Was last in the UK 3 years ago for the parents 60th wedding anniversary so natch took the kids. Stayed in London one night and when we woke next day the youngest was covered in lumps. Went to reception… played hell about bed bugs… and left in a huff.
Over the next few days we noticed the lumps hadn’t gone so took her to a local doctor who decided the rash was caused by an allergic reaction to penicillin… which she’d been prescribed for earache but had *stopped* taking before we’d flown a week or two earlier.
We decided it’d be good to test her for the allergy since it can be dangerous for her to be given the stuff if she fell sick.
So… three years further down the track we finally took her yesterday to be tested and she *is* allergic… so no more penicillin for the ‘baby’ 
She’s also allergic to couch grass, rye, and plantain so we’ll have to be a bit more stringent about what we allow to grow free in the garden beds – still I suppose it’s good to know.
After my collapse following the stings I had been trying urgently, but without success, to get to see an allergy specialist myself and I mentioned this to the doctor and he said he’d fit me in since I was already there. Nice of him I thought.
So they wrote all over my arms, dropped the test liquids and spiked me much as they’d done the little one. As expected my ‘hay fever’ allergens started in immediately. Grasses, dogs, cats, dust mites etc all started itching within seconds…. but oddly the paper wasp spots didn’t.
Out comes the specialist and told the nurse to do a subcutaneous injection test using 1/100 strength venom. Boy did *that* work! Within 2 minutes I was feeling much the same way as I did when stung… and all bar collapsing too.
I explained this to the doctor but he decided it was because of the injection method not the content of the test (lord knows why) but I was in no state to tell him. Anyway, at least I am now *sure* I’m allergic to them and will have to take more serious steps to avoid them and clear them out of our garden at least.
This will involve spraying the jasmine and the walls behind it etc to stop them building their nests. Not sure I like that idea but I did *not* like the way the test made me feel. I honestly thought I was on my way out again. It also made me realise again how close I came to not being here now. In fact, if yesterdays example was any guide… one more sting could well finish me off regardless of the epi-pen. I went into shock so fast it took me totally by surprise.
There *is* a way of desensitising me… but it would be a 5 year process… and the risks of the desensitisation process aren’t really worth taking bearing in mind how rarely I’ve been stung in the past. I’ll just have to be careful… tho these wasps are everywhere as are their nests so this isn’t going to be such and easy thing to do. I’ll just have to try. After all… what’s the alternative? 
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