Wasp stings

Epi pen is only by prescrip here, even if you want one for your first aid kit etc (as the non patient). No one except Docs and EMS are allowed to administer medicines to patients, technically. No Epi pen, no aspirin, no nothing.
 
That sux. No self administration is asking to kill someone from a bee sting or something.
We can at least get epi pens by RX for self dosing in case of emergency.
Kind of pissed about the Primatine Mist though. Pretty much the only over the counter medicine for asthmatics.
$20.00 and you can at least get some air back. Good for those sudden attacks anyway.
 
I buy the RX stuff through one of the family that has asthma and gets her stuff out of Mexico. Muy barato than here in the US. Last time I saw a Doc for my meds... $700.00 for the injection, doctors visit at the cheap clinic, and 30 days of prescription drugs. Then required a follow up visit for more. Soooooooo. Hola Mexico!
 
I want to get one of those epi pens. My opthamologist friend says by prescription and they are expensive....and don't give yourself a shot if you don't need it. Apparently your heart can start racing.
 
I come back to the heat treatment.
Many venoms are active by their protein's content, like different toxins, enzymes... Those are biologically aggressive because they have the exact form / structure to react with important cell components. each one is a very specific reaction, so if you can modify their structure, they don't work any more. Often (but not always), those proteins are heat sensitive. To visualize that, you can look at a cooked egg or steak. Hopefully, they loose their active form before most of our cell proteins.
Apply warm water, or some heat source, as warm as you can stand and enough time in order to warm up (deeply) your skin. Try to not burn yourself, though. Just do that as quickly as possible after the bite to avoid the spread of the venom.
Some of your own proteins will be degraded too, but you can make others for replacement. To give an idea, the first degradations come around 53°C (but your nerves send you some strong messages before that). Try to get around this temp and the venom's proteins become "cooked" before your flesh.
That way, the venom is still here, but no more active. It's just some trash the body has to clean now, no longer harmful.

For the possible infection, it's an other story but it's rarely an emergency.
 
The hot as you can stand water treatment works to stop poison oak itching too, at least for a few hours.
 
oops, wife told me Bub got his first bee sting yesterday. he got some bumps (little hives) fairly quickly and she gave him Benadryl which put him to sleep. Sounds like light doses of Benadryl for the next 2 to 5 days and another allergy to monitor. :(
 
indeed, Bub has a peanut allergy as well as tree buts so we try to have the Benadryl handy. Last time I got stung and my buddies Ma made me take a Benadryl it was ugly, we had been drinking beer all day and I was fast asleep within the hour, for a long spell till the next morning, maybe not such a bad result. lol
 
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