Another Danger of Riding...

[Xdot]

On the way home from work this afternoon I got stung in the neck by a freaking yellowjacket! About the only exposed skin on my entire body!

[towerworker]

Got a wasp inside my face shield once. Had it barely cracked open for air. Wasn't pretty.

[f4tweet]

I was wearing long pants, one went up my pants leg.

[sjbmw]

Glad you are ok, bugs are dangerous! Be careful of travelling outside your environment zone too.
Foreign bugs can wreak havoc.


I pulled up to a hotel in West Bend Wisconsin for one night's stay before the MOA rally opened. We just got off the Lake Express Ferry, my first trip to Wisconsin ever. As I circled the hotel entrance, my jacket was half unzipped. I got to close to the hedges, and a "beleive" I ran through a spider web.

I felt an incredilble sting on my chest, and parked the bike and started rubbing. Could not find a bug!
7 minutes later, in the hotel lobby, the room started spinning. I sat down, and could not stand up.
After some water and about 10 minutes, I checked into my room, and my skin started exploding.
Ears, neck, chest, nose, upper body, all swelled red and blotched, and my heart started racing. My ears looked like porterhouse steaks, and I was literally a creature from a horror flick.

I took about 8-10 Benadryl I luckily packed, and laid down for 7 hours, and woke up with all the symptoms gone. On my chest was a hole, about 2-3 cm in diameter, and I still have the scar to this day. I was chunked like a shark bite, only smaller.

I never travel without Benadryl.

[omg1010]

Confess please! You're spiderman ...

Joke aside, all these bloody critters can drive you crazy and if you're somewhat allergic it can be a very painful experience!

Brgds
Oliver

[rdsmith3]

I got stung by a yellow jacket while grilling on my deck Friday night, so any activity can be dangerous. This was a very aggressive creature, and SHE got me good. My arm was swollen and itchy for three days.

Vengeance belongs to the Lord, but I did conduct a sunset RAID on Saturday and Sunday evenings to neutralize the hostile forces. This was a case in which too much chemical spray was just enough.

[wncbmw]

Vengeance belongs to the Lord, but I did conduct a sunset RAID on Saturday and Sunday evenings to neutralize the hostile forces. This was a case in which too much chemical spray was just enough.

I prefer gas. It was a special pleasure taking out a nest that hit my kids. Lighting the gas was unnecessary. But felt good! Mean critters!

I got one down an unzipped jacket on the Blue Ridge Parkway once. How I kept the bike on the road while it stung me all the way down my chest to my waist, I will never know.

Of course, a stinger is not needed to cause problems. I know a guy that was not using a shield in his full face helmet and got knocked out by a large June bug between the eyes while riding. He survived but made for a funny story.

[Sunbeemer]

A wasp stung my right eyelid as I was exiting the bath house at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground in NC a couple years ago. I was concerned my eye would swell shut and wouldn't be able to ride the next day, so took a couple benadryl and borrowed some ice to put on it. I was fine to ride the next day but I still couldn't see because the BRP was socked in by fog!

[Dr. Strangelove]

I sat down, and could not stand up.
After some water and about 10 minutes, I checked into my room, and my skin started exploding.
Ears, neck, chest, nose, upper body, all swelled red and blotched, and my heart started racing. My ears looked like porterhouse steaks, and I was literally a creature from a horror flick.

I took about 8-10 Benadryl... laid down for 7 hours, and woke up with all the symptoms gone. On my chest was a hole, about 2-3 cm in diameter, and I still have the scar to this day. I was chunked like a shark bite, only smaller.

I never travel without Benadryl.

Geez, you are lucky.
Couple of points need mentioning.
Those symptoms suggest a severe allergic reaction. You do not mention it, but the next thing to swell is your airway--your lips, your tongue, your pharynx, and then your larynx-- and you can die from that without immediate medical intervention (from putting a breathing tube in to a tracheostomy). Or from anaphylaxis and it sounds like you were on the brink by not being able to stand, spinning and your heart racing suggest very low blood pressure. If that happens to me I am going to an ER and if I think I can't make it I am calling 911, and if I can't do that I am hitting my SPOT's 911 button.
You made it and that's obviously good, but that type of reaction, some would say, demands an ER visit, or a 911 call. And if that's impossible, certainly someone in continuous attendance to watch you closely until you're better, or to call 911 or do CPR.

