S/O of anaphylactic thread

[Trillian]

One poster said this: "My DD had a similar thing happen last summer. She'd reacted to bee stings with hives before, but last summer, she actually swelled up, so I took her to the ER. Definitely the right choice!"

 

My son was diagnosed with a mild bee allergy this year. Last year, he was stung and his foot swelled up. I didn't take him in, just watched that it didn't go past the joint. This year, he got stung and got hives, so I took him in. His pediatrician didn't seem concerned, told me to keep Benadryl with me and have him wear shoes (neither time was he not wearing shoes but I'm guessing it's standard advice). She said bee allergies wouldn't get worse, which wasn't what I had always heard, but I'm not a Dr. The above makes me nervous. We have a ton of bees.

 

Any opinion on how worried I should be?

[Denisemomof4]

well, it won't help to worry.....;)

 

my mom had gotten stung a few times in her life without issue. When she was in her 30's or 40's she got stung and nearly died. So I definitely believe your son could get worse, and I think it should be expected. I have not read that other thread to see if others with experience know differently, but my mother was much older when her allergy DEVELOPED. and with other allergies, they have gotten worse or better with age for many different people I've met in my lifetime.

[BlueTaelon]

Swelling with a bee sting is normal, for example when my hand was stung it swelled up like a football so to speak. Its a mild but painful reaction. If the swelling occurs in your throat and you can't breathe (assuming you were not stung in the throat here) then you need to worry about carrying Epi. I've been stung many times and the stung body part always swells badly but I've never needed epi or felt like I did. My uncle needs epi though but he's always been that way.

[Harriet Vane]

I think it's idiotic to say that bee allergies won't get worse. That's not how allergies work. At all.

 

Take your son to a real allergist. I find they give much, much better information and more comprehensive care.

[Trillian]

Thank you; I will ask for an allergist referral. He has seasonal allergies which she has offered to send him for, so that shouldn't be hard to get.

 

BlueTaelon, he had hives the 2nd time, the time I took him in and am concerned about, not just swelling.

Edited October 26, 2012 by hjdong
Typos

[shanvan]

I think it's idiotic to say that bee allergies won't get worse. That's not how allergies work. At all.

 

Take your son to a real allergist. I find they give much, much better information and more comprehensive care.

 

:iagree: Absolutely. We found out about Dd's food allergies on Christmas years ago. She had hives all over her body and was freaking out from them. She was also throwing up non stop. We took her to the ER and they would not say she had food allergies and kept insisting that she could have a virus. Ummm..she kept saying her tounge itched. Many classic allergy signs. :confused:

 

Followed up with her pediatrician who shrugged and said, "Well, it could be a virus, but if you're worried, don't feed her nuts." He's not her pediatrician anymore. After her visit to an allergist we found she tested positive for a host of food allergies, not just nuts, none of which we would have known to watch for had we listed to the doctor in the ER or her pediatrician. We didn't even get an epi-pen until after the visit to the allergist.

 

I know OP is talking bee allergy, not food, but an allergist needs to be consulted. Doctors sometimes don't take allergies seriously.

[LittleIzumi]

I think it's idiotic to say that bee allergies won't get worse. That's not how allergies work. At all.

 

Take your son to a real allergist. I find they give much, much better information and more comprehensive care.

 

:iagree: Except not our allergist. I need a new one who knows what he's talking about.

[sbgrace]

You're correct that your pediatrician is wrong. Allergies can get worse. And a given reaction once doesn't tell you what the next one will be (less, more, the same). We're food anaphylaxis and not bees so I don't feel like I know enough to say how serious what he experienced might be. However, I believe he has a bee allergy and those can, indeed, be life threatening. The hives would concern me. I'd speak to an allergist as you may need an epi pen. Most pediatricians, FWIW, aren't great with allergies--see the specialist (allergist)!

Edited October 26, 2012 by sbgrace

[brownie]

My BIL has an epi for bee sting allergy and he just swells up like a baseball around the sting site as far as I know. Why take a chance?

 

Must be a ped think. My ds had an anaphylactic rxn to peanuts and I didn't know what the heck was going on. I should have called an ambulance but I was so clueless. By the time we drove to the ped they diagnosed a virus :glare: I'll tell you, one sign seemed to be that when he got over it on his own, the adrenaline his body had kicked in on its own made him absolutely bounce off the walls. Literally. He was running into the walls in the ped's office and laughing. He is a VERY subdued child normally. The ped thought I was crazy and I thought she was crazy. So there you go...just in case that symptom ever helps anyone realize in retrospect that their kid had a dangerous reaction!

 

Brownie

[mommymilkies]

My oldest had her first sting 2 years ago. She has always gotten them on the bottom of the foot. It was swollen, yellow/green and badly bruised looking. Then last year she got another-the same, but very painful and more swollen. Like her entire foot. It took over a week to go down. A few months ago, she got another. It swelled almost up to her knee. It was horrifically colored, swollen almost to bursting looking, inflamed and miserable. For 2 weeks, we iced it, gave Benadryl, put every poultice known to man on it...nothing. Her new doc finally gets her in and she got strong abx, prednisone, and a rx for an epi pen. With how they keep getting worse, they're worried about her eventually being anaphylactic and us having access. I take the epi everywhere year round because I've found bees in malls, homes, even outside here swarming at this time of year. You can't be too careful.

[happypamama]

One poster said this: "My DD had a similar thing happen last summer. She'd reacted to bee stings with hives before, but last summer, she actually swelled up, so I took her to the ER. Definitely the right choice!"

 

My son was diagnosed with a mild bee allergy this year. Last year, he was stung and his foot swelled up. I didn't take him in, just watched that it didn't go past the joint. This year, he got stung and got hives, so I took him in. His pediatrician didn't seem concerned, told me to keep Benadryl with me and have him wear shoes (neither time was he not wearing shoes but I'm guessing it's standard advice). She said bee allergies wouldn't get worse, which wasn't what I had always heard, but I'm not a Dr. The above makes me nervous. We have a ton of bees.

 

Any opinion on how worried I should be?

 

Well, that's my quote above, about my DD, and when she was stung badly enough to swell up, she wasn't stung on her feet. (Actually, the time before that wasn't on her feet either.) So wearing shoes isn't exactly all there is to it. I think your doctor is inaccurate; it is certainly possible for bee allergies to escalate. I'd push for epi-pens, and/or I'd see a different doctor (maybe even an allergist).

 

Fwiw, I have not taken DD to an allergist, but that's because our regular family doctor has been happy to prescribe the epi-pens. We do have an allergist that has seen our oldest son, because I wanted testing for environmental allergies for him, but DD's allergies are pretty clear. We know she has an anaphylactic allergy to bee stings; we don't need testing to confirm that. However, if our family doc wasn't comfortable prescribing the epi-pens, absolutely, I would take DD to the allergist (and will if our family doc ever thinks there's a good reason to do so).

Edited October 26, 2012 by happypamama