Thursday, September 17, 2015

Shoot Me Up Doc!



Approximately 20 years ago, I had a severe anaphylactic reaction and had no idea what was going on.  I was sick, and had gone to the doctor earlier in the day.  He diagnosed me as having a bad case of bronchitis, and something else……it’s been so long ago, I just can’t remember, while telling this story.

In order to get better medically, the doctor prescribed penicillin.  I, being the impatient one, asked the doctor if I could have a shot instead of pills.  He agreed, gave me the shot and I waited around the office for 20 minutes to see if I would react to the shot.  No reaction!!!!

I returned home and ate a light lunch; some scrambled eggs, and laid down on the couch.  I fell asleep for a couple of hours, and woke to the sound of my front door opening.  It was my sister returning home from work.  I’m just waking up from the sound of the front door opening, my eye’s a tad blurry, and my chest hurt from the bronchitis (too much coughing).  

My sister took one look at me as she walked in the front door.  The first words out of her mouth were: “what the hell happened to you?”  I of course looked at her confused, because I was startled awake. My sister told me to go into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. 

Half asleep, I walk into the bathroom. I felt dizzy, I was breathing funny, my chest hurt badly, I itched in my arm pits and groin area…………………and then when I looked up into the mirror…………….OMG, my face was so swollen.  It looked like someone kicked the crap out of me.  My eyes were swollen badly, my lips were huge………………you would have thought I was a boxer who had her butt kicked badly. 

Dummy me took a Benadryl and then contacted my doctor.  The doctor told me to go to the emergency room, by that time the Benadryl kicked in.  I told her what I took; the doctor stated if I got worse to go to the emergency room immediately.  My doctor told me I apparently had an Anaphylactic Reaction, and scheduled me to see an Allergist for allergy testing the next day. 

The allergy doctor listened to my story, and then proceeded to lecture me for 10 minutes about not going to the emergency room immediately.  He told me I’m lucky to be alive!!!!  Well, well…….his words got my attention.  The doctor gave me a prescription for an Epi-Pen. 

Then he proceeded to tell me, I had better go directly from the office to the pharmacy and get the prescription filled because the next time I have an anaphylactic reaction, I could end up dead.   The doctor took my blood to test for allergies.  He made sure to test for penicillin and egg reactions, since I had a shot, and ate eggs.

The blood test revealed, I’m highly allergic to penicillin, and anything made of eggs.  The test also revealed I’ve got intolerance to dairy products. 


In the end, I avoided eggs for 8 years.  Then I gradually added eggs to my diet with the help of a doctor.  Now I’m no longer allergic to eggs, and still use dairy products with a slight reaction of constantly clearing my throat. As for milk, I use Almond Milk as a substitute. As for the penicillin, I stay away from it totally.

In our medical supplies/first aid kits, and my personal fanny pack, we carry several Epi-Pens for emergencies.  These Epi-Pens are checked for expiration dates and replaced routinely.


I have a question for you; do you have an Epi-Pen in your emergency medical supplies/first aid kits?    If not, you should; because a shot of epinephrine will give you enough time to get to the emergency room when you’re having an Anaphylactic Reaction. 

*Allergic Reactions Chart by Adam
**I was not asked or paid to advertise for Mylan, regarding the EpiPen.

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21 comments

  1. I carry one around with my bee gear first aid kit mostly in case others are around as I have never had a reaction. I am deathly allergic to demoral though but that's hardly used anymore and I doubt an epi-pen would help there anyway. Had a girl friend once that carried one because of a reaction to fish. Funny thing she craved shellfish and restaurants often substitute regular fish for shell fish so I was always ready to give her the stick if she had a reaction....

    She accused me of being a bit too gung ho about wanting to though :)

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  2. Needless to say, we're glad you survived the initial episode, and then got the info & supplies necessary to take care of yourself. :)

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  3. I was prescribed an EpiPen years ago and always refill the script when it expires. This last time my doc wrote the script the pharmacist called and said the price was almost 200 dollars.....something to do with a new law or something. Then he told me that there was a generic version with a copay of 5 dollars. He said the doctor should write a new script and specify generic and not the brand name, which he did. Hopes this helps somebody.

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    1. 200.00 is a great price. My dual pack was over 600.00 this time. Thank god my co-pay was nowhere near that. Last year when I filled it it was 800+ dollars!

