Anaphylaxis - how best to carry epipens?

[Disappearing]

DD (7 y.o.) has multiple allergies and is supposed to have 2x epipens, piriton and ventolin inhaler nearby at all times. At school they keep all of this on site for her, so just for out of school she needs to carry this around. I'm not always with her, she spends time at a childminder, or is often at friends houses, or out with her dad etc.

Frequently we find we've left the epipens at home, or in the wrong bag, wrong car, or whatever, and so we haven't got these things when we need them. So far we've had at least 3 emergency dashes to a pharmacy to buy more piriton while out. Today things reached a whole new level of carelessness, and DD ended up being taken by ambulance to hospital after a nut exposure, from a pharmacy where she'd been taken for the latest emergency piriton purchase. She's fine now, luckily avoided anaphylaxis (luckily it was just hazlenut this time, which is about her least allergic nut type, had it been peanuts we'd have had a much bigger problem)

So I conclude she needs to carry these things herself, I think she's big enough now for the responsibility, and I think that would be more simple and reliable than our current approach which is for whichever adult is with her to remember to get them out the drawer and take them along. I think to hang a bag on the back of the front door, so it's right there in view as she leaves the house, to reduce the chance of forgetting them, would be a good idea.

So, finally, my main question - is what type of bag/holder/pouch or whatever do you think would be best for her to carry? I think it will have to be something small, light and comfortable to carry that doesn't mark her out too much (I think it can be a bit of a stigma sometimes to be the allergic kid, at school she's segregated at lunch times, something the school won't compromise on). Also she's a bit of a girly girl so I don't think a belt hoop type of pouch would work for her, the sort of clothes she likes don't tend to have belt hoops.

Wow, that was long, thanks if you're still reading...

[BlissfullyIgnorant]

Etsy is a cool website and you can find things like this or this or this
Hope that helps!

[amillionyears]

My son used a small camera case.

just to add, does she have multiple sets of epipens and pills?
Our GP was great for this.
Right from the start, he organised 1 complete set for school, 1 set for rucksack/personal bag and 1 set for home.
He realised that at their age, they are continually on the move, so it enabled my son to never be far away from any, in case they were forgotten.

He was like your DD in that they could be needed at virtually any time.
So we were extremely vigilant about this. We were told he might only have 15 minutes to get to the medicines he needed.
So if say, we were in the car,and he had been found to have forgotten it, which was rare, we turned back for home again to go and get it.

[girlsyearapart]

My allergic one is only 4 so doesn't carry it herself but we have a click lid Tupperware box that has two epipens piriton etc inside.

The box gets transferred to whichever bag will be going with her.
She has another at school.

Also keep a bottle of piriton in kitchen cupboard and a spare epipen at a friends house

[girlsyearapart]

Did also used to have a bottle of piriton in the car but its been used

[freefrommum]

DS is 5 so we still take responsibility for remembering his meds but have always encouraged him to to try to remember too and remind us if we forget. When he was prescribed the epi-pens I took him to the supermarket so that he could choose a character lunch bag (insulated to help keep them cool) for all his meds (2 epi-pens, piriton, inhaler & spacer). He chose a Ben 10 bag (surprise surprise!) and is very happy to carry it around with him. When he's older I think we'll probably get a Yellow Cross bag.

We do keep the bag next to the front door to help us remember (DH still forgets sometimes unfortunately).

[ggirl]

My ds is 10 and he has a yellow cross bag that's left at school.

For home we have a small size rucksack , this has a tupperware box inside with epipens/anti-histmaine and inhaler/spacer.

The box has written instructions/phone numbers etc written on it.

The rucksack lives on a hook by the front door.

Ds deosn't actually carry the pens around physically when he's playing out , he's never far from home, just out in the neighbourhood.

I wish piriton made sachets of the medicine like calpol .

[harverina]

My DD is 2 so still has a changing bag - though we are potty training at the moment, so there wont be a need for her to have this for long. However, her changing bag is now a small childrens ruck sack with a front pocket - we have piriton, 2 x epipens, a guide on how to use it and spoons in the front pocket. We dont ever use the pocket for anything else generally. We always have her ruck sack with us as we use it to carry her snacks/meal with us when we go out, aswell as a toy/colouring book, so its handy for everything. Its a blue bag and my DD, even aged 2, does ask if I have remembered her blue bag so its been good for us. Once she is fully potty trained I plan to get her a new bag, slightly smaller, but still with a front pouch.

[harverina]

girlsyearapart - you mentioned that there was piriton in your car...we have a bottle in my glove compartment too but I wonder if the heat or cold would impact it so have been thinking about getting rid of it. Maybe I should get a special carrier (i.e heat/cold) and keep it in the boot instead?

[amillionyears]

ggirl. I am pretty sure my sons piriton is in tablet from. He has never carried around any liquid bottles.
epipens and 2 different sorts of pills. He is nearly grown now and lives away from home most of the time, so I cant remember what the pills were called.

[girlsyearapart]

Yes just a normal bottle in the car. It didn't seem to have any kind of effect on it.

[ggirl]

yes have thought of tablets , are they quick acting enough?

[amillionyears]

As far as I know yes.
Though still check with the GP.
My son has always had them. Had to use them once.
Still got carted off to hospital even though he had been administered the epipen and had had the 2 lots of pills.
Just kept in hospital for a couple of hours for observation by a doctor. He said, it was one of the easiest jobs he had done, because son had already been administered everything.

[ggirl]

I think that'll be the answer when ds goes to senior school .

[Disappearing]

Thanks for the ideas. DD and I did some bag shopping today, she chose this fab - Kipling stripy bag thankfully we paid less than that elsewhere!

I will be screwing a hook onto the back of the front door to hang it on, hopefully that will help with remembering.

For carrying piriton I had previously bought some of these tiny little 8ml bottles I pre-measured 5ml doses into them, they're very small and easy to carry, which of course is not much good if they're left at home...

[girlsyearapart]

We couldn't fit the big bottles in the box we carry so my friend who works at a vet gave me some small medicine bottles - plastic with childproof lid- from her work

[harverina]

As far as I know, Piriton is usually presribed in liquid form as, if someone is having a reaction, the tablet may get stuck in their throat if this is swelling?

[freefrommum]

You're right harverina and the liquid works quicker than the tablets so is the best option in the case of severe allergic reactions (as well as epi-pen if necessary, obviously).