used epi pen for the first time.

[williamsmummy]

on my son , 12yrs yesterday.

all went well,I felt very calm, and he felt and looked visably better a min afterwards.

he wasnt keen to have the epi pen, but had to admit he felt better afterwards.

after a day in hospital sent home with steriods and anti-histamine.

unfortunatly this was a mystery reaction, and have no idea what caused this.

have contacted the manufacturers of his breakfast food, but cant find any cause.

am trying not to dwell on this too much.

I have been expecting this day since his first prescription for epi pens at 2 yrs old.

Oh my god!
Has your heart stopped pounding yet?
Well done you for being calm!

Williamsmummy - scary isn't it? We've only had to use ours once but I was terrified. It was maybe 2 years ago, so DD would have been 5. It worked amazingly quickly - in fact by the time we got to hospital she was bouncing around the place in great form. However the doctor could still see some swelling in her throat. One good thing about it, I suppose, is that I wouldn't hesitate again.
On another note, do you get many mystery reactions? We get minor ones with DD all the time and we just can't find an explanation. I'm a bit concerned that she possibly has allergies other than her current ones - that maybe we might have to add to the list

when our son was younger we got a lot of reactions.
mainly hives from the having all the environmental allergies.

He has grown out of some of his allergies, and developed new ones , and higher ratings for others, like dog.

He had a couple of odd mystery food reactions, but they were mild.

I am blaming the strange reaction and its severity on the fact that he has been ill with various things for the past month.

I dont think we will ever find the culprit of this reaction.

Luckily have never had to use ds' epipen.

What were his symptoms before you gave it to him?

You are probably right to attribute the strong reaction to him being run-down.

Fingers crossed it was a one-off.

first symptom was the normal tingle in mouth and throat.
Then he developed a swollen bottom lip, piriton took care of that................1/2 hour later , he started with some chest pains, very pale, white lips, and coughing, not a lot, but some.
tried inhaler, but it didnt work,................he is sitting clutching chest , in greater pain.

so thats the point when i decided to use the epi pen.

bearing in mind that its the internal signs that are the most dangerous, and need careful watching.

Sounds terrifying - for him and you

That is what is in the back of my mind - would I know when to use the epipen?

Your ds' symptoms sounded quite clear though.

DesperatehousewifeToo, I honestly think that you really do know when it's needed, especially if you have given antihistamine and it doesn't seem to be working. When we gave DD the anapen, it was very obvious that things were seriously going downhill. The lesson we learnt was to give it if in doubt - it won't do any harm at all.