Stepped Into A Nest
Last Saturday, I was cutting the lawn and I stopped to cut back some brush. As I stepped into the brush, I must have stepped into a nest of yellow jackets. I felt like I was stabbed on the front of my shin by a broken twig and then I had a swarm of bees swarming around me. When I stepped back to see if I had broken the skin by the sharp twig, I noticed that I had a bee stinging my leg. It wasn't a twig!
I squashed the bee with my hand and then moved from the area quickly. I realized that it would be wise to head inside to grab my epi-pen since this sort of thing typically affects Mastocytosis patients more severely than healthy patients. I took some extra medications and then went back outside to finish the lawn.
The area of my leg where I was stung felt a bit painful and itchy for the rest of the weekend but it wasn't worth mentioning. Now, eight days later, my leg is still itchy, red and swollen so it is worth mentioning at this point. So, I did some research.
I read that something like three people out of 10,000 get a delayed toxic reaction seven to ten days later and, apparently, I'm one of those rare three.
For the past week, the itching has remained... I've felt feverish on and off... my fatigue is far worse than normal... my joints ache... terrible headaches that get worse throughout the day (the headaches were so bad as each day wore on that I had been wondering whether my mild-TBI was getting worse again for some reason... it turns out that toxicity from bee stings can cause inflammation of the brain and cause terrible headaches)... and my lymph nodes are more swollen than usual. I've accomplished absolutely nothing this past week because I haven't had enough energy to do anything. I have, however, noticed that my leg is still swollen and itchy so that is why I decided to do some research. That is when I found out about toxicity and a delayed response experienced by a rare few after a bee sting.
Compounding this is that I already have problems with my immune system and, in particular, the cells that respond to problems like bee stings. The bee sting just makes all of this worse... far worse, apparently.
So, I'm going to take more emergency medications today and tonight. That will knock me out for a few days other than getting up to use the bathroom and eat meals.
It should be said that I can often feel this way anyway. It is odd, however, how I can tell that my symptoms have felt a bit unusual this week which is why I'm now attributing my problems to the bee sting. The continued itching and swelling were also a clue. The sequence of symptoms were different this week... the severity of the fatigue has been worse this week... and the bone and joint pain is well out of sequence compared to usual Mastocytosis symptomotology.
Hopefully, the extra emergency medications for a few days will resolve this problem effectively. If not, I might need to go see a doctor so we can add some Prednisone to all my emergency medications. Time will tell.
I squashed the bee with my hand and then moved from the area quickly. I realized that it would be wise to head inside to grab my epi-pen since this sort of thing typically affects Mastocytosis patients more severely than healthy patients. I took some extra medications and then went back outside to finish the lawn.
I read that something like three people out of 10,000 get a delayed toxic reaction seven to ten days later and, apparently, I'm one of those rare three.
For the past week, the itching has remained... I've felt feverish on and off... my fatigue is far worse than normal... my joints ache... terrible headaches that get worse throughout the day (the headaches were so bad as each day wore on that I had been wondering whether my mild-TBI was getting worse again for some reason... it turns out that toxicity from bee stings can cause inflammation of the brain and cause terrible headaches)... and my lymph nodes are more swollen than usual. I've accomplished absolutely nothing this past week because I haven't had enough energy to do anything. I have, however, noticed that my leg is still swollen and itchy so that is why I decided to do some research. That is when I found out about toxicity and a delayed response experienced by a rare few after a bee sting.
Compounding this is that I already have problems with my immune system and, in particular, the cells that respond to problems like bee stings. The bee sting just makes all of this worse... far worse, apparently.
So, I'm going to take more emergency medications today and tonight. That will knock me out for a few days other than getting up to use the bathroom and eat meals.
It should be said that I can often feel this way anyway. It is odd, however, how I can tell that my symptoms have felt a bit unusual this week which is why I'm now attributing my problems to the bee sting. The continued itching and swelling were also a clue. The sequence of symptoms were different this week... the severity of the fatigue has been worse this week... and the bone and joint pain is well out of sequence compared to usual Mastocytosis symptomotology.
Hopefully, the extra emergency medications for a few days will resolve this problem effectively. If not, I might need to go see a doctor so we can add some Prednisone to all my emergency medications. Time will tell.
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