My Quest For Arthritis Relief Through Bee Stings And Bee Products

I'm going to tell you the story of how I experienced temporary relief for about six months from my arthritis symptoms after being accidentally stung by almost 3 dozen bees. I am going on a quest today... a search for relief of the terrible pain I am once again experiencing.

I have a form of arthritis called CPPD in my hands. I also have osteoarthritis which has destroyed both my knees and hips, which have been replaced. But in this article we'll be talking just about my hands. CPPD, a form of arthritis that involves calcium deposits, is systematically destroying my joints/knuckles one at a time. While that happens, it is excruciatingly painful. It has ruined my right little finger middle joint, making it permanently fused and unbendable. Two joints on my right hand connected to the index and middle fingers are always hugely swollen and painful. Both thumbs are affected. Now my left hand, which has had only minor symptoms for years, is on a tear. The pinky finger mid-joint, the middle finger entire thing, and the hand joint where the middle finger connects are screaming constantly. OK, this is bad because that's affecting my crocheting. I can't bear to do it a lot of times.

Now for my bee story. Last fall I was out in the yard after a rainstorm, went to pull some grass around a plant and stirred up a nest of yellow jackets in the ground. I received 32 stings mostly to my hands and some to my feet. I had a huge local reaction - pain, redness, swelling - that lasted for a few days. Luckily no allergic reaction! At that point, before the stings, my right hand was terribly swollen, stiff, and my handwriting was almost impossible.

A few days later something funny happened - I noticed while filling out a form that I was... writing! Writing effortlessly, like I used to! And you could read it! I always was proud of my handwriting and here it was again. Once I paid attention I realized my hand wasn't hurting anymore! The swelling was down far more than 50%. It was... a miracle! These improvements lasted all through the winter, into spring, until a few weeks ago when all the symptoms returned with a vengeance. It was obvious my little bee miracle had worn off after about six months.

I told my story to my rheumatologist, who said he had heard some things about beesting therapy but due to infection risk would not ever consider doing it. Dead end there. I suffered on a few more weeks. Now it is just getting worse by the day. I can't hold onto objects. It's hard to type. Crocheting hurts. I'm getting a little bit of relief from wearing copper gloves but you can't wear them all the time or to do everything. I want my miracle back!

So I am starting on a quest. I am either going to get brave enough to try and get myself stung in my clover patches in the yard, or I am going to find a professional apitherapist who will do the stings for me. In the meanwhile, while I try to locate one of these people, I am going to start on bee products both internally and externally to see if they offer any help at all.

The products I will be trying are Propolis, Royal Jelly, and Bee Pollen. I will be taking these internally as available nutritional supplements. I'm also purchasing Propolis in its natural form to try applying externally to the affected parts of my hands with poultices.

I'll be coming back here and reporting my results whether positive or negative. Please come back and check for weekly updates!

If you have arthritis and have experienced bee stings and relief from them, please leave your comment in the section below. I'd love to hear your experiences!

From the reading I have done thus far, I have learned that the mechanism by which bee stings help arthritis is as follows. The stings initiate a huge immune system response which overcomes the "status quo" state of the body in dealing with arthritis inflammation. The physical reaction to the bee stings is what produces this effect and is therefore a desirable thing. Just as I experienced, the reaction is painful and lasts several days after which a major improvement happens. The effects can be temporary or permanent, or the person may experience no improvement at all.

You can't find (at least I can't) bee sting therapy in the yellow pages or online. You can't find a doctor who practices it overtly. That's because bee sting therapy is not approved therapy in the United States. You can join networks which list practitioners in directories, for a fee.

Bee products are another matter altogether. They are widely available in all the usual venues.