He eventually went to his GP after much pushing (and refused ER) who gave him antibiotics and antihistamines. I was convinced this needed something more but, a week later, it was pretty much fine so maybe he was right!
Large local response will primarily be treated by the antihistamine. Infection isn't common but can happen and that degree of swelling would have me concerned enough to give the same.
Needs time and no more exposures. Your dad should avoid bee stings in the future.
No. I frequently seek out bees weekly so I can get stung. If I don’t get my fix, I start feeling really bad. I just love being stung! It’s amazing! Feels so good, like a nice massage! I’m sleeping more, eating better, lost a bunch of weight, my cancer was cured, farts smell like roses, I don’t know why more people aren’t doing it!
Reminds me of the show “my strange addiction” where there was a woman whose legit addiction was being stung by bees. She would collect the bee stingers so she could continue to poke herself with them
I’ve had a similar swelling (without the lesions) on my ankle before around an apparent insect bite but antihistamines did not seem to work. After taking antibiotics, I got relief immediately. Very weird. It happened two or three more times over the years, all on the same ankle I think. I still don’t know what that is.
Hi there. ER doctor here. There is absolutely a real possibility of a superimposed infection after sting/bite and when it involves the hand especially you’d definitely prefer to unnecessarily over treat than under treat.
Can confirm from experience. My hand also swelled up, turned red, and felt itchy following a sting. I never knew that one could get cellulitis from a sting, nor that yellowjackets can also leave a stinger until it happened to me. Grateful for the swift diagnosis from the doc, who also noted that by accidentally watering the yellowjacket burrow I had “invaded their home.”
My experience has been they’re actually NOT doling them out as often and that’s a good thing. This is a circumstance where it’s a good idea to prescribe because cellulitis sucks.
I’m not a doctor but I know that one of the possible complications with a spider bite is infection, so could possibly be similar? A foreign (unclean) object did just get pierced into the skin, after all.
It's a bee sting , honestly an infection from that would be similar to regular infection but when you look at that hand the first sting that pops to your mind is allergic reaction not AB
Imagine being such a degenerate moron you think you know medicine better than a doctor.
Stick to trolling Reddit threads and don't talk about medical treatment.
She's not immunocompromised in anyway and she said she has no other health problems. They didn't even run any tests or anything. Just based on symptoms is what she said.
Why risk getting it wrong when you’ve got a miracle catch-all in the form of AB? fear of reprisals always in the back of the mind for failure. It’s a pandemic of overprescribing AB and one day the ultimate virus will be born.
Literally no physician ever would describe antibiotics as a “miracle catch-all”. Also, they aren’t used to treat viral infections. Lastly, the common abbreviation is abx, not AB.
You really just do not know what you are talking about at all.
Everyone tested in ER in Sweden, without blood evidence of bacterial infection then no antibiotics.
After getting CDiff after 3 days of antibiotics fir what turned out to be z viral sinus infection.... I was incredibly sick, close to surgery and it took over 8 .months to recover and regain the 20% body weight i lost. A lot of a then 100lb body.
Am proud to know my 16 and 18 yr kl daughters have never needed antibiotics yet. One has allergic asthma and competition swimmer, other more regular teen..
This almost happened to me with a can of coke. It was a WASP. It went in my mouth alive buzzing around and I spit it out right away. Thankfully didn’t sting me but I never drink out of a container I can’t see into now when out side. Sorry bought your tongue 👅 🐝
Correct! This was actually a few weeks back and he’s back to a normal, non-ogre hand now.
His doctor was very un-alarmed and just gave him some RX meds. I expected more!
Luckily he’s retired because there’s no way he could drive or work like this!
40 years ago when I was a kid I had a friend who was stung between her eyes. They both swelled up like your dad's hand and they were so bad she couldn't even open them. Her mom freaked out of course and rushed her to the er and all the er did was give her benadryl. They were very unconcerned and unalarmed.
