and have never stung me because I was mowing, but I have had Yellow Jackets sting me while I was mowing, apparently because they thought I got too close to their home, or maybe just because.
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Clairabelle, I imagine that your husband got a dose of Benadryl antihistamine at the hospital. Over-the-counter antihistamines are recommended by WebMD, The Children's Hospital in Denver, and countless other internet sites. Here's what the Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan has to say about what to do for children with a severe allergic reaction (trouble breathing or passing out): Call 911 IMMEDIATELY. Give epinephrine (requires prescription) Give an antihistamine - If you have Benadryl at home, give it. Treat stings - If a bee stinger is left in the skin, remove it. Do this by scraping the stinger off with a knife blade or credit card rather than by squeezing it. Many sites recommend acetaminophen or ibuprofen. The only time I take aspirin (acetyl salicylic acid) is when stung so I'd go with the anti-inflammatory ibuprofen to help reduce the swelling before just trying to kill the pain with acetaminophen. Aspercreme has trolamine salicylate as a topical analgesic. Many liniments contain methyl salicylate including BenGay, Icy Hot, Mentholatum Deep Heat. There are a number of different Tiger Balm products. Some do not contain any salicylate analgesics. A bag of frozen vegetables will help with the immediate pain and swelling. Solarcaine sunburn spray does a good job with stopping the pain and I can find 2 eight year-olds to testify to that. I have a certain amount of allergic reaction to bee stings. My wife claims that 2 stings will kill me but I've never been stung by more than 1 bee at a time. As a child, my mother would use the baking soda paste . . . absolutely zero help. Lucky I didn't die before antihistamines came into common use. Steve
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FlowerGardener
12 years ago
I agree with bambi be careful often times you have a even more severe reaction to another bite. I always keep Benedryl on hand also the ice can help slow down the reaction. I am glad your husband went to the doctor...Betty
organic_kitten
Original Author
12 years ago
I am glad he went to the doctor. A red line is a bad indicator that all is not well, sometimes in a really intense way.

Speaking of your father catching the wasps with his bare hands, my father always told us to hold our breath and the wasp/bee/bumblebee couldn't sting us. We believed him implicitly, and I don't think any of us were ever stung when we could see the insect.

The reason for avoiding a sting is likely concentrating on holding the breath rather than flailing at the insect and attracting its attention. The effect was still no sting.
kay
nat4b
12 years ago
Thanks, ladies!
Yeah, we got Benadryl too. And I'll show him this thread. We do have several potted plants of course.
Lots of wasps here every year, I also see them a lot on daylilies, I don't know why, they looking for moisture or what.
See, we thought they build their nests higher, like under the roof (last year they lived in our big wooden box on the patio and under the garage roof - had to spray), but this time they were in that metal thing that connects a traler to a car.
marricgardens
12 years ago
Yesterday I was out dividing a daylily. When I dug in with the shovel, I must have disturbed a wasp nest. I don't know where the nest was but DH went back out and sprayed the area. I know bumble bees nest underground, anybody know if wasps do? I've never heard of these 'sting sticks'. I'll have to ask at the drug store if we have them here. Marg
newyorkrita
12 years ago
Darn things will nest about anywere. I have had plenty of ground nests around here and that means you really have to watch out. Nasty buggers.
lisa_3
12 years ago
Glad you took him to the dr. My nephews are deathly allergic to stings and need epi shots when they are stung. I seem to get odd reactions to spider bites-and we don't have any really bad spiders here.
Ed
12 years ago
Sting sticks are great!

I would not even try to catch a wasp in my bare hands, but I do swat them with my baseball cap. They usually aren't too mean unless you are threatening the nest in some way, then they will nail you pretty quick. Glad I don't have bad reactions to the stings, other than a stream of foul language!
Ed
nat4b
12 years ago
All those dangers outside.. I had no idea wasps and bumblebees nest on the ground.
Lisa, poor nephews. I also didn't know all spiders bite.

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