An Epipen was the first prescription medicine I ever asked a doctor to prescribe for an emergency kit.

Quick story: When I was in college, I used to work as a lifeguard / swim instructor at summer camps. One of the really fun things I got to do was to be the last canoe down the rapids on some whitewater canoe trips run by the camp.

While getting ready for one of these trips, the camp nurse pulled me aside and told me that a neighboring camp had been on a similar trip. One of the kids had an anaphylactic reaction to a minute amount of peanut butter residue on a knife he had used to cut his sandwich, and he died on a sandbar on the Delaware River with his counselors powerless to do anything about it, and all of his friends watching. She handed me an Epipen, taught me how to use it, and swore me to secrecy that I had it, unless I needed to use it. That scared the crap out of me.

To this day, when I head out into the wilderness, in an easily accessible place I keep an Epipen and liquid Benadryl (and now that i have kids, an Epipen Jr.). While neither is an absolute cure, between the two I hope I can at least give someone with an anaphylactic reaction a fighting chance.

Seems like I met a person once who told me that they injected themselves with an Epi-pen just to see what would happen. I think they were part of an EMT class, or some first-aid training. Apparently the results DO give a great RUSH to the patient :-)

Speculating here - I wonder if an Epi-pen would be one technique to get a person moving, if they became "frozen with fear" during a critical emergency?? If all else failed, just pull off the top of the epipen and STICK!! Well ... that's probaly not very nice behavior, anyway. It bet it's been contemplated, though :-)

Pete #2

Pete,

While I'm sure you were joking, I would NOT recommend this!

In EMT class they taught that the only contraindication for epinephrine in an anaphylactic person is death - in other words, they're likely to die without the medicine, so no harm in trying (you can't be anymore dead than dead!). While most healthy people will survive an un-needed dose of epinephrine, it will raise the heart rate and blood pressure among other things, and if someone already has cardiac issues, that might not be a good thing. I'm sure some of the people with higher levels of medical training than me can elaborate more.

Besides, have you seen the needle on those things? The spring and needle are strong enough to be driven through heavy denim jeans. I would imagine that hurts! An Epipen would not be my first choice if I was looking for a chemical "rush". . .

Hi,

My wife suffers from severe anaphylaxis with no known trigger, her Dr. thinks it is some form of random histamine dump. I have had to use her EpiPens on her on a couple of occasions so I thought I would share.

Key think to remember about an EpiPen is that it is only supposed to buy you some time (and not very much, depending on circumstances) to get to medical help. If you ever have to administer one (or both of them in the kit) you need to get the recipient to a hospital ASAP! (Note: call 911 and wait for the ambulance, you don't want to cope with this in the car!!). This can be difficult because the "rush" from the medicine and the symptom relief can easily convince you that everything is all better. When the medicine wears off you can quickly find yourself back in a crisis mode. Even if you are past the histamine crisis the medicine in an EpiPen is placing a lot of stress on your system.

If you carry one, please be sure you know how, and much more importantly, when to use it.

-Eric

Eric ... thanks. Good advice. And what I noticed from your comments is that two Epi-pens may be required.

Jesselp ... yes I was mostly joking with my earlier comments. But if you've ever been in a situation where you need to get people moving quickly, and they just aren't responding because of high levels of personal fear (or mental exhaustion), then you might sympathize with the scenario. :-)

Pete #2

With regards to epi-pens, I'd recommend that people with a history requiring one look into a holster option such as this* to keep it with them at all times, that way it can't get lost.

Pertaining to wilderness use, where rescue might take a while during an anaphylactic crisis and the initial dose wears off, the knowledge of this information* may prove useful - how to get several more doses out of a used epi-pen. Of course doing so is not medically recommended, some guesswork is involved in the dosing and you re-use a dirty needle, so it's a last resort only option.

Also, just a reminder as you compile your lists that allergies can occur with practically any drug, so having a backup option is wise. I'm severely allergic to diphenhydramine, which the active ingredient in Benadryl. I hadn't thought it was possible to be allergic to an antihistamine and so I kept taking it, despite my reactions, until a particularly bad situation that left no room for doubt (I had taken a prophylactic dose). With Benadryl out of the picture and multiple allergies it was a big, "now what?". Thankfully there are other antihistamines out there; Benadryl is popular because it's so good, but having an alternative plan is even better in my book.

Back on the first page someone brought up the potential need for strong pain meds in situations when nothing OTC would come anywhere close. There is a legal option that I feel obligated to mention but cannot in good conscience recommend: poppy seed tea. Sufficed to say people have died of morphine overdose from drinking it. Further details are easily found with a bit of research; again these are with normal poppy seeds completely legal and easily purchased. Not something I personally want anything to do with but a good thing to be aware of.

Also nice to know that eating something containing poppy seeds can cause you to fail a drug test...

*No affiliation

Thanks Ann! I've got a kid in my group with a severe allergy to back and yellow flyers. His parents are too worried to let him go camping with us. The more I know about his allergy and treating it, the more confidence they'll have. It took a while for them to let him hike with us, and this year he hikes without them so there may be hope.

This info is very helpful. Thanks!

My understanding is that the typical adult prescription is for two epi-pens with the instructions basically being, use the first one and if there is not a rapid reduction in the symptoms, give the second. Call for help immediately after the first pen.

My wife's doctor also recommended fast melt benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Zantac. The first is an anti-histimine and the second is a histamine blocker. Not being a Dr. or biochemist all I can tell you is they work differently in the body to help reduce the reaction. If my wife detects the early symptoms we can avoid using the epi-pens by rapidly giving her a full adult dose of the Benadryl and at least one Zantac 75. Her symptoms usually stabilize within 30 minutes of taking these over the counter medicines but I usually end up watching her for several hours after while she sleeps off the benadryl.

To abuse a great line - "Darnit! I'm an Engineer, not a doctor".

Seek professional advice and guidance if this is a concern for you or yours.

-Eric

Interesting info re: reusing the epi pen.

Zantac is just another type of antihistamine drug. It's works selectively on different receptors. If you had to carry one, benadryl is a good standby, but concievably claritin,zyrtec or allegra could work.

Re: glasses - I'm currently overseas. The military saw fit to outfit me with 3 different pairs of glasses, and 2 inserts for goggles (which are crap and kind of 'off'). Because of that, I bought my own safety/goggles, one tinted and one untinted. Yup, I'm rolling with 7 different lenses. I have one sunglass and one regular daily w/ me, the rest in my barrack.

Any thoughts with regard to meds that are usually stored refrigerated, when it comes to a disaster situation? I'm particularly interested in storage of insulin for treatment of Type 1 diabetes.

Thanks!