Bee Stings - Venom Therapy

Enjoying my bees

I started keeping bees with my husband, because we have both been interested in keeping them since the 1980's. These were pets!! Having started, however, we looked on the internet and found that bee venom (stings) is supposed to be beneficial for MS treatment. This works as the venom stimulates the body's antihistamine reaction which helps build up your natural defences and fights the effects of MS, such as stiffness, slurred speech and sleep problems.

Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) is something that is used much more in America than England but we thought we would try it all the same. After more checking on the Internet and wanting to do it properly,  we booked a trainer who had to come from 100 miles away to train us and my carers how to administer the stings properly and safely. She said we must have an "Epipen" in case of allergies, which I obtained from my G.P. I was then tested to see if my body would accept the venom without having any allergic reaction. She recommended a book, "How Well are you Willing to Bee? - A Beginner's "Auto" fix-it Guide" by Pat Wagner 'The Bee Lady', which would tell us all about it. The book recommended changes to my diet, which would in future be caffeine free, and suggested different vitamin tablets. She was also recommending frequent drinks, which I was already having, and a healthy diet including lots of fruit and vegetables. These are all things that the book talks about and recommends.

Sting, with venom sac clearly visible
(click to enlarge)

I started bee sting therapy in the summer of 2008 and in the autumn of that year noticed a great relaxation and better muscle tone. This was noticed by friends and family. One of my carers went on holiday for two weeks just after I had started and noticed a tremendous change in the short time she was gone. My speech, which had become slurred and incomprehensible, became much better and was noticed by my brother when I phoned him. I was much more able to cope with stressful situations. However, in the winter of that year, the bees were unavailable because of the cold, and I became a lot worse again. I did, however, become much better again when the weather warmed and the bees came out so I was able to resume my BVT. I have thirty stings a week - ten stings every other day and then a day off. The stings are very easy to administer. It is done by my husband who uses a hand-held vacuum cleaner (mini vac) to catch them as they exit the hive. He then releases the bees by the window in the bedroom - they stay on the window, attracted by the light outside - then he uses plastic tweezers to catch and hold each bee individually (the tweezers recommended originally were cruel to the bees, so we get plastic ones that are given to us by our G.P). The bee is held on the area of skin to be stung for a few seconds until it has taken. The bee dies shortly after the sting, which is left in me for 15 minutes and then removed by my husband. When the sting is administered it hurts for up to a minute and then gradually gets better until I can't feel it, usually about 5 minutes. For an hour after the stings I might feel very cold, so I have rugs or a duvet over me and have a nap. Six times in the last year and a half I have been incredibly itchy afterwards. Although very uncomfortable, this shows that my autoimmune system is kicking in again.

I am immobile so can't administer the stings, but my husband has stung himself (it is supposed to be good for arthritus), therefore it is possible if you are physically able. As you can see this system is completely free, which is probably why the pharmaceutical companies don't like to advertise the benefits of bee venom therapy. Someone I know gets bee venom injections on the National Health from  their GP, who is a Steiner doctor, I believe. BVT  is something I have not seen in MS books either, such as 'MS Matters' and I wouldn't have found out about it if I hadn't looked on the internet.

Update
It is now March 2011 and I have not been stung for more than three months, my speech is very bad and I'm hoping for bee stings today or tomorrow (2nd march 2011). I am hoping for great things for my voice, but it might not happen. Incidentally I have not changed my drug therapy or had botox since November 2010. I don't think that botox (botulinum toxin) helps the way I would like it to.

We have started a 'bee friendly' bee group and one of the members has mild relapsing-remitting MS. She injects herself with bee venom which she gets from her GP, a Steiner doctor.  She must see benefits or she wouldn't do it.

Sarah