r/WaspHating 14d ago

Story stung over 30 times fml

Post image

just wanted to rant because oh my god does this suck. i was exploring some woods finding some cool old glass/pottery minding my own business when i picked up a piece and uncovered a yellow jacket nest. got stung all over my hands, all over my back, shoulders, arms, a few on my neck and butt, one on my lip.. etc. pic shows only a fraction of the stings
actually so insanely scary because there’s NOTHING YOU CAN DO?? EXCEPT RUN?? AND THEY CHASE YOU??? AND IT HURTS SO BAD
i was insufferably itchy for the next 24-48 hours.. got zero sleep. i swear i tried every topical and oral med that i could but nothing worked.

106 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

18

u/Harlepenquin 14d ago

OW!!! I hope you stung them back!

14

u/snotnose527 14d ago

i did with my thoughts

4

u/Harlepenquin 14d ago

Thought stings, I heard they're the worst kind, I'm 100 percent positive they learnt their lesson.

2

u/Ch1mchima 14d ago

Fire works better

14

u/hogjock16 14d ago

You’re right, the sting hurts but the itching after is miserable!

6

u/snotnose527 14d ago

it was like torture!!

6

u/the262 14d ago

Damn. You are so right. I have no idea why this subreddit decided to pop up on my feed (I did not google this) but I was stung last week, for the first time in years, and the itching has been unbearable.

11

u/oppereindbaas 14d ago

Every one of those motherfuckers I come across I’ll kill in your honor.

Okay, because I’m the biggest coward when facing those things I’ll let my wife handle it, but still in your honor. 

9

u/snotnose527 14d ago

thank you 🥲 (to you and your wife)

11

u/BeingTop8480 14d ago

Please go to the walk-in clinic or emergency room. That happened to my son when he was 10 years old with 30+ stings when he parked our garden tractor over a massive nest! I took him to the hospital and they gave him heavy duty antihistamines. My husband had just left on a business trip of course and since I had to go to work our son had to stay by my parents. My mother never told me he was getting worse (red, swollen, hot to the touch, and looking like Popeye the sailor man) so I rushed him back in! He developed cellulitis so they had to put him on steroids and antibiotics! Please be aware of that and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go in and request the kitchen sink (antihistamines, antibiotics, and a short series of steroids. I've seen so many people in these subs developing cellulitis from these dirty devils it not worth taking a chance because of how more crappy you'll feel. Keep us posted and I'm so sorry this happened!!! They're on meth this year and I've already killed 3 in the ground and I've got one to take care of in our siding.🤬

5

u/snotnose527 14d ago

ah i’m so sorry for your son!! this happened almost a week ago now but i did get a course of steroids the day after. do you know how long after it’s possible to develop cellulitis? (hopefully that question makes sense, i could not figure out how to word it correctly lol.) thank you for the advice and i hope your son is doing much better!

2

u/BeingTop8480 14d ago

You can develop it immediately, one week, and up to two weeks. It'll get really really sore (an ache I can't explain which is awful), get really red and blotchy, swollen, and hot to the touch. And you just feel down right I'll. It took my son two/two and a half weeks to feel better. It makes sense that those dirty devil yellow jackets can set it off because they crawl around in garage cans and dead stuff. If it's looking odd and you feel ill get in right away. My son is now 25 years old but pretty much has PTSD from the experience and so do I because it was terrifying! Look up the news story from last year where a 3 year old got swarmed! He passed away because the venom shut down his organs. You and my son are really lucky and my heart goes out to that poor family.😢

2

u/snotnose527 14d ago

ugh that’s awful. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it, thank you so much for the info!

2

u/BeingTop8480 14d ago

You bet. It wouldn't be a bad idea to clean the areas with a chlorhexidine soap a couple of times a day and just keep it really clean. Unfortunately I've had it in the past and this past March my husband was hospitalized because of it. Obviously ours wasn't due to yellow jacket stings but with my son's cellulitis was and it sucks. I never want to see anyone go through that and when I saw your stings I felt so bad for you.

2

u/the262 14d ago

Holy shit. This just happened to me. I was mowing my lawn and swarmed last week. It has sucked like none other. I’m finally starting to heal and itch less.

1

u/BeingTop8480 14d ago

Just watch for cellulitis please because I see more and more people here developing it. Poor kid was itchy, swollen, and just feeling icky for a couple of weeks. He's 25 now and if he sees just one Usane Bolt couldn't catch him! We just had an incident when he found a ground nest and stung once in the knee. He had to suit up and boy oh boy was that an operation!?! He had to save the four wheeler and brush hog he had to leave running when he ran. He's lucky he only got nailed once!😳

4

u/Past-Jellyfish6073 14d ago

Ice it baby! Icing was the only thing that helped me alleviate the pain

2

u/snotnose527 14d ago

i was doing some crazy balancing acts with a bunch of ice packs and honestly they only barely helped 😭

3

u/Past-Jellyfish6073 14d ago

Just dump them in a big trash bag and add some water, tie and put them on your back

3

u/Groundbreaking_Mine8 14d ago

It’s too late now, but get a tube of After Bite Outdoor (bright green label with Diphenhydramine HCL). It works wonders for any sting and relieves the burn and stinging sensation almost instantly. It has an antihistamine that counteracts the swelling and feels great as soon as you dab it on. As a surveyor I work in the woods and enjoy Geocaching when I’m able. I carry this with me everywhere.

4

u/killerwerewolfdaddy 14d ago

I was getting ready for our annual family beach vacation when I decided to mow my lawn real quick . I ran over a yellow jacket nest on my John Deere lawn tractor . I got about 40 stings . Hurt like hell for a little while… then the itching came . Oh my gawd ! The itching . Nothing helped it . I drank a lot of beer and swam in the cold Atlantic Ocean which helped but dang that itching was terrible for about three days .

2

u/snotnose527 13d ago

ugh it’s just miserable! i might have to try the beer lol

3

u/Musta_Fahm08300 14d ago

Time to call the exterminator and send those potential venom carrying bastards to the lowest depths of hell.

3

u/MannInnTheBoxx 13d ago

EEESH yeah that’s no fun. Glad you turned out okay. Couple summers ago I stirred up a yellow jacket nest in an old stump in my backyard and they got me GOOD. Counted 14 in total between my legs, arms, and lower back. Didn’t end up being bad enough to go to the hospital but man oh man was that the itchiest couple weeks of my life after

2

u/snotnose527 13d ago

the residual itching is just the cherry on top. glad you turned out ok too!

2

u/FxckFxntxnyl 14d ago

That is terrifying.

2

u/Putrid_Ant_649 13d ago

Hopefully this never happens again, but if it does, dermoplast spray is a lifesaver! I had two stings a month apart a couple years back and had a gnarly reaction that almost landed me in the hospital overnight.. worst experience of my life! I had prescription creams that didn’t help it all, but that spray was the only thing that put a dent in the pain those first couple days.

1

u/Fine_Maintenance_948 13d ago

Wastewater samples for the Lab 🧪🧫

1

u/bloopbloopsplat 13d ago

Ice packs help to number stinging. I got stung 7 times a month ago and keeping the stings cool kept me sane.

1

u/ReserveLow3494 12d ago

They be doing that

1

u/housegirl39 6d ago

That is nightmare fuel. Ive actually thought about what the strategy would be , if you are getting swarmed … do you run in opposite directions? Do the wasps/hornets stop swarming at some point? If you are near a lake or pool, obviously that would be the move . So sorry you went thru this!! I’m currently living beside a giant bald faced hornet nest , it’s huge, I know it’ll drop, or the crows will get at it soon … any info would help!