epi-pens

[jenk1]

at what stage do i need to start thinking about epi-pens? dd 16months old is allergic to dairy,wheat,citrus fruits,tomatos cant think of the others at the moment. Yesterday dietician advised us to give her vitamin drops, chemist said only ones he knew were abidec but got them today and they contain PEANUT OIL,she wont drink nutramigen or neocate, she still has 2 breastfeeds a day but dietician says she,s not getting enough nutrients. Yesterday she warned me that if dd comes into contact with any of the things she,s allergic to the reaction will be servere as she,s not had any of these allergic foods for a long time, i started thinking about epi-pens, but dont know how to get one or go about getting a prescription for one,can anyone help-feeling desperate now, everytime i think ive found something for her thats ok its not,does anyone know of what vitamin drops are safe for an allergic baby also?,sorry about long mesage

[Flossam]

Sorry I found parts hard to understand. Epipens are available on prescription from your GP. I should have one but don't keep up with it all, I am lucky to only have anaphylactic reactions to one thing. I don't know at what stage your GP would prescribe the adrenaline to you. If she has not had any kind of anaphylactic reaction I am not sure they would be keen. The adrenaline has such an effect on your body that an admission to hospital is necessary to make sure the heart is continuing to function correctly. I hope that helps somewhat.

[Chandra]

Don't really know the answer to that, I have been told some months ago that DS couldnot have an epipen until he was fiagnosed by an allergician, then we were told that no allergician could see him for the nest few years. In the mean time my mother give him a chocolate covered paenut and eventhough the reaction was immdiate we know notw that he has the allergy in the mild way. Not that I advise you to test yourself but if your DD has already been diagnosed, could you come back to the doctor who diagnosed her and ask for alternatives.

Try to contact Tatt or Bobbybob, they may be able to provide alternative solutions. Bobbybob in normally around late at night or early in the morning.

[Chandra]

definitively need to get another keyboard (or another brain!) please excuse the typos..

[jenk1]

sorry,should have re-read my message it reads somewhat like my brain at the moment-all over the place!
yesterday dd,s dietician told me to make sure that the allergic foods are not given to dd at all as she will more than likely have a severe reaction as she has been avoiding them so i was just thinking do i need an epi-pen for her in case she has a severe attack-whenever she has had an allergic reaction in the past she has had difficulty breathing and her mouth swells up and she always ends up in A&E to be monitered however,no one has ever mentioned anaphylaxis before and i was just wondering is this the next thing and should i be taking precautions just in case?

[louli]

DS has had an junior epi-pen since he was 15months old. He was allergic to dairy, soya & egg at the time. He was prescibed the epi-pen by the immunologist (Dr Gideon Lack) at St Mary's Paddington. When we moved the new GP didn't want him to carry one as he has always been on the light side for his age and they prefer them to weigh a certain amount. Touch wood we haven't had to use it but we do still have them around. Dr Lack told us to give him Piriton in the first instance and if the reaction continued to use the epi-pen.

We also had a problem finding vitamins but we were able to give Haliborange. What about vitamin injections? You could also try a health food shop and find vitamins that vegans take and see if there is something for your DD.

Good luck, I know it can make you feel quite down.

[mears]

jenk1 - ask your GP to make referral to hospital for review with specialist. My neice is allergic to peanuts and has epipen. This was recommended by hospital and GP provides prescription. Piriton is given at first sign of reaction and epipen is there is reaction more serious. It may be that hospital suggests admission for foods to be introduces under controlled surroundings. She may no longer react to them. You need specialist help. HTH.

[LizP]

My ds1 has had an epipen since he was less than a year - but had to be prescribe by an allergy specialist - because he was so light the GP couldn't do it since it is prescibing outside it's approved range. But once we had the presciption the GP has been happy to renew it. But he had already had anaphylatic shock, so maybe that makes a difference.

[SofiaAmes]

I was recently prescribed an epi-pen for myself. My gp's who are very helpful and responsive insisted that I see a specialist in order to get the epipen prescribed. They refered me on a non-urgent basis as I had not yet been hospitalized with an anaphylactic reaction. I called the hospital several times and managed to get in much earlier on a cancellation. The allergy specialist listened to my description of my symptoms and immediately prescribed me an epipen.
It sounds to me like you should insist that your gp refers your dd to a specialist.
Try looking on the internet for american vitamins. I have found that the americans are much better about listing ingredients and making allergy sensitive stuff.

[bobbybob]

I'm surprised that she needs vitamin drops if she has 2 breastfeeds. Dieticians seem to think that neocate is some magical substance that breastmilk could never rival.

Saw a brilliant talk by an immunologist and he said that there is no way anyone can know what the next reaction will be like. Even people severely allergic to something could get away with it once or twice - it's just that would be Russian Roulette.

He also said that only 0.62% of people admitted to hospital with allergic reaction die - so that's good news, I would have thought it was higher.

[jenk1]

she isnt eating enough solid food-she just wont eat, she weighs just over 18 pounds which is quite underweight for her age and she hasnt moved up a dress size for nearly six months-its not like we can do any more- i am always offering her food-she just declines it, waiting to hear from hospital re what vitamins she can have

[tatt]

jenkk1 If your child is having difficulty breathing than they should have an epipen. An anaphylactic attack is one where the difficulty is life threatening or there is total collapse. I'm not sure what age they start to prescribe epipens but certainly I've known children have them before 16 months.

