Eating a virus

[OakLeaf]

Now if they'd make an Epi-pen that would fit in a little clutch purse, I'd be a much happier camper.

Or in a reasonably sized seat pack, either. And why did they have to make the outer packaging so much BIGGER in the latest revision, when the pen itself is the same size.

I'm ready to go back to the old Ana-Kit just for the smaller packaging. I give myself my allergy shots so I don't mind doing it the old fashioned way. (I guess Epi-Pens are automatically IM though, so I wonder if they're more effective than giving oneself a subQ injection? I don't think I'd have the nerve to inject myself IM with a regular syringe like you get in the Ana-Kit!)

[kelownagirl]

I've been carrying an Epi-Pen for 32 years now, I've had anaphylactoid reactions to both bee stings and ingested items, plus I have the other type of food allergies too. Apparently anaphylaxis does increase core temperature, but that shouldn't last 24 hours I don't think - and mostly I don't think it would be a symptom that's very noticeable to the victim considering everything else that's going on during an anaphylactoid reaction.

Have you considered getting immunotherapy? I started my monthly shots for a severe wasp allergy 18 mos ago and after 1 year, I don't have to carry an epi-pen. I do have to get the shots every 2 months for the next 4 years tho. well worth it imo

[OakLeaf]

I had immunotherapy right after I had the reaction to the sting. Then about the time I finished it, the Powers that Be declared that the old mixed hymenoptera shots were ineffective. I've been stung many times by many different things and only had the reaction once, but I was stung in the face and didn't actually see what it was.

Same with whatever it is that I ate... when I had the worst reaction, I thought it was aspirin, but then I ate twice more at the same restaurant and broke out in a prickly rash all over - enough to make me go park outside the ER until it was over, but not enough to go inside. So I think it was either some odd ingredient they were using, or some kind of contaminant, but again I don't know what. Haven't taken aspirin since then, but I'm actually thinking I'll go park outside the ER and challenge that sometime soon, since there are so many health benefits to low dose aspirin.

I do take shots for my inhalant allergies, and I TOTALLY swear by immunotherapy. Nothing, nothing, nothing has improved the quality of my life so much as those shots (plus identifying and managing my food allergies). Used to be I couldn't even function for two or three weeks in late summer (weeds and molds), and suffered all year round with allergies to one thing or another.

But I haven't had good luck with developing a tolerance the way some people do. I'm a lot less sensitive to certain things than I used to be, and there was one mold that I didn't react to at all the last time I was tested, but everything else (of the 20 or so inhalants in my shots) I still react to. I was on sublingual drops for my food allergies for a while, but the allergist's office themselves admitted that immunotherapy for food allergies isn't usually very effective, and it didn't seem to do much for me.

But in any case, I'll continue to carry the Epi-Pen even though I've never had to use it. The way my allergist explained it, developing an allergy is like walking off a cliff... with each "step" (exposure) you get closer to the edge, but nothing seems any different until you fall. Specific allergies develop via exposure, but the immune dysfunction that causes them "lives" in your immune system, so I could develop an allergy to something else. I just figure it's a stupid thing to die of for want of a $50 prescription (reimbursed by insurance).

[Aint Doody]

Another believer in immunotherapy. I gave myself 4 shots each week for 5 years. I'd taken antihistamines everyday for 25 years before I did this. When I was tested for 45 inhalants in our area, I was allergic to all but 5 items. Now I only have to take antihistamines in the early fall. Sooooo much better than not being able to breathe.

[bmccasland]

I'd go for immunotherapy for allergies if I knew I'd stay put geographically - but my roots haven't grown very deep yet. Been here 6 years, and have the itch to move again. As for treatment for the really dangerous things - I've lived this long without knowing I even had a food allergy, and I can recount the number of times I've been stung by a wasp that prompted me to actually use the Epi-pen, so I'm not certain immunotherapy treatment would be worth it. So far avoidace has worked rather well.

Long time ago, when I was trying to save money and didn't have health insurance - I had syringes & vials of epinephrine - so when I got stung, I had to snap the top of the vial, draw the epi up in the syringe, then give myself a shot. Felt like a junkie felt (I suppose) needing a fix - got to have my fix or I'm going to die. On the other hand, when I was married to a paramedic, my husband would trade out my vials of epi for fresh vials at the hospital pharmacy, so I didn't need a new Rx for over 10 years (after we got divorced). Self injecting Epi-pens are much easier to use when you're about to black out from lack of oxygen than trying to load a syringe and give yourself a shot. I'll take the $20 Epi-pen if I had a choice.

[OakLeaf]

wow, where do you get an EpiPen for $20?? My insurance reimburses mine, but they're around $50 at Walgreens and CVS.

Ana-Kits come with the syringe pre-loaded. You still have to give yourself the shot, but at least you don't have to draw up the serum.

[malkin]

I was just reading about Norovirus and found this in a list of ways to prevent its spread:

Food and Water Safety

Avoid joining an estimated 9.2 million cases of foodborne norovirus infections each year by preventing food contamination. Always wash raw food before eating, and don't eat food prepared by someone who is ill until 2-3 days after symptoms have cleared.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0131121800.htm

So maybe you can eat a virus after all.