Delayed local reaction to wasp sting. Worry or forget it.

August 28, 2023 8:19 AM

I was stung by a was on August 20th. I iced it immediately and it itched a lot but didn't swell up at all. The only mark was a tiny red pink-prick dot. Yesterday (August 27th), I got a terrible rash around the sting. Itchy red bumps. Maybe 3 or 4 inch radius around the string. Now it's itchy and red again. I googled it and I'm worried I may develop a more serious allergy in future. Is this something to worry about?

So I googled delayed reaction to wasp stings and turned up lots of stuff on serum sickness, which is a delayed reaction like 7-10 days later. So I'd think it was that except that it looks like that's supposed to be a systemic reaction not local.

But if it IS that, it seems like people who get that might have a more serious allergic reaction if stung in future. Since wasps are assholes, this concerns me. Should I worry about this? See an allergist? Carry benadryl? What precautions does it make sense to take? Or since it was a local, not systemic, reaction do I just calamine lotion and forget it?

posted by If only I had a penguin... to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

I can't specifically answer this question, but I carry benadryl all the time anyway.

My thought process is that anybody can have an unpredictable reaction to something without warning or prior issues, and I'd rather have benadryl to help with that than not. I've used it, friends have used it, Mr. Meat nearly used it on a flight ("Is there a doctor on the plane" situation). No, it won't cure anaphylaxis, but it will help minor reactions and might help enough to get you through to more help.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 8:44 AM on August 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd be more worried about an infection. Might be a good idea to go to Convenient Care and get it checked out.
posted by BrashTech at 8:44 AM on August 28, 2023 [9 favorites]

First - start taking pictures of the reaction. In similar situations, I’ll draw a circle around the initial redness / swelling with a pen, and measure the diameter. As the reaction gets bigger, take subsequent photos every hour or so. I’ve done this with other insect encounters (including spiders and ticks) and my doctors love that I have visual data and measurements to share.

Then I’d go to an allergist. They can test, and if warranted, an EpiPen may be in your future. At the least, it’s documented. I’ve been prescribed prednisone for a severe insect reaction; if it’s on file, they can likely get you assistance faster if it happens again.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:45 AM on August 28, 2023 [4 favorites]

I had a very similar reaction to a bumblebee sting as a child; the little asshole landed directly on my nose and stung me on the lip, at which point I squawked and swatted it away and ran to Mom. She and our neighbor (a nurse) treated it with the usual first-aid stuff, and by that evening the initial bump was even starting to fade. But then the next morning I woke up with a hugely swollen lip, and after an hour half of my face was also starting to swell up, so Mom rushed me to my pediatrician. She just prescribed me some Benadryl, which took care of everything.

I don't remember any further discussion about needing to carry an Epi-pen or more Benadryl with me in future, since this was a first-time incident. My hunch is that maybe the doctor said "if this happens again then we can start talking about that", but I was only ten and wasn't privy to that discussion. Also, I was more than happy to use this as an excuse to run away from bees the way I'd always wanted to do because that made a lot more sense than "just stand still and let it fly away from you" like everyone else was telling me to do.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:20 AM on August 28, 2023

I have gotten cellulitis from scratching a mosquito bite so I would say have this checked out and let a doctor decide if this is a reaction or an infection. In my case they blasted it with both antibiotics and steroids which seemed a little overkill but it worked.
posted by muddgirl at 9:56 AM on August 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

Wasp stings suuuuuck. For me they are way worse than bee or other stings. I got stung by one a couple years ago and it itched and got red and raised (maddeningly, not just like a little bit) on and off for three weeks.

Personally, I'd take some benadryl and advil and wait it out, but if you have access to health care and want to go in I don't think that would be out of line. You could also look into telehealth, or if your primary physician lets you message them via MyChart or equivalent; either way you might be able to upload some pictures and get an answer with minimal time spent.
posted by misskaz at 12:44 PM on August 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Take some pictures and some Benadryl.
posted by nat at 12:50 PM on August 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

To respond with an anecdote: I had almost the exact same experience was you did, but I'm a couple of weeks ahead of you. I was stung on the hand in early August, thought the welt looked an awful lot like a mosquito-type allergic response, and took Benadryl. The welt went away and I forgot about it for a week — at which point it came back, over the course of a day or so, and became red, raised, and swollen. The sensation was much more like the pain of a healing cut than like the stinging sensation of the fresh injury.

The secondary reaction started about two weeks ago, and it's mostly gone now; it looks like a healed-over cut.

Your secondary reaction, a complex rash eight inches across, sounds much more severe and unpleasant than my secondary reaction, a place on my hand which was a half-inch across at its largest.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:20 PM on August 28, 2023