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  4. Sweet Sandy - i was horrified reading your story and am so glad that it all turned out well! and glad you have your epi-pens!

    the only thing similar but not to your extent is the black fly bites - they get to me faster than jam but he is twice my size. but after too many weeks of getting bitten, i start getting a little crazy. then i know i have to take a benadryl (which i hate taking!). jam broke down twice this summer and took a benadryl.

    jam's parents are here now for a visit and jam's mom brought me spray on benadryl...apparently it's awesome stuff but i have to do more research.

    jam's surprise 50th birthday party was supposed to be this saturday night....he knew nothing about it until his bone-headed step-brother told him about it this morning....arghghghgh! email with details coming soon.

    sending much love to my angel. your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Jam is 50? No way! And yes, spray on benedryl is good, so is the lotion...

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    2. yes Gurlie - he'll turn 50 in november so having the party now was going to be a real surprise. i could choke his stupid brother! and i can't wait to try the spray on benadryl now....sending much love angel! xoxo

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  5. You're in trouble if there's a flu pandemic. All of the vaccines are cultured in eggs!

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  6. Sandy that is so scary. We do not but I think we should. Hug B

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  7. Wow You Are One Lucky Lady!! nothing to mess around with. My hubby is allergic to Pen too! Imagine us at the Ranch trying to give cows Pen G and my panic face when he told me.... :0 !

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  8. Yes! I have a dual pack epi-pen because I have anaphylactic reaction to red wasp stings. Like you I swell up and break out in hives. The price of those things are outrageous!!!!!! I I ust got my yearly refill but I do keep my older dual pack as they are still useable and in the words of my doc. Some medicine is better than no medicine! I carry mine in my purse everywhere I go and keep my other dual pack in my medical supply box....if one can afford it I think everyone should have an epi pen!

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  9. Yikes! That is good to know. I haven't had any reactions to anything but sulfa-based drugs and avoid those. Glad you are on top of it!

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  10. So happy things turned out well. My mother is highly allergic to Penicillin but I've never asked her how she found out. Hmmmm, need to do that. My gosh the price of Epi-Pen is high!

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  11. Do you have a medic-alert bracelet, or something similar that alerts all paramedics to your allergies, specially penicillin? Do you carry a note in your wallet, have one on your fridge? This way if anyone else has to be involved, they will have the details immediately. And on your notes at the doctors, there should be a HUGE "Red Alert" on your file. I am so glad you are safe. I hopped from Kimberly to you.

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  12. I don't have one but have thought of getting one...but I had no idea the prices of hundreds of dollars? and they expire in a year? Yikes! Do you have to get a doctor to prescribe it? Or do you (or anyone) know if you can just go get one? I don't have a regular generic doctor, so no one I could call and ask for it without a new doc appt, etc.

    Glad you know and are taking care of yourself!!

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  13. Hey My Angel.... Fortunately I am not allergic to much. My sister and niece on the other hand are walking disasters waiting to happen.....
    The only time I swelled up was after swimming at Daytona Beach. I got out covered in hives...my mom rushed into a gift shop and got me some benedryl.
    Poor Senior is allergic to milk...he can eat dairy products, just not good ole vitamin D milk. So he gets Almond milk. I am very happy you did not die that day, and got properly diagnosed.

    Much love to you and BDM

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  15. We do not have an Epi Pen in the house. I've seriously considered asking the doc for a prescription though. I've never had an anaphylactic reaction to bee/wasp stings, but I've never had a "normal" reaction either, and I worry that one of these days I'm going to get stung and shrug it off and regret it.......

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  16. Yikes, Sandy, what a scary experience. A hard lesson learned but very fortunate in the end. This post is a good heads-up for us all.

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  17. That would be scary.

    Wasps do me that way, chills, pain, swelling but I don't have a pen. I keep Benadryl around.

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  18. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! YES, I WAS OKAY AFTER THIS INCIDENT AND NEVER LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!!!! FYI, I ALWAYS WEAR A WRIST MEDICAL BRACELET, HAVE IDENTIFICATION IN MY WALLET, ON MY CELL PHONE, AND IN ALL OF MY MEDICAL RECORDS, AND ON THE COMPUTER AT OUR LOCAL HOSPITAL. I ALWAYS AM PREPARED SINCE THE INCIDENT.

    THE EPI-PEN IS AN EXPENSIVE DEVICE, AND YOU MUST OF A PRESCRIPTION TO GET THEM FROM YOUR PHARMACIST. MY RECOMMENDATION IS ASK YOUR PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN FOR A PRESCRIPTION, SEE IF THEY WILL GIVE YOU A GENERIC VERSION OF THE PRESCRIPTION. THIS WAY YOU'RE SAVING MONEY.

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