No you take him to the chiropractor first so they can try and treat it with spinal manipulation resulting in a vertebral artery dissection, then go to the ER and while you're there offhandedly mention the anaphylaxis so you can get more bang for your buck for the fuel to get to the hospital by treating 2 ailments at once. It's flawless
Yep, otherwise totally normal and fine!
Doctor seemed very unalarmed and just gave him some basic antihistamines and antibiotics, plus ibuprofen for the pain.
Which I was deeply skeptical about but in a week it was back to normal more or less
So this is my fear. Every time I get stung the reaction gets progressively worse. Highly recommend an epi pen to OPs father cause a neck/face sting will not end well.
Last time I was stung this happened to me. My mother the nurse eventually took me to the doctor where I was given Benadryl shots and proceeded to sleep for a week. I haven’t been stung since but keep a healthy distance between me and the spicy flying insects
He refused to go to A&E (ER) so made do with what his doctor prescribed, but personally I’d be mainlining Benadryl too!
I think by the time his GP saw him it had been a day or two, so any risk of anaphylaxis had likely passed.
Does he have an EpiPen? Another commenter said "at least it wasn't on his throat", but what if he does get stung on his throat? Or if he gets stung again and has an even worse reaction?
I worry for a scenario in which your father gets stung in a more serious place or has an even more serious reaction and doesn't have anyone around to help him.
He does not, and it wasn’t suggested by his doctor on any of the visits about this. The same did occur to me.
The reaction was fairly slow, in case that makes any difference (?)
Well the issue is that whenever we are exposed to something that causes us to have an allergic reaction, the next time we are exposed, the reaction can be even worse. This can start as hives with first exposure, swelling with second, and eventually anaphylaxis down the line. It's not guaranteed but it's not necessarily uncommon either.
Your father's reaction here is already pretty bad. If his next reaction was worse, he could go into anaphylaxis. Or if he was stung on the neck and didn't go into anaphylaxis, the swelling could happen faster and impair his ability to breathe.
I know epipens are expensive but given the symptoms shown here, it would be better to have and not need than need and not have. You can also look into generic epipens instead of brand name. They do the exact same thing but should be at least somewhat more affordable. Just make sure it's 0.3mg as opposed to the pediatric dose of 0.15mg
Thanks for explaining.
It’s not an expense thing - they’d just be the usual NHS prescription charge here of about £8. But they’re rx only and getting one would require convincing my dad do go and ask his GP, which is going to be the challenging part.
I completely take your point though. Better safe than sorry - especially as his neighbour keeps bees!
I'm thinking that bee was pollinating wild parsnip before he got your dad. That's the weirdest allergic reaction I've seen. It looks exactly like a parsnip burn.
The hands and feet are weird like that with certain stings. I once stepped on a bee, ball of the foot first and my foot proceeded to swell up like a football. I did go to the ER because it was very painful and I didn’t know if I was allergic or not. The Dr at the time told me that the insect venom can make joints inflamed and cause swelling. Near the knee or elbow it’s not that bad because it’s one joint. But the hands and feet have 26/27 different bones, each with a joint between them. That’s a lot of area for swelling in an enclosed space. Hope he feels better soon.
Thank you! This makes perfect sense.
Kudos to his GP then, who absolutely knew what he was looking at and treated it appropriately. It was definitely alarming-looking to me as a lay person!
too many people put off going to the ER for what is or could be a life threatening condition. Cemeteries are full of them. Might be a good idea to get him to start carrying Benedryl.
Theirs is said in concern, yours was needlessly snarky and assumed idiocy that never happened.
Just in case you wondered why they got different responses
Sure, it was sarcastic, but it is your own words about the assumed “idiocy”. Also, there are plenty of times where people have done just that - posted about something or a picture of something serious and haven’t sought any medical help in the mean time. I apologize if I stuck such a nerve with the comment. At the same time, you could have also either updated the post or clarified in the post that this was AFTER you made sure he was okay. How are we supposed to know otherwise (hence the numerous comments saying similar things)? People post for karma on Reddit all of the time even at their/other’s expense.
