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Yellow Jacket/bee Stings

kenlove

By kenlove
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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kenlove Rising Star
kenlove
Posted

Besides getting glutened from cheese yesterday, I got stung badly.

Was driving when a bee or yellow jacket flew up my shirt sleeve.

Got me twice under the arm. Felt like getting shot and I was lucky to keep my truck under control.

Wondered that if a bee pollinates wheat and then stings someone if that can cause a gluten reaction.

Also wondered that if we've started on this allergy road if we are more susceptible to an allergic reaction to stings than

non celiacs. Being in the tropics and having been stung by small scorpions and BIG centipedes (the worst!) I noticed that

I dont heal as fast as I used too. Dont know if thats a function of celiac or just age.

Any ideas?

Ken

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lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

"Wondered that if a bee pollinates wheat and then stings someone if that can cause a gluten reaction."

I can't imagine it could. In fact, I'm not sure that bees pollinate wheat at all. I think its wind pollinated.

richard

ShayFL Enthusiast
ShayFL
Posted

No I wouldnt think a sting from an insect that pollinates wheat could cause an autoimmune reaction in Celiac. Why? The pollens stick to the "legs" and "bodies" of the insects. The stinger is kept retracted until it stings you. And even if one molecule of wheat pollen (not gluten which is the sticky stuff in the grains) was injected into you, it could not get into your digestive tract (plus pollen is not gluten). I know a bit about bees, but feel free to look it all up.

I actually got stung by a wasp myself yesterday. I have a Powder Puff bush that I was dead heading. I do it frequently because it keeps it covered in red puffs that the bees and humming birds love. It is always swarming with bees, but they never bother me cuz I never bother them. I am not afraid of bees. I have had many land on me, but have never gotten stung. I know how to treat them. But wasps and yellow jackets are aggressive little buggars. This one got me on the leg. Stung like fire. :(

spunky Contributor
spunky
Posted

I was once told I was allergic to bee stings, then told later on that swelling up really big locally is not the same as allergy and I have nothing to worry about... still, I do swell up big locally after most stings... but then I started putting ice on the sting and alternating that with either activated charcoal or chewing tobacco, and found that doing that as quickly as I can keeps the swelling down for me. If I alternate the ice and whichever other I have on hand... I don't swell any more than most other people.

I don't think the venom would reflect whatever a bee had been pollinating... it's not like spit or something, ya know? I mean, it's just a chemical they make in their bodies, so it wouldn't seem to matter what they'd been gathering pollen from, in my thinking. I don't know why some people react so much more than others to stings, though... my husband has no more than a mosquito-bite-sized reaction whenever he gets stung. Sometimes my actual mosquito bites get bigger than his yellow jacket stings.

kbtoyssni Contributor
kbtoyssni
Posted

A bee sting goes into the skin (and the blood stream???), not the digestive system, so I would think that even if a bee had wheat particles on it you wouldn't get glutened. Unless you had DH or tend to react to gluten on the skin. I'd guess it's like using lotions with gluten - if you don't digest it you'd be ok.

ArtGirl Enthusiast
ArtGirl
Posted

If you got stung TWICE it was not a bee - their stinger and venom sack lodges in the skin, ripping them out of the bee's body, then it dies. It was most likely a wasp - they can sting multiple times.

ShayFL Enthusiast
ShayFL
Posted

I hate wasps. :angry:

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kenlove Rising Star
kenlove
Posted
  • Author

Guess it was pretty obvious that there is no celiac reaction to a sting but was curious. It was a yellow jacket or paper wasp that got me and it itches as bad as dh!

thanks for all your replies

ken

pele Rookie
pele
Posted

I got stung a couple of weeks ago on the finger. A couple of tobacco chewers happened to be right there and put tobacco on the sting. (No they didn't spit! It came out of a little tin). After I got home I used a homeopathic treatment called apis mell. I had the mildest reaction I have had in years.

Ken--Hope it feels better soon.

kenlove Rising Star
kenlove
Posted
  • Author

Im just glad the swelling is down and its not itching as bad. My test field for tropical fruit is about 100 yards from the largest queen bee breeder in the US so I'm lucky it doesnt happen more often. The bees never seem to bother me like the wasps.

take care

I got stung a couple of weeks ago on the finger. A couple of tobacco chewers happened to be right there and put tobacco on the sting. (No they didn't spit! It came out of a little tin). After I got home I used a homeopathic treatment called apis mell. I had the mildest reaction I have had in years.

Ken--Hope it feels better soon.

CaraLouise Explorer
CaraLouise
Posted

Baking soda and water mixed together makes a great paste for any type of stings! ;)

ShayFL Enthusiast
ShayFL
Posted

When I got mine the other day, I was by the water hose. So I grabbed it on either side and squeezed well below the sting and ran the water pressure over it for a good minute. Then when I got inside I rubbed an antibacterial into it and then iced it for 30 minutes. The swelling went straight away and no itching at all. :)

sickchick Community Regular
sickchick
Posted

I used baking soda & water when I got stung by red ants when I lived in the desert. Bad ants B)

be well Ken!~ ;)

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted

I had what was called an allergic reaction to a bee sting years ago. I was tested and told I was allergic to all kinds of insect stings, then tested a few years later and told that I was allergic to the body of the insect but NOT to the venom (?????).

I do know of a GREAT treatment for bee stings, though--

ONION.

Seriously--put a freshly cut slice of onion on the sting. It makes the pain much, much less. I don't know why.

One of my son's friends got stung yesterday, and he was amazed by how much it helped.

If anyone knows why it helps, please post!

kenlove Rising Star
kenlove
Posted
  • Author

Just talked to a Univ. guy about the red ants in Hilo and what we can do to keep them out of Kona.

The little fire ants are worse than the big ones since they climb and build nests in trees instead of the ground.

Yep -- BAD ants!

I used baking soda & water when I got stung by red ants when I lived in the desert. Bad ants B)

be well Ken!~ ;)

kenlove Rising Star
kenlove
Posted
  • Author

Never would have guessed onion -- thats a great one to remember!

I had what was called an allergic reaction to a bee sting years ago. I was tested and told I was allergic to all kinds of insect stings, then tested a few years later and told that I was allergic to the body of the insect but NOT to the venom (?????).

I do know of a GREAT treatment for bee stings, though--

ONION.

Seriously--put a freshly cut slice of onion on the sting. It makes the pain much, much less. I don't know why.

One of my son's friends got stung yesterday, and he was amazed by how much it helped.

If anyone knows why it helps, please post!

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