A&E after severe reaction to wasp sting. What next?

[evertonmint]

So today I got stung by a wasp on my hand. Within 10 mins I'd started to get red blotches up my arm, took a Piriton but within 30 mins I had uncontrollable itching all over my scalp and body - hideous hives under my arms, round my boobs, belly and groin. It was awful.

DH took me (and our ebf 4mo!) to A&E where they rushed me straight into resusc, jumping the big queue!!! I didn't have any breathing difficulties so it wasn't full on anaphylaxis but they were worried enough to take me there. I ended up having 8 steroid tablets and they kept me in until the hives had stopped itching. I now have a very swollen, throbbing and sore hand/wrist half way down to my elbow, and residual redness on torso though the hives have gone.

Dr was a little vague on next steps. I know what to look for over next few days. But need to go to the GP to discuss whether it was severe enough to need an epipen or not.

Anybody had experience of this or similar? I'm not quite sure what to ask/demand from GP and how worried I should be about any subsequent sting?

The bad news is that your next reaction is likely to be worse so yes IMHO you should be asking for an epipen

Eli pen is the next step. Don't stop BF but do join the club.

I would also say a referral to an allergist is necessary to talk about risks, possible cross re activities etc etc. Sorry you were so sick.

Thank you. This is helpful. A&E doc said because I didn't have breathing/airway difficulties it might not be necessary to have an epipen but that the severe hives might. She isn't an allergy specialist hence unsure and referral to GP. I'll push to get referred on.

It was kind of ok - I just knew it wasn't a full on anaphylactic shock - so was fairly sanguine at hospital and just totally desperate for the itching to stop. But now I'm a bit wobblier really: we had 6 kids incl the baby in the house and DH had nipped out so only me and FIL there. It could have been horrid if it had been worse and I'm a bit scared. Not helped by then finding a dozy wasp crawling onmy cardigan in the bedroom when I got home! I normally don't worry about them but had to get DH to deal with it tonight.