It has been a crazy 24 hours. I have always reacted very poorly to the yellow flies here but after Thursday afternoon I can no longer keep my head in the sand and mumble “I’m NOT allergic! I’m NOT allergic!”
Yesterday I was bitten by 2 yellow flies. From what we can tell they are very similar to deer flies and not venomous. I’ve been bitten before and once had a strong reaction, but generally it isn’t much to worry about. I think it might be due to the fact it was 2 bites that kind of did me in yesterday (and continues today).
After the first bite, just south of my knee, my entire groin - especially the fold where the labia meet the thigh were excruciatingly itchy. It was really unbearable, but this has happened before with these bites and it seems the closer to the groin, the worse the itching in that area. I did not notice hives. After a while of icing my nether regions I got really really tired and lay down for a bit. I finally summoned the energy for our daily exercise walk and just before we left I was bit again. I thought it was just a mozzy as the bite area stayed small enough and we headed out for our walk. I was not able to put a lot of energy into the walk but figured I’d just try to get my heart rate up and get some cardio in. About 15 min into the walk I got to feeling REALLY bad - my head was itching like mad (the 2nd bite was on my tricep area), the ear and side of my head that the arm bitten on were itching like mad and we’d already turned about and headed home. My arms got too heavy to hold my waterbottle and my head was so heavy I didn’t raise it but stared at the ground walking home. My legs felt fine. Groin itched but not like before.
Walking home was like out of body. My head tingled all over and it felt very floaty. My arms and head felt like lead. Home I took a shower and Benadryl and lay down. At this point through the rest of the night it is very fuzzy. Oh, I was unable to walk a straight line while walking home and finally Jamie took me by the arm and steered my home. I did, however, manage to have enough energy to jump out of my skin when a palm frond hit my arm. I just wanted to drop to the ground, curl in a ball and sleep but I knew I had to get home. I felt very out of body all evening. Jamie says I ran a fever and was somewhat incoherent. I remember having only enough energy to mutter one word responses or grunts. i was BONE tired. he said I had hives all over my body but I honestly don’t remember that. The swelling, after Benadryl seemed to be very restricted. Normally it will reach from one joint to the other, but this time the arm swelled (erythema, hot and hard and swollen) from shoulder to just before elbow and leg from knee to just before ankle. From what I read this is a local reaction. After a few hours I woke and had energy. I could talk, was hungry and started to watch a movie with Jamie. Then I suddenly got itchy again, immense tiredness and fever. Another Benadryl and I was down for the night.
Today I woke and felt 100% better. That lasted about an hour. I do, however, have headache, diarrhea and after an hour of being up and around I’m as bone tired as last night. I only took 2 Benadryl because they make my head woozy (but last night my head was screwed up before the Benadryl, I’m not sure if today’s dizziness and heavy head is due to Benadryl or what). The swelling is definitely localized and the erythema is much smaller than it normally is. I’m so tired I don’t want to get out of bed. I spent the entire day in bed and I think it was mainly the wicked GI and headache symptoms combined with the Benadryl after-effects of dizziness and cotton head. I think I’ll be back in form tomorrow but now I really need to find some way to figure out when an epinepherine shot is warranted and how to get one. We have an on-call doc and I’m wondering if, since you can’t get EpiPens here, he can drive by and shoot me up.
But other than that, pretty boring here.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Christina // Aug 23, 2008 at 1:27 am
Yikes!! All this makes me very nervous! I hope you are MUCH better tomorrow. Did you have any trouble breathing? I think an epi pen is a good idea. Please let us know how you are tomorrow. Love, C
2 TaTa // Aug 23, 2008 at 8:20 am
Can’t Jamie drive you to a doctor? This sounds god awful!
PLEASE keep us posted (or have Jamie post if you can’t).
If not, has the “on-call” doctor been called?
Good luck and get some professional help ASAP.
Love,
mom
3 jamie's mac // Aug 23, 2008 at 9:34 am
Kathleen, I can easily drive Kitty to a doctor, that is not the problem, if you get my drift
Love, Jamie
4 Jen // Aug 23, 2008 at 1:21 pm
You need to find out what type of insect bit you. Most severe allergic reactions are severe at first and then get better. Your reaction seemed to be very up and down throughout the time period. It sounds like you are allergic but it is important to make sure that the poison/insect doesn’t have any nasty effects in and of itself.
Good luck to you. Hope you feel better.
5 michelle // Aug 23, 2008 at 11:36 pm
This makes me think of all the detective work dealing with allergies can be - ugh. Good luck. Having an epi-pen around can only safe a life - that is why we carry them!!!!!!!
6 Kathe // Aug 24, 2008 at 5:28 am
From my days as an EMT….epinephrine is only used in cases where there is an overwhelming anaphylactic reaction to an allergen. Benadryl really is the antihistamine of choice. Symptoms of anaphylaxis generally include systemic vasodilation and a rapid drop in blood pressure and swelling of the throat. You will have to decide whether you indeed had an anaphylactic reaction or had a severe localized reaction to the bites. In general, anaphylactic reactions are very swift…occur within a few minutes. The other issue to be concerned about is whether your body is developing the potential for a life threatening anaphylactic reaction….becoming sensitized to the tabano allergen…and may result in anaphylaxis with the next bite.
Even if you have an epi pen, and it hasn’t expired and you get it injected in time, that is just a stop-gap measure to buy some time to get to a hospital where you can receive supportive care which may include other drugs like hydrocortisone in addition to the Benadryl. These types of allergic reactions are nothing to mess around with and tend to get worse….you need to see a specialist and plan ahead for the next time. JMHO
7 Aunt Kathy // Aug 24, 2008 at 10:13 am
Dear Kitty,
We love you and don’t want to lose you! Local reaction my ASS! When your whole body is involved, that is not local! Accept the fact that you are extremely allergic and next time use the damn epi-pen! I don’t know what dosage of benadryl you are using, but it should not have leave you woozy the following day. If you can’t use benadryl, then see about getting a different kind of antihistamine.
Jamie, if she gets that incoherent the next time, ask the doctor to make an urgent house call! If Kitty yells at you tell her that isn’t anything in comparison to what it would be like if she was no longer with you and you’d rather hear her yelling than never hear it again.
As I write this I feel I am channeling your grandmother and if so, she is as pissed as I am.
Did she ever say anything to you kids about using commonsense?????
Now go ahead and get mad at me, but remember that we love you and we don’t want to lose you. You have had too many close calls. Didn’t anyone tell you that reactions like these can get worse?
Love,
Aunt Kathy
8 TaTa // Aug 24, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I think Aunt Kathy has summed up all our feelings very well - so just take her advice.
Jamie, if you must, get a 2 x 4 and a gentle rap to get Kit’s attention, and get her to the doctor. (Just kidding about the 2 x 4).
Kitty, listen to Dr. Jamie - no one loves or cares about you as much as he. Like all good husbands he wants to keep you around (and so do we!)
9 Natalie // Aug 24, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Ok ….this is what happens when Im not there to KICK your butt to the Dr.
This just scared the living daylights out of me!
You NEED to find out which EPI -Pan(s) for me to bring you next week
You can not live in the Caribbean with all the bugs that love to eat you and not have one.
Do they have Benadryl down there? Or should I bring more?
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