I've learned so much from reading these pages and I feel I should pass on what I've learned tonight. I'm still feeling a little bit freaked out so I hope it makes sense.
DS is allergic to dairy, and this evening he put his hands in an empty coffee cup which contained traces of milk protein. He then touched his face, and one side of his face swelled up quite alarmingly, so when antihistamine didn't seem to be working at all we called an ambulance, just to be on the safe side. While the ambulance was on its way, the 999 staff said we should give the epipen, so we did.
DS is now absolutely fine. The main reason I am posting is this: it took me THREE, yes three attempts to use the epipen successfully. The first 2 times, the needle didn't come out... I had not taken the safety cap off!!!!!!
I know I am incredibly stupid not to have practised and please, please don't flame me; I just want to tell you all how important it is to practise with the epipen.
Other people on these pages have said that it is useful to get a trainer pen or to use an out-of-date epipen on an orange. I wish I had taken their advice!!
I felt so horribly shaky when I had to actually administer the epipen - it was NOT the best time to be reading the instructions!!!!!
We are just so lucky that DS is alright and that we have had this chance to sort out how we deal with an emergency. Babybarrister, if you are reading this, special thanks for your post after your DS had that reaction to soya. I thought of you when we were in the ambulance! and I have you to thank for the fact that we have 2 epipens because if we hadn't we would be spending the rest of the weekend without one - obviously I wish your DS had never had that reaction but you are SUCH a star for sharing your experience with us 