Benedryl is a good antihistamine, a good drug, but it has some big time company, namely sedation; sedation to the point of non responsiveness and breathing stopping. That is a H U G E dose of benedryl, with 25s that's 225 mg! If they were 50s double that. Please don't do that. You could sleep for a much longer time than 7 hours, like forever. And Benedryl can last in your system 24 hours more or less.
Benedryl is best used for mild allergic reactions, like the local reaction from the sting, not the systemic reaction that you describe. And the dose is 25-50 mg by mouth usually every 4-8 hours depending on how the patient is doing. You should not give it "by the clock" in most situations.

If you know you are highly allergic to something, like bees or other insect bites, an "epi-pen" should be your companion, and you should not be afraid to use it. The treatment for anaphylaxis is epinephrine, not benedryl

jus' sayin'

John

[Ric]

wasp & bees don't hurt me much at all...I can sit and watch a wasp on my arm stinging me repeatedly and feel only the slightest discomfort. The spot will be red for a half hour or so and go away.

Whats up with that !

[Xdot]

wasp & bees don't hurt me much at all...I can sit and watch a wasp on my arm stinging me repeatedly and feel only the slightest discomfort. The spot will be red for a half hour or so and go away.

Whats up with that !

Obviously a cold and unfeeling person.

[sjbmw]

Thanks Dr. S, challey, the uber EMT read me the riot act about A shock, and epi-pens.
You were much nicer about it

[bimmerguy]

My bug in the chest was rubber.
I chuck of retread hit me in the chest at 80mph.
Came right over windscreen.
Felt like a horse kick, I was able to focus and pull over to cuss and blame fr%#@*&n rockhaulers.
Now I never stay behind anything for long, I can usually avoid what I can see. Never follow 18 wheelers.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Never follow 18 wheelers.

AMEN!

And thanks, sjbmw. I'm much older so have had more time to work on my bedside manner.

But, you are lucky.

[Ric]

wasp & bees don't hurt me much at all...I can sit and watch a wasp on my arm stinging me repeatedly and feel only the slightest discomfort. The spot will be red for a half hour or so and go away.

Whats up with that !

Obviously a cold and unfeeling person.

Ha !
Well....I am a Man so I don't have feelings....

[GypsyRR]

Geeeeez, Herb!!! That's a bad reaction.

I've had one bee incident in the jacket. Not fun, but it was hilarious for the riders with me.

But so far, much worse than the bee, was glass. An 18 wheeler side swiped an old pickup truck (or vice versa) right in front of me, shattering it's large side mirror and maybe the windshield of the pickup. I am not sure about the windshield because I was tucked low behind my wind screen when I saw all the glass coming right at me and I didn't lift my head till I heard the glass stop hitting. I picked glass out of my gear for a few minutes at the next stop. No injury, but it was scary.

[iowabeakster]

Egads Herb!!! Isn't motorcycle riding enough risk for you?

Kidding... I'm glad you woke up in good condition.

I am way too familiar with Benadryl sedation. I usually sleep through Christmas visits (cat allergies quickly shut down my lungs) if I go my Mom's or sister's place. Claritin does nothing... NOTHING!!!

Bring back SELDANE!
Bring back SELDANE!

[Dr. Strangelove]

Seldane was good; except for that cardiac thing.

[rdsmith3]

Egads Herb!!! Isn't motorcycle riding enough risk for you?

Kidding... I'm glad you woke up in good condition.

I am way too familiar with Benadryl sedation. I usually sleep through Christmas visits (cat allergies quickly shut down my lungs) if I go my Mom's or sister's place. Claritin does nothing... NOTHING!!!

Bring back SELDANE!
Bring back SELDANE!

Claritin is useless.

Zyrtec is ... adequate.

Benadryl works.

I remember years ago using a drug called Drixoral that seemed to work.

[Dr. Strangelove]

for post nasal drips and congestion you find the one that works best for you. They are all antihistamines. Many are phenothiazines.

But for an allergic reaction the med trail is
benadryl then, if necessary or emergent, epinephrine. You only fool around with the others if benadryl is unavailable.
For anaphalaxis, it's epinephrine-end of story.


Just an fyi, phenergan is benadryl's close cousin, but just as sedative

Major allergic reaction means ER or 911.