400kΩ insects

[rogerzilla]

Do we need to censor the word *ns*ct in case there is an all-powerful Faery Queen reading this?

[Mrs Pingu]

Do we need to censor the word *ns*ct in case there is an all-powerful Faery Queen reading this?

That's me. Pingu calls me 'Vespa, Queen of the wasps' at this time of year. They seem to love me for some reason. I have to sit there waiting for them to get bored of crawling all over my face and lips before I can breathe again. Urghhh.

[Biggsy]

I've never been stung by a yellow and black thing.

Er, should I have said that?

[hellymedic]

I've never been stung by a yellow and black thing.

Er, should I have said that?

You should not. I was not stung until I was eleven years old. That was when we had a family holiday in Hornbæk, in Denmark. Seven of us were crammed into 2½ rooms and all meals had to be taken al fresco. Breakfast was usually Sugar Puffs or their Danish equivalent...
Danish wasps are irritable and sting-y in August. Nobody escaped.
I was stung on my poor large and expanding nose.¹ My grandmother was stung on the tongue.

1) It had been badly grazed in a playground incident a few months previously and then had local steroid injections to minimise scarring. Mum destroyed school photos which showed the scabs.

[thing1]

Oh dear...

Resistor colour code for 400kΩ: Yellow Black Yellow.

I claim my 2.27 kilograms.

Did everyone else who got the joke not bother to comment?

Only saw the thread today and realised it sas colour code joke right away (although: my first attempt had it as orange rather than yellow leading stripe, I really should remember the foul rhyme employs zero not one based counting  )

I love the way this thread already owns 400kΩ of the Google. I guess terms involving Ω are fairly easy to google bomb.

Commiserations on the sting btw, Kim.

[Biggsy]

Maybe they don't like the smell of me (or maybe deet actually works with them).  I didn't get stung even when cycling a couple of miles in BC, Canada with the air thick with hornets (or something like them).  They were even flying along at the same speed as me.  Wearing only shorts and t-shirt, there was nothing I could do; just had to carry on and hope for the best.

I react quite badly to mozzie bites, so I hope I'm not too bad when I get stung by a wasp - as I surely will today now I've temped the Faery.  

[Mrs Pingu]

I'd never been stung before I took up cycling, both incidents have been on the bike. One got stuck between my helmet strap and my neck, and the other I was in high speed collision with on a descent in France. That one left a big hole in my leg for a while.

[BrianI]

Do I win a prize for also getting stung today?

I was cycling along quite happily on the cycle path towards Alloa, felt something hit my lips.  Tried to brush it away, then got a nice sting on the inside of my lower lip.    At least my lip is less swollen now, although still a bit nippy.

Just back from visiting out of hours GP seeing as I had a rapidly inflating lower jaw / face  this evening after being stung on Saturday morning.  All the slight swelling had gone by Saturday tea time, so I wasn't to worried about it.

Interestingly this evening I was watching a bit of Tommy Cooper on ITV4+1, and had a ginger nut biscuit or two then my face started getting fat...   

Anyway, got a full blood pressure & pulse reading at A&E out of hours clinic,  and got sent home with a packet of high strength prescription only antihistamines, so all should be back to normal tomorrow.   

Note to self, must start to carry antihistamines in both my bike saddlebags, and carry some with me when ever I go out anywhere.  And stop cycling with my gob open!   

[Biggsy]

Just like that?    Get well soon, Brian.

For those without prescription-strength antihistamines (yet), are any of the "one a day" tablets strong enough to be much help for an insect bite/sting?

What if you you take two in one go?  Is that possibly dangerous?

I know there is cream as well - but that doesn't seem to help for me.

[SteveC]

MrsC took one of those when bitten by a horsefly. Seemed to help. I have 'overdosed' on them in the past (three in 36 hours) and seem to be still here

S

[BrianI]

Just like that?    Get well soon, Brian.

Less of a swollen mouth today, still slightly puffy though.  Another antihistamine should help this afternoon.

[clarion]

Not stripy, but flying and naaaasty.  Last night, it was hot and humid enough for the ants to swarm.  I thought that we'd have lost a load after they'd put their effort into growing wings last week, only for the temperature to suddenly drop.  But there were more than enough last night, and I got quite a few on me as I rode home. 

I'm allergic to ant bites, and very allergic to bites from flying ants.  So when, in Balham, I got one inside my shades, it was a deeply unpleasant moment I would not choose to repeat.

[Wascally Weasel]

For those without prescription-strength antihistamines (yet), are any of the "one a day" tablets strong enough to be much help for an insect bite/sting?

What if you you take two in one go?  Is that possibly dangerous?

I was told this years ago by my doctor so if it's incorrect blame him but the one a day tablets take quite a while to have much effect.  He told me to start taking them about six weeks prior to the time I usually start suffering from the symptoms of hayfever.

As I understood it from what he said they would be next to useless for bites, although he didn't specifically say that because we were discussing hayfever symptoms.

[tonycollinet]

I have indeed this year been playing stinging thing roulette by riding my 'bent in baggies