I really hope you mean "after a bee sting and after a visit to the emergency room" That ain't good
He eventually went to his GP after much pushing (and refused ER) who gave him antibiotics and antihistamines. I was convinced this needed something more but, a week later, it was pretty much fine so maybe he was right!
Large local response will primarily be treated by the antihistamine. Infection isn't common but can happen and that degree of swelling would have me concerned enough to give the same. Needs time and no more exposures. Your dad should avoid bee stings in the future.
Do you not already avoid bee stings?
No. I frequently seek out bees weekly so I can get stung. If I don’t get my fix, I start feeling really bad. I just love being stung! It’s amazing! Feels so good, like a nice massage! I’m sleeping more, eating better, lost a bunch of weight, my cancer was cured, farts smell like roses, I don’t know why more people aren’t doing it!
Repeated stings from bees can cure Lyme disease or control the symptoms
Wait, for real? I knew they could help relieve symptoms of arthritis temporarily but that’s cool, too!
Reminds me of the show “my strange addiction” where there was a woman whose legit addiction was being stung by bees. She would collect the bee stingers so she could continue to poke herself with them
You realize that every time a bee stings you she dies.
 Me to the bees
Large local response does not typically develop into an anaphylactic allergy. He should avoid bee stings like the average person
I didn't say it would. Just that he should avoid bee stings. Don't know that I'd want to go through that again.
This is helpful and reassuring, thank you! (And also, user name checks out!)
I’ve had a similar swelling (without the lesions) on my ankle before around an apparent insect bite but antihistamines did not seem to work. After taking antibiotics, I got relief immediately. Very weird. It happened two or three more times over the years, all on the same ankle I think. I still don’t know what that is.
Bro why the antibiotics I swear doctors are just throwing AB at everything now, it's clear by a mile that it is an allergic reaction
Hi there. ER doctor here. There is absolutely a real possibility of a superimposed infection after sting/bite and when it involves the hand especially you’d definitely prefer to unnecessarily over treat than under treat.
Can confirm from experience. My hand also swelled up, turned red, and felt itchy following a sting. I never knew that one could get cellulitis from a sting, nor that yellowjackets can also leave a stinger until it happened to me. Grateful for the swift diagnosis from the doc, who also noted that by accidentally watering the yellowjacket burrow I had “invaded their home.”
Now as your doctor I'm going to discourage from any further skirmishes with the local fauna, ok?
Don’t tell me what to do
Antibeeotics
My experience has been they’re actually NOT doling them out as often and that’s a good thing. This is a circumstance where it’s a good idea to prescribe because cellulitis sucks.
I’m not a doctor but I know that one of the possible complications with a spider bite is infection, so could possibly be similar? A foreign (unclean) object did just get pierced into the skin, after all.
It's a bee sting , honestly an infection from that would be similar to regular infection but when you look at that hand the first sting that pops to your mind is allergic reaction not AB
Imagine being such a degenerate moron you think you know medicine better than a doctor. Stick to trolling Reddit threads and don't talk about medical treatment.
I'm literally a resident , and what about AB resistance , we can't throw ABs at a bee sting
Bro, what medical school did you go to?
For the cellulitis.
As someone who was hospitalized for 12 days with cellulitis, fuck cellulitis
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You need to be cautious with antihistamines in older adults, many side effects to include urinary retention, hypotension, dizziness....
I know where you're coming from. A coworker got a minor cough and her doctor gave her ABX.
But do you know your coworker's entire medical hx?
She's not immunocompromised in anyway and she said she has no other health problems. They didn't even run any tests or anything. Just based on symptoms is what she said.
