Was I lucky today to have PMR?

[Dobermanlover]

I was in the garden with my husband this morning intending to do some cutting back around one of our ponds. I had just pulled up an ash seedling when I felt a very sharp sting on my thumb - then another on my arm. That's when I realised that I had disturbed a wasps' nest and they were after me with a vengeance! As I am allergic to their stings, I hurried away as quickly as I could (can't run any more). Luckily my husband realised what was happening and was beating them off me as best he could. They also stung the dog - I don't know if she was more terrified of that or of me screaming every time I was stung. I don't know how many times I was stung, but I have about 8 large swollen areas on me - I think they stung me more than once in some places. I don't think I have ever been so scared. Anyway, anti-histamines, a call to 111, as I then worried about whether I should have taken then with the Pred and a quiet sit down, I am now feeling less in pain and a lot calmer. We were worried about the dog as she was constantly trying to lick her side where she had been stung. My husband looking on the internet noticed that one of the treatments for a bad reaction in dogs noticed that one of the treatments for it was to give them steroids!

Hence the title of my post! Was I lucky to have PMR today! Got to be an up side to it some where.

[ritter]

O you are so brave if that had been me I would have past out for sure

you brave lady, hope you are feeling better very soon and you doggy.

[polkadotcom]

Oh, my goodness what a thing to happen! I'd been sitting here feeling sorry for myself after a bad fall last weekend, but I think I'll keep my bruises, wouldn't swap them for wasp stings!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

See - I keep saying that pred isn't all bad!

If you are allergic - don't you have an epipen?

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

I think this is very interesting:

nytimes.com/2016/08/30/busi...

[Dobermanlover in reply to PMRpro]

So far I have been very lucky that things haven't got out of control. I was stung by a bee 2 or 3 years ago and my arm swelled up really badly,, but my breathing wasn't affected. I always seem to be stung at the weekends, so have never been to the doctor with it. I always have anti-histamines with me and take those straight away - I just wondered whether the steroids saved me from a far worse reaction than I had. Certainly when I got up this morning the swollen patches on me were worse than when I went to bed, but now, 1 1/2 hours after taking my pred., they are going down again.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Dobermanlover]

Yes, pred also reduces the allergic reaction, they are used in a lot of cases.

The trouble with an allergic reaction is that you never know when it is going to get really bad. You don't respond to your first exposure - but it can be the second or the thousand and second that causes trouble. If you EVER have difficulty breathing or your mouth feels at all swollen, whether it is the weekend or not - hotfoot it to A&E, if it is really bad, dial 999. They carry the right stuff - and the sooner you get it the better.

[Charlie1boy]

Interesting. I got stung in three places by jellyfish in the summer. It was not the first time this has happened to me, but, on this occasion, the painful effects of the stings were minimal, and stopped the same day.

I was on 7mg of pred at the time, and I really do believe they they helped reduce the discomfort.

Good luck.

[Ellie135]

On the doggie front...... My German Shepherd, Lexxi, is on prefer around 5 months of the year due to allergies so it must give some boost to our immune system. Feel better soon. Xx

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Ellie135]

It doesn't boost it - it damps it down so it doesn't react as much which is what causes the problems.

[Ellie135 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for clearing that up for me PMRpro, my brain is in a constant fog and I don't always explain things properly. 😱

[S4ndy]

I have cats and react badly to cat flea bites, normally need antihistamine to control the swelling. However since I have been on Pred for PMR I have noticed that if I do get bitten, it doesn't swell and only leaves a tiny pinprick mark instead of the huge welt I normally get. Noticed the same with Mossie bites too, don't seem to get bitten as much but if I do I don't react the same way, perhaps my blood is no longer so attractive

[Sallyaches]

I in my pre PMR days used to suffer from hay fever and asthma, I haven't used my Ventolin inhaler for so long my G.P. has stopped it on repeat prescription and have had 2 summers with no hay fever. On balance I would rather not have PMR and have to take steroids and I don't know when my allergies will return as in 2 years have not been able to reduce lower than 6mg.

Still it is good to have one positive side effect.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Absolutely - someone posted elsewhere about advantages of pred, I hadn't thought of this!

I have a wheat allergy - I get a horrible very itchy rash, it isn't gluten, it's something in the starch of hard wheat, the stuff used for pasta and a lot of bread. When I'm on high enough a dose of pred I can eat anything - about 10mg the rash starts to reappear!

[Dobermanlover]

Thank you all for your comments - I had really bad eczema before taking Pred., now it has cleared up completely. Just hope it doesn't come back at low doses.

Felt well enough to go for a walk with my daughter, granddaughter and our dogs today, we decided to walk round a large field as part of the walk, a couple of 100 yards in and we met some dog walkers who told us to be careful on the other side of the field as there were some very angry wasps there! A couple of the dogs they had with them had been stung - we did a very rapid turn around - I wasn't going to risk another confrontation with the pesky things!

Thank you for the advice PMRpro, my husband was all geared up to take me if necessary yesterday.

[nickm001]

I hate wasps. Bees would only sting if they feel in danger, since they only can sting once before they die. Wasp is like machine gun, and can sting multiple times. On a side note my father was beekeeper ( as a hobby) and as a child I have been stung so many times. Now I have less reaction from bee sting ( or wasp) then from mosquito bite. I have not "tested" reaction since I got PMR and pred. Wonder if anything changed.