Anaphylactic shock from bee sting

voodoo said:

My MC gets stung by a bee and goes into anaphylactic shock...
Any help is appreciated because I've never been
stung by a bee or gone into anaphylactic shock.

Thank you!

Click to expand...

It's terrifying, especially if it is the first time. The standard reaction is swelling- of the stung area, then a tightness of chest and finding it hard to breathe. You may see spots then feel weak- it is possible to pass out before seeing spots.

People with an allergy can have a stronger pain in the sting. it's a prick, then a burning sensation, finally a throbbing sort of numbness.

I've been stung 3 times in 34 years. The worst reaction was to a honey bee, went into shock and came close to losing my right arm. It literally looked from wrist to elbow just like the aftermath of a snakebite- swollen and a black/blue color. My cousin is just as allergic, she lost consciousness after a wasp sting to the ankle, sting to passing out, about 5 minutes if I recall correctly.

I've gone into anaphylactic shock once.

My experience: everything in my body started to tingle...erm, everywhere. I could feel my blood pressure dropping, and I fell to the ground. Couldn't breathe, and I heard the doctor yelling for epinipherine. (the hospital actually od'd me by mistake--nice, eh?) They jabbed it in my leg a la Pulp Fiction. Within seconds, everything returned to normal. Because I'm allergic to aspirin, I now carry an Epi pen.

Hope this helps....

Does the character know he's allergic to bee stings? If so, I think there's an emergency kit (an epi-pen???) which he might carry with him just in case.

The main thing is that it happens very very quickly.

I;ve never had it, but my sister in law has. As others have said, swelling, difficultly breathing and then unconsiousness.

It should be noted too that in severe shock your heart can stop.

My son will go into it over bee stings though we've caught it fast enough that it hasn't happened yet. He got stung by a wasp (thankfully it was a wasp!). From the moment he cried out to running up a flight of stairs his arm had tripled in size. We were able to pump enough liquid benedryl in him that he didn't go into shock. Had it been a bee we would have had to use the shot.

My husband had to use it once (shellfish/iodine allergy). My mother-in-law described it as very sudden. One minute he's fine, the next minute he's all swollen, having a hard time breathing. Since it was an ingested reaction it was everywhere, but especially the throat. She called 911. They walked her through administering the epi-pen, which was jabbed into his leg. The lady on the phone then walked her through how to perform a tracheotomy with a pen knife and a straw if he stopped breathing before the ambulance arrived. She actually had to gather the supplies and had marked the spot on his throat when the ambulance came because his breathing had stopped almost completely.

Thankfully he didn't get trached. After the epi-pen which can triple your heartrate as it's pretty much pure adrenaline, he slept for about 3 days.