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Wasp Stings, Hormones, and Health

wasps

This past week, I was involved in inadvertently upsetting a yellow jacket hornet nest. Not just once, but twice. This might sound like a horrible experience to you, and yes, indeed it was. However, running into these striped monsters brought with it the creative muse for this newsletter.

Yellow jacket hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of a nest attack and to identify prey, in these two instances my chocolate labrador, Arlo.

Unbeknown to all of us, until the second attack, a community of yellow jackets had made a home at the the base of our front porch. On Monday night, after we entered our house and were in our living room, our dog began to behave strikingly strangely. He bit at his legs, ran in circles, and ran in and out of the house repeatedly. I spotted the cause and screamed, "He is being stung by wasps! Arlo, down!" Being the amazingly well-trained dog that he is, he obeyed as he quivered uncontrollably. I used a handy newspaper to swat four angry yellow jackets to their death.

As my daughter and I settled into our nightly routine of dinner, piano playing, and reading, we continued to kill yellow jackets that had seemingly made their way into our house on the dog, who was cowering in the corner. Unfortunately, we didn't get them all.

As Rayna practiced the traditional English folk song The Cuckoo for her upcoming chamber concert, making sure to accent the right hand G and lift the left hand C as she played E then G, she was stung on her foot. We helped her body through the sting using hypericum perforatum, raw onion slices, and tears. By the next morning, she was left with only an irritating itch.

Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to find the source of the wasp community. I am aware of the fact that wasps provide an extremely beneficial service by eliminating large numbers of other pest insects through predation and should be protected and encouraged to nest, so I tend to leave them alone -- as long as they leave me alone.

The following night, after Rayna had entered the house and the dog and I were stepping onto our porch, Arlo became highly aggravated and almost ran me over. As I looked down at him, I spotted over 30 raging yellow jackets. He continued running throughout the yard, rolling in the grass, and biting at himself. I yelled to Rayna to stay in the house and try to find some wasp killer under the kitchen sink. Then, having in the past been hypersensitive to wasp stings, I left Arlo to his own rescue and ran to the neighbor's house for help.

Now, a few days later, the entrance to our home has been restored and Arlo is constantly worried when he is outdoors. I think he might recover.

From 1992 to 1999, I owned a small food cart that vended falafel, eggrolls, and lemonade to University of Wisconsin-Madison students, Farmer's Market strollers, and local Madison festival attendees. Every late summer, I would be stung by at least 1 or 2 yellow jackets. My afflicted part would painfully swell up to three or four times its size and would not be localized. For instance, if I got stung on my foot, my entire leg would grow swollen, hot, and itchy, and I would get a fever. During one wasp incident, I drank apple cider from a jug that a wasp was also enjoying. My entire mouth and throat swelled up and I ended up in the hospital.

During this time, I used an EpiPen�, an auto-injector that administers epinephrine. Epinephrine is a hormone and neurotransmitter that participates in the "fight or flight" response or "adrenaline rush." It is released from the adrenal glands when danger threatens or in an emergency.

I still get stung by yellow jackets, but not as often. However, I never need an EpiPen as the wasp venom only affects a small and local area. Why? Because I have done the work to recover my adrenal health. My body is now easily able to handle the toxicity of the wasp venom and the crisis to my immune system.

It is unfortunate, but true, that adrenal exhaustion (or adrenal fatigue) is at epidemic proportions in today's stressful world. The consequences of adrenal exhaustion can include allergies and a poorly functioning immune system, such as in a person who is hypersensitive to bee or wasp stings, like I used to be. Adrenal exhaustion can also increase one's vulnerability to cancer, thyroid disorders, obesity, arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune disorders, and many other chronic illnesses. If you are struggling with your health or have allergies, have your adrenal function checked using an Adrenal Stress Index Test.

sea salt

One simple thing you can do to support your adrenal glands, energize your body, and improve your immune function is to take adequate amounts of healthy salt -- unrefined sea salt.

To learn more about how to use sea salt to optimize your health, call us at the Optimal Health Center or read my book, Ten Days to Optimal Health.