Antihistamine mix urgent question

[topiarygal]

Hi
am a bit in the thick of it:
does anyone else mix antihistamines in emergencies? I can't remember the detail of what the paramedics have done before - I've given 10 ml desloratadine and 5ml piriteze - can I give anything else?
Hopeful someone's on line - don't worry if you can't answer - it's a real 'on the off-chance' I'm ready to epipen ... I'm just trying to avoid getting paramedics here because they always want DS in hospital which is SUCH A PAIN!!! ;)

this is a medical question really, have no iea of your childs age or weight!

do you have any disovable steriod tablets?

use epi if u need to, better safe than sorry.

good luck!

been in your shoes a couple of weeks ago!

mmm - you're right totally unfair question - bit of shot in the dark to see if I could chuck Zirtek or ketotifin into the mix. Anyway he's getting calmer - seems we might be moving to having half-way allergic reactions - we've had two strange ones like this now. Both since he came off his permanent antihistamine for scratch test (probably why).
anyway enough rambling - I've only been given steroid pills once we've left hospital and we've used the epi-pens. Can you use them to deflame a reaction?
thanks for being there!

Topiarygal - how scary. How is DS now?

We have only been given steriods on discharge too. Did you have to epi?

NOPE!!!! All is calm, hives gone, breathing fine - only took 2 hours to go from total body hives and breathing problems to fully clear without epi-pen. I'll get the answers on the maximum medication mix from his med-team and pop here and on food allergy mums when i get it.Thanks for being there! tx

Oh wonderful - do you know what set him off? Are you going back to permanent antihis again?

Oh yes - he's been on permanent antihistamine since he has 2. we only took him off once when he was 5 which resulted in three terrible anaphylactic reactions. I think I'm in the rebound period of taking him off ...
No idea what sets him off - the idiopathic thing means his body does it to himself. mmm ... never a terribly happy diagnosis but as long as we have epi-pens we're OK.

Wow, that must be stressful beyond belief, i really hope he starts to grow out of it or the desensitization program can help somehow x

sorry I wasn't around, I'd have said quit messing and use the epipen. Breathing difficulties will resolve very rapidly with an epipen but another time you may not be so lucky. What is your problem with using an epipen? I know many people are scared of injection/ giving injections but having had to do it once it really is no big deal. If your child is old enough get them to do it themselves, while you supervise.

If you absolutely must run risks (why?) piriton acts faster so give double the normal dose of that.

mmm. i don't think I'm running a risk, or that I'm scared of using the epipen. We use the epi-pen regularly, and unfortunately, it's still distressing for DS. We're working hard to make it less stressful but as I'm sure you know it's a big needle, it hurts and he sometimes goes a bit doo-la-lie (sp?) from it. He knows he's got to get a better grip on this and talk of 'when he has to do it himself'.
However, when he has a reaction which is either milder or slower (who knows) it's also good to know that we can start to manage his reactions without resorting to the pen. We see that he is starting to deal with the reaction himself. We always have epi-pens to hand and are happy to use them, just sometimes it's nicer not to have to.
So piriton faster than desloratadine - thanks, do you know why it does? i've never really got to grips with how each one works.

in an anaphylactic reaction the average time to death is 30 minutes. Sometimes people die from anaphylactic reactions despite epipen use, usually when it hasn't been used quickly enough. So while its fine to use antihistamine for rashes or a tickle once it gets to breathing difficulties you are running a risk.

We don't see it as that big a needle. Before we used it the way the nurse talked I thought it would go through the orange or apple we practise on. My child said it didn't hurt much, obviously I haven't tried it myself.

No idea why piriton is faster, it's just what the consultants normally tell you. I guess that's just based on experience although a pharmacist might be able to tell you if there is a scientific basis for it.

Sounds like you have a much braver child! I'm hoping that over time my lad will get better with it! and, don't fear, we do do epi-pens gladly when his reaction hits his airways, thankfully our last few reactions havent ... Strange things allergies Thanks, Tatt