Hi my name is Alexander, I live in NJ and I have been a beek for about 4-5 years now. I'm 36 years old.
Up until last week, I never had more than a very tiny local reaction to bee stings. Think mosquito bite.
But last week I got stung 2-3 times picking up a deep after installing a swarm into a new medium (friend caught the swarm, he does deeps, my wife and I do mediums). In any event, I had a systemic reaction this time: Hives started to develop all over my body, itching on my palms and everywhere else (EVERYWHERE ELSE), and generally feelings of anxiety. I had no shortness of breath though.
In any event, I went to the local clinic, was given some steroids and an EPI shot. In about 5-7 minutes all was right with the world again (though I was out for the rest of the day - note an EPI shot is not pleasant affair either).
I came back from the allergist and a venom test showed that I react to only 1/1000th of a bee sting (minor redness, itching). Bummer. I'm sure the blood work will confirm. My wife already has gone through this and she is allergic as well (though its a heavy localized reaction, very painful).
Allergist claims that Venom Immunotherapy (VIT) can potentially cure my allergy or at least keep the reaction localized permanently. We were told different things by different allergists (one Dr claimed it good for only ONE sting, while another said it will help you build up resistance to multiple stings - I think the challenge sting is 100mcg which is equivalent to two honey bee stings from Googling around).
Has anyone gone through VIT? What were your results?
Cheers!
Up until last week, I never had more than a very tiny local reaction to bee stings. Think mosquito bite.
But last week I got stung 2-3 times picking up a deep after installing a swarm into a new medium (friend caught the swarm, he does deeps, my wife and I do mediums). In any event, I had a systemic reaction this time: Hives started to develop all over my body, itching on my palms and everywhere else (EVERYWHERE ELSE), and generally feelings of anxiety. I had no shortness of breath though.
In any event, I went to the local clinic, was given some steroids and an EPI shot. In about 5-7 minutes all was right with the world again (though I was out for the rest of the day - note an EPI shot is not pleasant affair either).
I came back from the allergist and a venom test showed that I react to only 1/1000th of a bee sting (minor redness, itching). Bummer. I'm sure the blood work will confirm. My wife already has gone through this and she is allergic as well (though its a heavy localized reaction, very painful).
Allergist claims that Venom Immunotherapy (VIT) can potentially cure my allergy or at least keep the reaction localized permanently. We were told different things by different allergists (one Dr claimed it good for only ONE sting, while another said it will help you build up resistance to multiple stings - I think the challenge sting is 100mcg which is equivalent to two honey bee stings from Googling around).
Has anyone gone through VIT? What were your results?
Cheers!