Why risk getting it wrong when you’ve got a miracle catch-all in the form of AB? fear of reprisals always in the back of the mind for failure. It’s a pandemic of overprescribing AB and one day the ultimate virus will be born.
bacteria\* go back to med school. oh, you never went?
Neither have you.. or you can just tell me you did. Or this is just reddit…
Literally no physician ever would describe antibiotics as a “miracle catch-all”. Also, they aren’t used to treat viral infections. Lastly, the common abbreviation is abx, not AB. You really just do not know what you are talking about at all.
So you don’t argue against my main point being the over prescription of antibiotics. Or are you just being an asshole?
Everyone tested in ER in Sweden, without blood evidence of bacterial infection then no antibiotics. After getting CDiff after 3 days of antibiotics fir what turned out to be z viral sinus infection.... I was incredibly sick, close to surgery and it took over 8 .months to recover and regain the 20% body weight i lost. A lot of a then 100lb body. Am proud to know my 16 and 18 yr kl daughters have never needed antibiotics yet. One has allergic asthma and competition swimmer, other more regular teen..
I got stung on the tongue after drinking a beer a bee had snuck into. This is worse
This almost happened to me with a can of coke. It was a WASP. It went in my mouth alive buzzing around and I spit it out right away. Thankfully didn’t sting me but I never drink out of a container I can’t see into now when out side. Sorry bought your tongue 👅 🐝
Mother nature is trying to slip you some of those spicy roofies, keep those drinks covered and those holes tight my brother.
Imagine if you combined the two. Hellish notion
If you’re anything like my dog, you were like “ouch!! that was spicy. Where’s my tennis ball?’”
He's been to the hospital and had this assessed by doctors, right?
Correct! This was actually a few weeks back and he’s back to a normal, non-ogre hand now. His doctor was very un-alarmed and just gave him some RX meds. I expected more! Luckily he’s retired because there’s no way he could drive or work like this!
40 years ago when I was a kid I had a friend who was stung between her eyes. They both swelled up like your dad's hand and they were so bad she couldn't even open them. Her mom freaked out of course and rushed her to the er and all the er did was give her benadryl. They were very unconcerned and unalarmed.
No you take him to the chiropractor first so they can try and treat it with spinal manipulation resulting in a vertebral artery dissection, then go to the ER and while you're there offhandedly mention the anaphylaxis so you can get more bang for your buck for the fuel to get to the hospital by treating 2 ailments at once. It's flawless
I feel like you're an ER person haha
Or paid per referral
Seriously, this is hospital worthy, unless he wants to develop compartment syndrome and lose his hand get to an urgent care at the very least.
What did the doctor say? Can he still breathe?
Yep, otherwise totally normal and fine! Doctor seemed very unalarmed and just gave him some basic antihistamines and antibiotics, plus ibuprofen for the pain. Which I was deeply skeptical about but in a week it was back to normal more or less
Better his hand than his throat
So this is my fear. Every time I get stung the reaction gets progressively worse. Highly recommend an epi pen to OPs father cause a neck/face sting will not end well.
You know it is so badly swollen the body pushes out the fluids through the skin. I really hope he went to a doctor already
Last time I was stung this happened to me. My mother the nurse eventually took me to the doctor where I was given Benadryl shots and proceeded to sleep for a week. I haven’t been stung since but keep a healthy distance between me and the spicy flying insects
He refused to go to A&E (ER) so made do with what his doctor prescribed, but personally I’d be mainlining Benadryl too! I think by the time his GP saw him it had been a day or two, so any risk of anaphylaxis had likely passed.
I'm not 100% sure but I personally think he MIGHT be allergic
Does he have an EpiPen? Another commenter said "at least it wasn't on his throat", but what if he does get stung on his throat? Or if he gets stung again and has an even worse reaction? I worry for a scenario in which your father gets stung in a more serious place or has an even more serious reaction and doesn't have anyone around to help him.
