My first use of an epipen

[Smitty33]

I'm 53 years old and never had a bad reaction to a bee sting until last fall. Got tagged in back of the neck by a yellowjacket and knew immediately this time was trouble. Had a very serious reaction and could not breathe by the time I got to ER, Doctor said if I hadn't got there when I did I may have died.
So last evening I'm just about finished with my trim mowing and wham I get tagged HARD on back of leg down by my ankle. Insert lots of cuss words but after 10 minutes I still felt fine. Finished up with the push mower and by that time itching was kicking in EVERYWHERE and I was turning red and looking like Hellboy.
Epipen in the thigh and off to the ER I went. Pretty bad reaction but thankfully never had any breathing issues. two more epi-shots at ER a crapload of benidryl and steroids and finally got cut loose about 11.
Just so anyone else knows who also has to carry epipens I had heard all kinds of horror stories on how they will mess you up too and how bad they may hurt. Mine was absolutely painless. In fact I didn't think it worked at first until I saw the little blood droplet at injection sit. It was a piece of cake at least in my experience.
One a side note, this bee sting alleregy has always had me a bit gun-shy of ever getting a hognose, anyone ever had experience with this?

[JoshSloane]

Wow! Im glad to hear that you are doing well. Bee sting allergies are no joke. Definitely keep that epipen on you at all times.

From what I know, due to hognose snakes being rear fanged, even if they tagged you, it is very unlikely that they would be able to inject you with significant venom. Their fangs adapted to be able to penetrate frogs and other amphibians that they had already caught. Also, I believe it has been shown that hognose venom itself is harmless to humans. At most might elicit a minor reaction. The venom in bee stings is very different from certain snakes.

[Smitty33]

Wow! Im glad to hear that you are doing well. Bee sting allergies are no joke. Definitely keep that epipen on you at all times.

From what I know, due to hognose snakes being rear fanged, even if they tagged you, it is very unlikely that they would be able to inject you with significant venom. Their fangs adapted to be able to penetrate frogs and other amphibians that they had already caught. Also, I believe it has been shown that hognose venom itself is harmless to humans. At most might elicit a minor reaction. The venom in bee stings is very different from certain snakes.

Thanks for the info Josh!! At least one good thing about the ER trip was I had rodents soaking in warm water for feed night and they were nice and ready when I got home after 11 and snakes ate like champs!!!

[JoshSloane]

You're welcome! Ha, that is a plus. Ive spent many a night in the ER, definitely never fun.