What's normal for a bee sting?

Yesterday? :) You'll be right sweetheart. Was this your first ever bee sting? (That's more a rhetorical question because you don't sound very 'allergic' either way.) Did you remove the sting correctly? (Because your sore, swollen foot suggests otherwise... ) My guess is, you've crushed the sting and pumped yourself full of poison. (Or the sting was left in for a bit? Maybe both?) Which absolutely - will make it swell up and hurt like a bitch. Learn how to remove a bee sting. If you just flick them out it'll save you a lot of unnecessary pain. (Which goes double of you're allergic.) Make sure there's no bits of sting left in there still and ice it. More anecdotal data points?? -I've been horribly allergic to bees but do not get/ never got 'hives'. (I've had reactions to different types of stuff before too but never any hives. Maybe I'm not the 'hivey' type??) Anyway I get cold and clammy and my skin gets this attractive all over red/white splotches sort of pattern to it. And of course yes, there's that whole breathing thing... (That's the part that gets you, so you'll probably find that aspect typical of most, if not all people having a severe allergic reaction??) But yeah, I wouldn't get too hung up on the hives. -My reaction was also worsening with every sting. (Which occurred at least once a year). It went from just taking an antihistamine to heading to the nearest ER. There were these few stings in a short amount of time and from that point on it just snowballed with every one after that. -Surprisingly (or not actually??) my first sting in many many years was pretty mild. I felt/looked ok and afterwards I would've felt a bit silly about it, except for the angry red streaks making their way up my inner ankle. (And not one hive to be seen.) ...Still allergic. Intermuscular injection with big-fuck-off-horse needle no longer manditory. Good to know I guess? ...fuck bees

As a counterpoint to the "bee stings will eventually kill you": As I worked with bees my reaction to stings steadily decreased. The last time I got stung the welt was probably 2 inches across (vs swelling my whole foot/forearm, whatever). I worked with a beekeeper who, after keeping bees for decades has such a mild reaction that he didn't even wear gloves or tuck in his pant legs. A sting would leave a welt not much different from a flea bite.

Go to the health food store, whole foods, or possibly a good pharmacy. Get powdered bentonite clay (in the facial mask section) Mix powder. Apply. My thought is this should suck out the poison, or maybe there is a stinger in there? Elevate foot. See doctor if you need. And yes - take an antihistamine!

I managed to have a bee hit me in the neck just above my leather jacket three weeks ago when I was riding the Harley... Bee slide down inside my jacket, bit me about five inches above my bellybutton... (60 miles an hour...it's amazing how fast you can stop a bike and pull over...) I still have a three inch red spot on my stomach...looks like a target! It itched for two weeks... If you're not having trouble breathing, you'll survive.. antihistamine is good advice.. Aloe worked for me to help with the itch...

I was stung by a bee on the arm earlier this week. It swelled up about eight inches around and was extremely painful and itchy, so I went to the local walk-in clinic. They gave me a shot of steroids and more to take the following days, and told me to put hydrocotisone cream on it. It has now been six days since the sting and while most of the swelling and itch are gone, there still is a red mark about three inches around. So it was pretty bad even with the treatment; not sure how it would still be without the help. YMMV.

The rule of thumb for bee stings is that if you are asking about them on askmetafilter, things are all right.

From what I've ever ready or head about, if you were going to have a bad reaction to a bee sting, all other things aside if it was going to be bad it would have already been bad; i.e. you would have noticed yourself not breathing. I've never heard of anyone have a reaction from a bee sting alone days after the event.

You are allergic, at least more than a normal person. When I was stung on the foot at age 5, my entire leg swelled up. After that, my parents had me put on injections to build up my immunity. By the time I stopped in high school, a bee sting would give me a silver dollar sized welt, whereas someone like my father would only get a quarter sized mark. Take some antihistamine, and similar to Ookseer, my mother would make a poultice with meat tenderizer when someone in our house would get stung, though I think to be effective it should be applied soon after the sting.

Bee stings can also get http://www.healthline.com/blogs/outdoor_health/2006/09/is-my-bee-sting-infected.html. It happened to me once. I think if you're still within a day or two of the sting, its probably just normal swelling, but if it continues and gets hot to touch and hard you might consider getting it checked out by your doctor. I had to take a course of antibiotics to clear it up.