Ah the joys of reading old Bee Line logs.  For those who really enjoy
this list and haven't been on it more that a year or two, there is a
wealth of information out there in the logs.  It's like getting an
overdose of bee line all at once.  You also get a real feel for the
long time personalities on the list.  I found my sources of info on the
ibuprofen thing.  It was here on the bee line!  I've downloaded
everything from the listserver and store it on my hard drive in
compressed format.  (Thank God for PKzip and a grep utility)  Having
these handy can be a real benefit if you run into something and need
help relatively quick.
 
Back in June 1993 and March 1994 I found these posts which state the
claim I made earlier on the list.  I strongly recommend that you rid
your medicine chest of the -profen drugs.  Dr. Mom at my house did
about a year ago.  I wonder what else can heighten our sensitivity to
bee venom?
 
Anyway, here are the quotes:
 
In June 1993 Tom Sanford wrote:
 
>An interesting postscript to the above is that "new" drugs can
>sometimes cause unknown complications.  For example, a recent re-
>published article in the Newsletter of the Florida State Beekeepers
>Association, obtained from the Maryland Beekeeping Newsletter,
>indicates that at least two cases have been reported of anti-
>inflammatory drug (ibuprofen, fenoprofen, naproxen, etc.) use
>correlated with loss of immunity to bee stings, resulting in
>allergic reactions.  This originally was published in Understanding
>Prescription Drugs by Dorothy L. Smith (pp. 270-271) and referenced
>in the British Medical Journal 292:378, 1986.  The bottom line from
>all this is apparent.  There's still a lot to learn.
 
In March 1994 John Gates wrote:
 
>Your memory is pretty good Rick. This phenomenon has been mentioned in
a >number
>of journals and newsletters lately.The last article I read was in the Feb/94
>issue of the American Bee Journal, pg. 120. Originally, "Understanding
>Prescription Drugs by Dorothy Smith was published in the British Medical
>Journal. 292:378, 1986. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
mentioned were
>ibuprofen, fenoprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, sulindac, piroxicam, suprofen and
>tolmetin. Was your wife using any of those?