Hi LIz,
A very warm welcome to the Group although naturally sorry you have to be here at all!
Talk about being unlucky - twice in a week is very bad luck but that is the way it goes very often. I haven't been stung by a real wasp for quite a few years and something rather perverse in me wants to get stung just to test the immunotherapy works! Having said that, each immunotherapy injection is the equivalent of being stung anyway so a real live field sting I am sure would not be an issue.
It is the norm that people who are anaphylactic are also outdoor types. If you read through the posts on this Group most of us are outdoor people who love gardening, biking, golf, wildlife, ecology and outdoor things. I may be wrong but most of us also seem to live in a rural environment. It may be that we expose ourselves to the risks more than our urban brothers and sisters but the emotional shock of anaphylaxis can be even harder to deal with if you have to face the enemy on a daily basis.
There is academic research and anecdotal evidence to confirm that epipens do not give you a better quality of life ie they do not take away the fear. Immunotherapy on the whole does and this is why it is such an important treatment for so many of us - even though we are still allowed to moan about it!
Do have a read of my website www.insectstings.co.uk and also read through some of this Group's historic postings as there is lots to learn.
Once again, welcome to the Group!
David
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:08 AM
Subject: [insectstings] Hello to the group
Hi ,
I am hoping to be part of this group and to begin immunotherapy soon. I think i will need the support to go through it. I discovered i was anaphalactic to wasp and bee stings one week ago when i got stung by a wasp and went into anaphalaxis 30 minutes later. It was very scary, but luckily I had recognized the danger of a severe reaction due to hives spreading and managed to get myself to a medical clinic before I went into shock. Unfortunately for me, and i know it is just extremely bad luck, but I got stung again on my fist outing, just two days ago, while on a fair ride with my children. This time I had my brand new epi-pen and was in an ambulance 20 minutes later when that wore of and I went into shock. I am incredibly frazzled now. I have closed all windows. I made myself go to my daughters swimming sports day today and was incredibly jittery, and left early. I know i will eventually lose the fear because I know that two stings in a week is really bad luck and that normally people go for years without being stung. I am very worried about having anaphalaxis during treatment and so i think i may need the support of this group to get through it. I am a conservation ecologist and usually am very out-doorsey. I cannot reconcile myself to a life where I am afraid to go outside. I am grateful to have found this group.
Liz
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