A bee stung my...

[bike4ever]

I was stung two Sundays ago on my calf by a wasp. Lower half of the leg swelled up quickly & was very, very itchy.

[Tri Girl]

Ouch- a bee sting on your tongue? Wow-you ladies have topped my story for sure, but here's my adventure:

Aside from the time I stepped on 2 bees and had a swollen foot when I was 9, the other day I was riding and one of those giant flying grasshoppers smacked me right between the eyes (didn't have my cycling glasses on, of course). Freaked me out. We have some monster flying bugs out here, and I'm sure I look like an idiot riding when I'm dodging flying bugs (must look like I'm swerving and dodging invisible things to drivers).

[Bikingmomof3]

Susan-how dreadful. I would have freaked out. I do not have aany bee stories, I have swallowed lots of bugs though. My mother swallowed a bee and it stung her throat-as for me, so far so good. I am deathly afraid of bees.

[mary9761]

my worst bee/wasp story was a few years ago. I was doing some yard work and had stopped for a while trying to cool off as it was very warm. We had a car that had been sitting outside the garage for a while because a) it didn't run anymore and b) I couldn't drive. I opened the door to sit down and didn't realize that a nest of wasps were right in the doorway. When I sat down, I was immediately stung 5 or 6 times on the upper arm Talk about freaking out!! Luckily I'm not allergic to bees (knock wood at least not yet) but it was sore and itchy for some time.
This past weekend, I was test riding a Sweet Trek Pilot 1.2 flatbar road bike on the MONON and on my way back to the shop I had some sort of bee/wasp fly into the front of my jersey and promptly get stuck in my BRA OUCH!! It started stinging. Luckily I was able to control the bike as I urged the bee to get out of my shirt and bra. It only hurt for a while and strangely until yesterday afternoon, it hadn't even started to itch. I don't understand why all of a sudden NOW it's flared up red and itchy DAYS later??
It was kind of funny when I'd gotten back to the shop and I was telling Jimmy and another rider that I'd gotten stung but managed NOT to wreck the bike of course they asked where and when I told them Jimmy turned the same LAVA RED as the bike!

[Running Mommy]

The first thought I had was "And NO girls she wasn't riding with ME!!"
Though I would LOVE to go for a ride with Susan!!

Anyway- YOUCH!!!! That sounds awful!!! I have been reacting wierdly to stings the last few years so I always carry benadryl in my camelbak. I think it's a good idea for everyone.

My worst recent stinging experience was actually ANTS in my backyard! I was trying to mow the overgrown grass and didn't see the huge mound. My throat started swelling so I had to call 911. My husband was out of state at the time and it was just me and Spencer. It was nothing a nice shot couldn't cure, but scary nonetheless. Yes, I need to go get an epi pen!

***But the grossest bug known to man did get stuck in the vent of my helmet once. It's called a tarantula hawk. I almost crashed trying to unclip and rip my helmet off. It was buzzing at my head. NASTY!***

[bcipam]

Susan several years I had the same thing happen. A bunch of us were riding down PCH in Newport Beach. I was talking, had my big mouth open and something flew in. Of course, I tried to spit it out and WOW - I got stung in the roof of my mouth. It hurt! Of course I was about 15 miles into a 50 miler so had along way to go. For some reason no one felt sorry for me or would listen to me whine. Oh well!

[7rider]

Ouch, Susan...I feel your pain.
The same thing happened to me 2 weeks ago - well, inside the lip, not the tongue. I just posted a bit about it under the "wildlife" thread in Adventure Stories.
I was up to softball sized swelling by the time I got to the Dr's.
One thing my brother in law told me - who's an emergency room physician in Vermont....is that I didn't need to take ALL the prednisone. I could stop once the swelling went down (it's very slow release), and keep the remainder on hand for the NEXT time I got stung, and just mimic the Day-1 dosage from the start.
Little did I know, I'd be using it 3 days later, when I got stung AGAIN walking back from the compost pile. But then I was prepared with Benadryl Allergy, Advil (another anti-inflammatory), and the Prednisone all on hand! No problems at all with that sting....but BOY! was I sleepy!
But anyway...if your swelling's down, you may want to confirm that with your DR and/or pharmacist.
Regina

[newfsmith]

I was prepared with Benadryl Allergy, Advil (another anti-inflammatory), and the Prednisone all on hand! No problems at all with that sting....but BOY! was I sleepy!
But anyway...if your swelling's down, you may want to confirm that with your DR and/or pharmacist.
Regina

I don't know human medicine at all, but in dogs we are very careful to never use NSAID's (Advil being one) and steroids (Prednisone) at the same time because both can cause GI bleeding, and together they almost guarentee it. Please be sure to get your MD's OK before taking Advil and Prednisone on the same day. In dogs we want at least 3 days between.

