Yellowjackets With An End Of The Season Vengeance!!!

Old406Kid

Old406Kid

Legend
I got stung several times well over a week ago, once near the bend of the elbow when one got up my shirt sleeve and a couple on the back of my wrist when one got in the cuff of my leather work glove and am having a heck of a reaction.
The main area is about 1 1/2" in diameter this is what it still looks like today.
IMG-8632.JPG
It doesn't seem normal and really makes me wonder how I would react to multiple stings.:unsure:
 
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Hope that heals quickly for you. Those buggers don't waste anytime in fall; they go right in and draw first blood without any warning.
 
I hate the bastards! On our Deschutes float in September, they were thick at our last camp. There were a few around but when we broke out lunch they attacked us. We ended up putting a piece of ham away from where we were eating and that helped somewhat. Fortunately, they were in bed for dinner and not really awake when we had our breakfast burritos in the morning. Wish we knew where the nest was, we would have buried the entrance.
 
Old406Kid said:
I got stung several times well over a week ago, once near the bend of the elbow when one got up my shirt sleeve and a couple on the back of my wrist when one got in the cuff of my leather work glove and am having a heck of a reaction.
The main area is about 1 1/2" in diameter this is what it still looks like today.
View attachment 170619
It doesn't seem normal and really makes me wonder how I would react to multiple stings.:unsure:
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Is that swelling?? If it is, yes depending on the sting location you might die.

I don't go into shock, but swell. I almost died twice from yellow jacket stings.

The second time was drinking a beer with a pissed off yellow jacket in the bottle. When I took a swill, he bit me on the tongue and I could not breathe after about 45 minutes. Fortunately, the ambulance got there with a benedral drip just before my breathing passages closed.

I do not drink out of a bottle or can outdoors anymore.

I ended up going to an allergist, and he put together a kit of epi-shot (worthless in my case), benedryl to stop the swelling and predisone.

Go see a allergist and get your kit.
 
509 said:
Is that swelling?? If it is, yes depending on the sting location you might die.

I don't go into shock, but swell. I almost died twice from yellow jacket stings.

The second time was drinking a beer with a pissed off yellow jacket in the bottle. When I took a swill, he bit me on the tongue and I could not breathe after about 45 minutes. Fortunately, the ambulance got there with a benedral drip just before my breathing passages closed.

I do not drink out of a bottle or can outdoors anymore.

I ended up going to an allergist, and he put together a kit of epi-shot (worthless in my case), benedryl to stop the swelling and predisone.

Go see a allergist and get your kit.
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Thanks for your post. I'm going to make an appt. with my primary doctor and show him the photos.
An allergist sounds like a good idea. I've been using Benadryl cream and Betamethasone, a steroid creme, but the areas of the stings
are still red and itching.
Years ago I had an Epipen and should probably look at getting a prescription for a new one.
 
Old406Kid said:
Thanks for your post. I'm going to make an appt. with my primary doctor and show him the photos.
An allergist sounds like a good idea. I've been using Benadryl cream and Betamethasone, a steroid creme, but the areas of the stings
are still red and itching.
Years ago I had an Epipen and should probably look at getting a prescription for a new one.
Click to expand...
Man! Sorry, Dean. Get with your doctor.
 
Old406Kid said:
Thanks for your post. I'm going to make an appt. with my primary doctor and show him the photos.
An allergist sounds like a good idea. I've been using Benadryl cream and Betamethasone, a steroid creme, but the areas of the stings
are still red and itching.
Years ago I had an Epipen and should probably look at getting a prescription for a new one.
Click to expand...
My doctor at a physical told me that we need to focus on the things that will kill us.

I told her, that would be a yellow jacket sting or stings. She quickly sent me to a allergist. I learned a lot from him.

You eat the benadryl. Best is the children's benadryl because it gets into your blood stream quickly. If you had a epi pin prescription it sounds like you had some issues in the past.

I did NOT do the desentisizing shots. At my age, it was not worth it for the shots over the months. I am, however, really careful when yellow jackets are out and about.

The africanized bees in the southwest sound worst than yellow jackets. I don't hang around in Arizona after it warms up!!!
 
x2 on the Benadryl, and your doctor should have no issue with providing an EpiPen Rx, as epinephrine is a lifesaver for those who react strongly enough to go into anaphylactic shock when stung.
 
Wait till you you see the current cost of an Epipen these days....they were about $100 a few years ago but the current price runs about $700 and even with coverage offsets can easily hit $300+.

Greed is good!
 
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Life is not cheap. Epi-Pens are...

Save a life. Always carry an Epi-Pen with you. Both my daughters do...
 
Them lil bastards have been eatin all sort of nasty stuff and a sting can get infected. I treat em like a spider bite. Flush with peroxide, after I have gotten it to ooze a bit. Do that for a couple of days and then Neosporin on a bandage to help draw out the crud. Also benedryl twice a day and Tylenol. Ps: I’ve for the swelling helps as well.
 
My only sting, on the wrist 30 yrs ago, had my arm swollen up to the shoulder 😬
I carry both an Epipen and benedryl.

That said, here's my main defense:
I keep a spray bottle of soapy water in my van. Bees, hornets, wasps, flies hate it.
When there are a few yellow jackets buzzing around the launch, one mist shot hit and they do a 180 and don't come back. I use a very small amount of Dawn in an old Febreze bottle filled with water. If you use too much, it may foam instead of spray. The nice thing is that you don't have to worry about what else you hit with it (unlike something like Raid) e.g. your car's paint job, your fly line, yourself, etc. And it's mostly non-toxic (they use it to clean oil off of rescued waterfowl, and you know... it's dish soap.)
 
Northern said:
My only sting, on the wrist 30 yrs ago, had my arm swollen up to the shoulder 😬
I carry both an Epipen and benedryl.

That said, here's my main defense:
I keep a spray bottle of soapy water in my van. Bees, hornets, wasps, flies hate it.
When there are a few yellow jackets buzzing around the launch, one mist shot hit and they do a 180 and don't come back. I use a very small amount of Dawn in an old Febreze bottle filled with water. If you use too much, it may foam instead of spray. The nice thing is that you don't have to worry about what else you hit with it (unlike something like Raid) e.g. your car's paint job, your fly line, yourself, etc. And it's mostly non-toxic (they use it to clean oil off of rescued waterfowl, and you know... it's dish soap.)
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Probably one of the most useful tips I've gotten this year!
 
I was cleaning gutters, trimming branches and de-mossing the roof today and found a nest. I think they might actually be paper wasps but I still got stung once on the top side of my wrist. That section of gutter didn’t get cleaned. The tiny hole they seem to be using goes into my mostly inaccessible heavily insulated attic. I ain’t going up there to mess with ‘em. They haven’t been an issue like being aggressive in the yard or anything, and the rain and cold are coming so I’m thinking we can live and let live for now anyway. I’ll try to remember to plug that hole this winter.
 
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