Hi Eunice,

> within half an hour to an hour, I will experience severe chest pain,
> difficulty breathing, pains in shoulders and upper arms, swelling
> tongue, eyes pouring tears etc etc.  I presume this is "real" ?

I would agree, this is a real and severe reaction to a bee sting.  It exceeds "redness, swelling and pain" which is what the original poster agreed was an allergis reaction.  My first post on this topic asserted "redness, swelling and pain" is normal, to be expected, and often misdiagnosed as a true allergic reaction.

> Is an epipen not effective for this?
I cannot and would not say.  What you described is what I experienced once.  I was prescribed an epipen.  I too never used it.  I do not now keep an epipen handy, nor have I for years.

> Are you saying that (an epipen) would be of no use?
I am not saying that.  I am not advising to ignore professional advice.  I am pointing out that professional advice is often to carry an epipen and am asserting that more times than not the advice to do so may be unnecessary.  In today's litigous society, a doctor is bound to err on the conservative side, and I am in no way advising that my word be taken over one's physician.  When it come's to one's health, personal responsibility is my advice.  Personally I was advised to carry an epipen.  I did so.  I found I didn't need it.  Eventually it ended up on the ground and I backed over it with my truck (this was by accident).  I had many stings between the time I purchased the epipen and backed over it, but I followed my physician's advice to keep it handy until I was confident that I didn't need to have it on hand.  If my dying thought is, "Damn, I should have kept that epipen handy!", the fact that I didn't have an epipen handy will be based on my own personal decision to not have it on hand.  I will be responsible for my demise, but no one else's.  A physician's advice trumps mine.  In my own case, my physician prescribed an unnecassary course of action.  I assert that happens more times than not.

> I no longer keep bees, but breathing the air of the hive
> while working over it, also seemed to cause similar symptoms.
> So I wonder just what was actually going on.
I cannot say.  In this case I'd back Janet's advice to consult with an allergist.  If you have routine, reproducable symptoms beyond normal redness, swelling and pain, I advise seeking professional help.

My original assertion was redness, swelling and pain is a normal reaction to a bee sting, often claimed by the general public to be an alergic reaction, and often reinforced by physicians to be an allergic reaction when in fact, redness, swelling and pain is a normal reaction to a bee sting.

Aaron Morris - thinking true allergic reactions are quite rare, but allergic reactions DO occur.

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