[pct-l] Yellow jackets and EpiPens on the PCT

[Marion Davison]

Two years in a row I have been bitten by deer flies in the southern 
Sierra.  They bite between the knuckles on the back of my hand and my 
hand swells up like a balloon and itches tremendously.  I get a red 
scaly rash that looks like cellulitis.  I used a gel ointment on it that 
contains benadryl and avoided itching and the swelling went down in 24 
hours.  It reminded me to keep using the deet on my hands.  Since I wear 
long pants/long sleeves, my hands and face are the only thing exposed, 
but I gotta use the deet.  I get extreme histamine reactions to 
mosquitoes, deer flies, bed bugs, etc.  The swelling, welts and itching 
are excruciating.  Whereas my husband gets as many bites as I do and has 
no reaction whatsoever to them.  I carry benadryl gel and benadryl pills 
in case of hives.  ( the rash, not the bee's dwelling).
As a little kid I was on a camping weekend in SoCal and stepped on a bee 
nest in the ground.  The bees swarmed and stung my legs many times.  My 
legs swelled so bad I couldn't walk.  I had to be taken home for bedrest.
I've never had a respiratory reaction to bee stings, lucky for me.