A bee sting... for most it means a little pain and some swelling. for others it's a trip to the emergency room. That's exactly where I ended up in December of 2010.
As a reporter with KHON2 news I've asked viewers to share their stories with me... so I couldn't ignore sharing this story with you. I am allergic to honey bee venom. But, I've found treatment with allergist Dr. John McDonnell, that could help save my life the next time I get stung.
"Your history was classical you had 3 stings that you could remember and each was successively, progressively worse," says Dr. John McDonnell, allergist/immunologist.
The most recent was when I stepped on a honey bee, my reaction was sudden and severe. i broke out in hives. I was hot, itchy and swollen, and my airway tightened. what happens... is that when a person like me who is allergic to honey bee venom gets stung, their body produces an antibody called ige. the next time they get stung, they're at the risk of an even worse reaction.
"If you come into contact with that substance it then fires off and releases all this histamine and then you have a problem," says Dr. McDonnell.
That's what causes those nasty symptoms.
"Then you go into difficulty with hives all over, itching, difficulty breathing, a feeling of impending doom and then people can get shortness of breath and their blood pressure drop and they can die," says Dr. McDonnell.
Forty to fifty people every year in the us die from an anaphylactic reaction to a venom or bee sting. but, millions of americans are unaware they too may be severely allergic to insect stings.
"We don't know the real severity because a lot of people don't know they should get that treated and go to a doctor because they're at risk to have a worse event at the next sting," says Dr. McDonnell.
Since my trip to the ER, I have begun immunotherapy with Dr. McDonnell.
He's been giving me allergy shots containing increasing doses of honey bee venom at increasing intervals, so my immune system becomes used to the allergen and to prevent an anaphylactic reaction in the future.
And now I'm able to take the equivalent of a full bee sting in my arm, with little to no reaction.
"So when we give you the immunotherapy the ige can go up but the idea is to have it come down over time," says Dr. McDonnell.
It's no overnight fix. research suggests I'll have to continue with this treatment for 5 years.
And, I'll always have to carry this - an epipen. A syringe like device loaded with epinephrine, in case of a severe reaction to a bee sting, while waiting for an ambulance.
While I may be among a select few with this type of allergy... there are countless others who suffer from allergies - particularly in food.
