Allergies and adrenaline autoinjector

[MoG2008]

Just seeking a little reassurance!
My DD was tested for allergies at the hospital recently and although positive for cat, dog and peanut only - was tested for all nut allergies - the professor told us to stay clear of all nuts as allergies can evolve with exposure.
All fine and left with information and feeling OK. Received a letter over the weekend saying that - on reviewing her notes he now thought she should be given an epi-pen and adrenaline. There is no follow up appointment and no explaination as to why he now feels this is needed and to be honest I am a little concerned.
MY GP cannot call me until Friday and I spoke to the Allergy nurse at the hospital who will request a call from the Prof to discuss and hope tp hear from in within the week, but that doesn't help me today!
Should I be overly cocerned about her coming into contact with any of these allergens before she gets the epi pen???
Don;t want to be an over anxious parent but this seems much more serious then it was when we left the hospital!

Any advice (even don't panic!) is much appreciated

[Meglet]

I had a period of knowing 6yo DS had a severe allergy as it flared up at home, but we had to wait for an epi-pen prescription via his GP. You're right, it's a worrying few days! Although as you now know what the problem is then the chances of there being any problems is tiny.

However, once he had his hospital appointment with more detailed tests they issued the epi-pen there and then. And gave me training on how to use it. If I were you I'd ask for a nurse to go through it with you, you'll also have to give friends and family the heads up on how to use them.

If it helps we've never had to use it in 3yrs.

[Andro]

Don't panic, you'll only make matters worse.

So, a few deep breaths later...

The decision to issue an epi pen is quite possibly because an allergy can get worse and the prof is erring on the side of caution, he wants you to be able to act if a reaction suddenly escalates rather than relying on 999 and have the significant lag time. Yes, it's scary...but it's far better than the alternative.

Epi pen or not, you need to be very careful about your DD's allergens. You are at an early stage of her allergy management and over cautious is less stressful than resus and ICU. You haven't said how old your DD is, she will ultimately have to learn to manage her allergies herself and she'll learn that from you. Once you have a better grasp of how bad her allergies are and how much leeway you have, you'll be able to better judge the level of caution required in different situations.

The allergy UK forum is great for support and info as well
forum.allergyuk.org/

[MoG2008]

Thanks for the advice! Feeling a little better after a chat with the consultant and in again later today to be trained on using the epi-pen! As you have said it is much more a risk management strategy that a vital requirement and here's hoping we never actually need to use it!

[bizzey]

As an aside ..the epi pens do not have a long expiry date ....well my ds don't..Chemist said if they were handed back in they would just be binned so.......When I need new ones I use the expired ones on a going off/had it piece of fruit to keep remembering what to do .

First time I did it on a very sad looking kiwi fruit that had had it's day (unsure how it was still in the bowl as fruit is normally gone so fast !!)

Pushing a real epi pen into something was different from the empty ones you practice with....well I thought so ?

Ds is 12 now and understands his limits with nuts...ie packaged in a factory that might have produced/handled nut products is ok....may contain traces..he would leave it and let me decide ...and so on .

His younger brothers are also aware as well...ie ds3 loves peanut butter but knows not to go near ds1 when eating it,wash hands afterwards...and don't kiss him

Now the dust mite allergy he has got as well is proving harder to manage !!