[Susan Otcenas]

I don't know human medicine at all, but in dogs we are very careful to never use NSAID's (Advil being one) and steroids (Prednisone) at the same time because both can cause GI bleeding, and together they almost guarentee it. Please be sure to get your MD's OK before taking Advil and Prednisone on the same day. In dogs we want at least 3 days between.

That's interesting because I asked the doc about what I should take for the throbbing (since the prednisone was just for the swelling). And he said ibuprofen (Advil), 800mg. I did that only the 1st day, as by the end of the day the prednisone had done it's job on the swelling and I didn't hurt anymore.

As a side note - the prednisone seems to have done wonders for my neck. I have terrible neck issues, which had been particularly bad the past two weeks. Cycling, regrettably exacerbates it (my recumbent friends are trying to woo me to the dark side, but I digress...) Since starting the prednisone,my neck has felt soooo much better.

So, how irresponsible of me would it be to quit taking the remainder of my prednisone, and keep it for my realy bad neck days??

Susan (who is apparently hijacking her own thread!)

[mimitabby]

T

***But the grossest bug known to man did get stuck in the vent of my helmet once. It's called a tarantula hawk. I almost crashed trying to unclip and rip my helmet off. It was buzzing at my head. NASTY!***

was it under the influence?



Predator and Prey

Only a few animals, such as roadrunners, eat tarantula hawks. The wasps are "nectivorous," and they have been known to become "flight-challenged" after consuming fermented fruit.

[Brandy]

***But the grossest bug known to man did get stuck in the vent of my helmet once. It's called a tarantula hawk. I almost crashed trying to unclip and rip my helmet off. It was buzzing at my head. NASTY!***

Oh, oh, oh!!! Tracy (tprevost) and I took the kids on a bug hike in Bommer Canyon on Saturday and we saw a tarantula hawk vs. tarantula battle. Here are the pictures...obviously the tarantula hawk won. R.I.P. Mr. Tarantula.





Tarantula hawks paralyze tarantulas during the battle, drag them to a burrow and then lay an egg on them. When the baby tarantula hawk hatches it has a meal (still alive, by the way) waiting for it. It sucks juices out of the tarantula, avoiding vital organs to keep it alive.

[massbikebabe]

Susan;

Glad you are O.K., if it were me I would be dead. The last time I was stung I ended up a hospital patient for three days...it was yucky!! My youngest is also allergic...we have epi-pens everywhere!!!



karen

[Running Mommy]

UGH! Just seeing that gives me the willies!! Yeah, it was one of THOSE!!

Sorry for the thread hijack!

[latelatebloomer]

There is a "weed" called "plaintain that grows in most unsprayed lawns and vacant lots.* As a kid, you probably shot the little dried flower heads in the air for fun. One indian name for it is "white man's footprint" because it quickly appears wherever soil has been disturbed. It is GREAT for stings. I got chin-stung last week on a ride, pulled the bike over to the first lawn I passed, pulled a leaf, chewed it a bit, and rubbed it on the sting. The sting ebbed and was a minor itch in minutes. If I can find a good picture, I'll post it.

*Hmm, I'm talking about the east coast. Don't know about the deserts, etc.

[oxysback]

Wow! Can't top a tongue sting, but I'm glad your story had a happy ending.

I must confess, however, that I'm chuckling just thinking about having to say "bee sting" with a swollen tongue. "Bee thhhhhting!"

Reminds me of the time I had some major dental work done...both sides of my tongue were numb and I had to order my daughter's birthday cake. I'm sure the cake person wanted to start laughing as I told her the name on the cake..."Thessssssssica" (Jessica) complete with flying spittle!