I thought about putting this in GQ, but since there is probably not a single answer, well, we’ll see how it goes here.
First of all, I’m NOT asking for medical advice, this is not a serious or emergency issue and yes, if it persists or keeps getting worse, I will see a real doctor. But I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience or if this is just idiopathic.
About a week ago, I got stung by a bee or yellow jacket (or maybe two of them) on my leg. One sting on the back of my leg just above the ankle, and one or more on the inner part of my thigh. After yelling and swatting I ran inside and put baking soda and cold water on the site, which was the first thing I could find. Washed it, put on a topical lotion, I think it was Benadryl. Some relief ensued but it was still pretty dam annoying. It was a local reaction only, not general and certainly not life-threatening. It swelled up pretty bad in the upper one, got a very patch red rash and continued to give me little sparks of pain and itching. I had some oral antihistamine pills, so I gave one of those a try. Within a half hour, maybe even 15 minutes, all symptoms disappeared and stayed gone.
What’s the problem? Well, two days ago, almost exactly a week after the initial incident, the symptoms have come back! I’m using alternately a cortaid cream and a benadryl cream, and took another antihistamine pill yesterday, and I’ve still got this four-inch diameter welt on my thigh. It itches and itches.
Does anybody have a similar experience or know what the heck would cause this to happen? Like I said, it’s not life-threatening, doesn’t look at all infected, and if it keeps getting worse I’ll see a doctor.