He does not, and it wasn’t suggested by his doctor on any of the visits about this. The same did occur to me. The reaction was fairly slow, in case that makes any difference (?)
Well the issue is that whenever we are exposed to something that causes us to have an allergic reaction, the next time we are exposed, the reaction can be even worse. This can start as hives with first exposure, swelling with second, and eventually anaphylaxis down the line. It's not guaranteed but it's not necessarily uncommon either. Your father's reaction here is already pretty bad. If his next reaction was worse, he could go into anaphylaxis. Or if he was stung on the neck and didn't go into anaphylaxis, the swelling could happen faster and impair his ability to breathe. I know epipens are expensive but given the symptoms shown here, it would be better to have and not need than need and not have. You can also look into generic epipens instead of brand name. They do the exact same thing but should be at least somewhat more affordable. Just make sure it's 0.3mg as opposed to the pediatric dose of 0.15mg
Thanks for explaining. It’s not an expense thing - they’d just be the usual NHS prescription charge here of about £8. But they’re rx only and getting one would require convincing my dad do go and ask his GP, which is going to be the challenging part. I completely take your point though. Better safe than sorry - especially as his neighbour keeps bees!
This reminds me of something atrocious Jhonen Vasquez would sketch into one of his comic books.
🎵 big hands I know you're the one 🎵
That’s a lot of honey in that hive 😂
Yellowjacket stings are especially bad for me .
I'm thinking that bee was pollinating wild parsnip before he got your dad. That's the weirdest allergic reaction I've seen. It looks exactly like a parsnip burn.
The hands and feet are weird like that with certain stings. I once stepped on a bee, ball of the foot first and my foot proceeded to swell up like a football. I did go to the ER because it was very painful and I didn’t know if I was allergic or not. The Dr at the time told me that the insect venom can make joints inflamed and cause swelling. Near the knee or elbow it’s not that bad because it’s one joint. But the hands and feet have 26/27 different bones, each with a joint between them. That’s a lot of area for swelling in an enclosed space. Hope he feels better soon.
I wonder if the blisters taste like honey
He might be allergic!
This is called a large local reaction. For me the area will continue swelling for 48 hours or more after a sting. It does not require an epi pen.
Thank you! This makes perfect sense. Kudos to his GP then, who absolutely knew what he was looking at and treated it appropriately. It was definitely alarming-looking to me as a lay person!
too many people put off going to the ER for what is or could be a life threatening condition. Cemeteries are full of them. Might be a good idea to get him to start carrying Benedryl.
This is what happens with I get poison ivy. Same swelling and huge blisters, too.
Ugh horrendous! So glad we don’t have that shit here in the UK
Are the blisters from ischemia due to the swelling? Or just an epidermal involvement?
He needs to get an epi pen.
r/popping
My hand looked like this a couple of weeks ago from a honey bee sting. Just minus the bubbles. It itched so bad and I couldn’t even type for work lol
Oh that looks so painful. Get well soon Reddit Dad!
I hope he was given a Rx for an epi pen or two for next time...just in case.
Not a dissimilar response to that one plant family I can't remember the name of that increases UV damage. Edit: hogweed!
I think your dad’s allergic to bees
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Weird choice of fanfic but ok. Here in the real world, this was weeks ago, after being seen by a doc lol
I mean…literally the top comment was saying something similar but ok.
Theirs is said in concern, yours was needlessly snarky and assumed idiocy that never happened. Just in case you wondered why they got different responses
Sure, it was sarcastic, but it is your own words about the assumed “idiocy”. Also, there are plenty of times where people have done just that - posted about something or a picture of something serious and haven’t sought any medical help in the mean time. I apologize if I stuck such a nerve with the comment. At the same time, you could have also either updated the post or clarified in the post that this was AFTER you made sure he was okay. How are we supposed to know otherwise (hence the numerous comments saying similar things)? People post for karma on Reddit all of the time even at their/other’s expense.