According to our consultant (possibly the leading paediatric allergist in this country) there is NO risk to a child from using the epipen except that they may be slightly over excited. The trip to hospital is in case there is a secondary reaction later. Adults may occasionally be at risk from inappropriate epipen use but not children. GPs are reluctant to prescribe them because they cost about £30 each s you usually need to have seen some consultant with an interest in allergy to get it prescribed. If you are assertive enough a gp can prescribe one where there has been a serious reaction.

Posting this before I get disconnected, will check on vitamins later, think we had boots own.

[tatt]

sorry can't find them on the Boots website and we've moved on to tablets not liquid now. Peanut oil is not generally considered a problem ( anaphylaxis society newsletter) if the oil is refined - although personally I'd feel happier without it. Worth checking out haliborange, boots own brand or solgar for vitamins. I know solgar do one said to be milk free, not sure of the others.

Another thing our consultant said (backing up bobbybob) is that nut reactions are unpredictable. So you can't say whether the next one will be severe or not. From our own experience if you get antihistamine in them promptly you may be OK. We carry liquid antihistamine everywhere, some people have antihistamine sprays but they are hard to get.

Hope to be around tomorrow too

[tatt]

hi again. This webpage has some dairy free childrens vitamins if you can't find them elsewhere. It's a good site to know about anyway as health food shops can often order something in for you if you know what's available.

www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/sect/SVMCVM.html

How long ago did you get the diagnosis and who gave it? It really is something you need specialist advice on as milk allergy in particular is often outgrown. There are also lactose free milks available now if the problem is lactase and not milk protein allergy. We have no personal experience of pepti junior but its supposed to taste better than nutramigen/ neocate and is suitable for some children.

[jenk1]

thanks tatt for the link, dd was diagnosed about 6 months ago,ive just actually took a call from the hospital this morning-theyve now passed her on to the paediatric dietician-sowe might actually get somewhere now-hope so

[tatt]

probably won't retest for a while then but found a website recently that said 85% outgrow milk allergy by three. Hope your child is one of them as its a real pain being milk free. Ask your gp about the epipen, if they are reluctant ask if they'll speak to your consultant. They really are a great comfort to have around. You can often "sell" the idea to the gp by saying you may not need to go to hospital as often I'm only willing to treat mine with piriton (fastest acting antihistamine) as long as I have epipen back-up, I'd be off to hospital at the first sign of a breathing problem if I didn't have one.

[Eaney]

My ds's dietician suggested Dalivit (no peanut oil or dairy I believe). Are you seeing dietician on NHS. Agree you should insist on referral to allergy specialist.

I documented my concerns about ds in writing and sent it to gp s I thought gp would respond quicker to this. She did. Nothing like the written word to get the wind up. You could ask dietician to drop a note to your gp.

While waiting for referral always carry Piriton with you.

[jenk1]

have just got dalivit on prescription-it doesnt contain any of the stuff that she is allergic to, thought about asking paediatric dietician re epipen cos the waiting list for an allergy specialist is exhaustive where i live, does any one know if the dietician could prescribe me an epipen?

[Eaney]

Doubt if the dietician can prescribe but GP is able to as long as they are happy that your child truely has allergies serious enough to require an epipen. This is where a note from your dietician would help.

Does your gp doubt the severity of the allergic response in your child? My GP always gives me a prescription for my child's epipen.

[jenk1]

think they are just tightfisted-they always always try to prescibe the cheapest crappiest things and i have to do research usually on MN to find out about the better things u can get on prescription-like aveeno for instance, my gp has only precribed aqueous cream-i mean FGS its crap, its ok for washing but it does nothing for eczema itself. I have to ring up and argue about what i want for dd but i usually back it up with -eczema society recommends etc...

[tatt]

only if the dietician is also a doctor, which is unlikely. How good is your consultant? Mine wrote a nice letter to my gp politely telling him he'd had enough information to have diagnosed dd's nut allergy and saying we should have more than one epipen. We did have one by then as I'd threatened to sue him if anything happened and I didn't have one. If I'd had any problems I felt I could just phone the consultant and he'd write something stronger . A phone call or letter from the dietician to your gp wouldn't do any harm.

[foxinsocks]

jenk, have you seen a consultant at a hospital yet or an allergy specialist who has confirmed she is definitely allergic to those things?

The reason I ask is that many children do outgrow allergies and there is always a possibility that she may not be allergic to all those food groups any more.

You said in your first post that the dietician (not the same one you are seeing now?) told you that if she came into contact with those things, her reaction would be severe - was she basing this on allergy test results?

In your position, I would really push for a referral so that they can determine what's going on. The consultant/allergy specialist will either bring her in and retest the foods in a hospital environment or run some tests and see whats up. If she has been admitted to hospital before, she should have notes at the hospital and someone she can be referred to. I doubt the GP will prescribe the epipen till this has happened.

In the meantime, has your dietician given you a list of high-fat foods to help her put on weight?

[jenk1]

the dietician has told me to go back to my gp and has given me the name of an allergy specialist to get dd referred to, my hv has also taken up the case so things are progressing now

[foxinsocks]

oh good! it's so important to get it all the referrals started off because they can take ages to come through

[christie1]

I can only agree with foxinsocks. You need to get a gp or allergist to do some test to confirm if dd is allergic to these things. My dd was 18 mos had a reaction to peantus and hospital prescibed epipen jr. right away and told me never to be without one. I took my other dd to the gp recently as she broke out in hives from a lick of my icecream (she is 9 months) and then gave me a prescription for epi-pen jr. I see a doctor for her allergy tests this fall to confirm a milk allergy.

[sansouci]

i've got an epipen too for my anaphalactic reaction to peanuts. am not, however, allergic to peanut oil as the oil contains no protein. you really need to see a pediatrician or a pediatric allergist. this is serious stuff.