New Food Allergies/EpiPen and Logistics

[carolinamama]

DS1 had a reaction to something that landed him in the ER for an evening. Hives covered most of his body minus his lower arms and lower legs and he felt "weird" and "not right". He responded to steroids, antihistamines, and H2blockers but there is concern the next time will be worse. We followed up for allergy testing and so far, nothing has been identified but he now needs to carry an epipen. This is all new to us and I'm looking for advice from any seasoned folks about logistics. How is the best way to carry it? He's 15 years old so I'm not always with him. Do your kids carry it on their own and how? He did training in the office and at home. I have a total of 4 but 2 will need to go to school in the fall I'm guessing.

Thanks for any tips or insight you can offer! DH took him to visit my MIL for a few days and forgot to leave him the string bag I packed with his epipen, meds and plan. Hoping to avoid this scenario in the future.

[gatorsmom]

I’m so sorry he went through that! It’s so scary. To answer your question how to prevent them firm forgetting their medicine, they just have to own it. It’s odd that he hasn’t found what he’s allergic to. It really starts with being vigilant about prevention. If and when he does find out what he’s allergic to, he will have to be careful to read food labels, ask others what they are serving, and how other people prepared their food. He’s also going to have to get used to the idea of always making sure his epipen is with him. On that front, we switched over to using the Avi-q “pen”. It’s made to be small enough to fit in your back pocket. It also talks you through how to inject the medicine, very similar to a Automated Extrrnal Defibrillator, if you are familiar with those. It verbal directions and countdown make it much more likely to get the full dose of medicine injected. We love out Avi-q injectors: https://www.auvi-q.com/.

[mmsmom]

I’m so sorry you went through this. We do not have allergies but DD’s BFF does and she has the Avi-Q. When her mom showed me how to use it it seemed much easier than an Epi pen and it also verbally tells you what to do which honestly makes me feel more confident that I could use it correctly if needed. She has a small purse that is always with her but there have been times when she is at our house that I will have to remind her to take it. But she is only 12 so I think that likely gets better with age. Hopefully some boy Mom’s will have options for boys.

[carolinamama]

I’m so sorry he went through that! It’s so scary. To answer your question how to prevent them firm forgetting their medicine, they just have to own it. It’s odd that he hasn’t found what he’s allergic to. It really starts with being vigilant about prevention. If and when he does find out what he’s allergic to, he will have to be careful to read food labels, ask others what they are serving, and how other people prepared their food. He’s also going to have to get used to the idea of always making sure his epipen is with him. On that front, we switched over to using the Avi-q “pen”. It’s made to be small enough to fit in your back pocket. It also talks you through how to inject the medicine, very similar to a Automated Extrrnal Defibrillator, if you are familiar with those. It verbal directions and countdown make it much more likely to get the full dose of medicine injected. We love out Avi-q injectors: https://www.auvi-q.com/.

Thank you for your response. It's almost scarier not knowing what caused his reaction but they think it was "something" and not just hives since it was an isolated event. He ate peanut m&ms that night so we thought peanuts but he didn't react and passed the food challenge with peanut butter. We do have the Auvi-q pen so all set there. Does your DS just carry the individual pen in his pocket all the time? DS1 is generally a responsible kid so he will be good once we have a routine. What about sports? His soccer shorts don't have pockets so I'm guessing it stays in his bag? It's these little things that should be simple ugh!!

[MSWR0319]

Thank you for your response. It's almost scarier not knowing what caused his reaction but they think it was "something" and not just hives since it was an isolated event. He ate peanut m&ms that night so we thought peanuts but he didn't react and passed the food challenge with peanut butter. We do have the Auvi-q pen so all set there. Does your DS just carry the individual pen in his pocket all the time? DS1 is generally a responsible kid so he will be good once we have a routine. What about sports? His soccer shorts don't have pockets so I'm guessing it stays in his bag? It's these little things that should be simple ugh!!

Did they test him for other nuts? Maybe it was a cross contamination reaction?

DS is 12.5. He's carried his epipen/Auvi-Q for years. At this point, it's just habit. We have recently started giving him more freedom where he is allowed to ride around town with his friends, go to the park on his own, etc. Which means more responsibility when it comes to his safety. He carries his epipens, inhaler, action plan, and wipes in a cinch sack. He always wears that. We made the rule a long time ago that if we forget it, we turn around and get it so he now knows he can't just leave it at home if he forgets it. I keep an extra set in my purse as a back up. For cross country he has a flipbelt that he wears with it in so it's always on him. A flipbelt is also a good option for him to wear it under his shirt if he doesn't like the cinch sack idea. For other sports it stays in his bag. We have tags that we hang on the zipper that say "Epipen Inside" so his coaches know where it is. Always make sure his coaches know what to look for and how to use it. Yes, he's old enough to do it on his own BUT if he's not feeling good he may not be able to do it. Our insurance covers them well, so we usually have a bunch. We have one set that we transfer between sports bags. So it will stay in his soccer bag during soccer season.Then it goes to his basketball bag. He has another set that he puts in his cinch sack that he carries around with him wherever he goes, and a set he keeps at school in his cinch sack that stays in his locker when he comes home.

You'll also need to educate his friends on what to look for reaction wise and how to use the Auvi-Q. They are part of his team and will help keep him safe. It's hard since you don't know what caused the reaction, so it's really important they know what to look for and when to use the Auvi-Q. We trained DS's friends this summer how to use both types. Please let me know if you have other questions! I"m happy to help.

[Kindra178]

DS1 had a reaction to something that landed him in the ER for an evening. Hives covered most of his body minus his lower arms and lower legs and he felt "weird" and "not right". He responded to steroids, antihistamines, and H2blockers but there is concern the next time will be worse. We followed up for allergy testing and so far, nothing has been identified but he now needs to carry an epipen. This is all new to us and I'm looking for advice from any seasoned folks about logistics. How is the best way to carry it? He's 15 years old so I'm not always with him. Do your kids carry it on their own and how? He did training in the office and at home. I have a total of 4 but 2 will need to go to school in the fall I'm guessing.

Thanks for any tips or insight you can offer! DH took him to visit my MIL for a few days and forgot to leave him the string bag I packed with his epipen, meds and plan. Hoping to avoid this scenario in the future.

Auvi q are somehow free with insurance and super user friendly. Like others have said, it talks outloud with specific injection instructions. I would get that one for him to carry around and give the school one of your existing epipens.

Did the allergist recommend carrying an epipen?

[carolinamama]

Did they test him for other nuts? Maybe it was a cross contamination reaction?

DS is 12.5. He's carried his epipen/Auvi-Q for years. At this point, it's just habit. We have recently started giving him more freedom where he is allowed to ride around town with his friends, go to the park on his own, etc. Which means more responsibility when it comes to his safety. He carries his epipens, inhaler, action plan, and wipes in a cinch sack. He always wears that. We made the rule a long time ago that if we forget it, we turn around and get it so he now knows he can't just leave it at home if he forgets it. I keep an extra set in my purse as a back up. For cross country he has a flipbelt that he wears with it in so it's always on him. A flipbelt is also a good option for him to wear it under his shirt if he doesn't like the cinch sack idea. For other sports it stays in his bag. We have tags that we hang on the zipper that say "Epipen Inside" so his coaches know where it is. Always make sure his coaches know what to look for and how to use it. Yes, he's old enough to do it on his own BUT if he's not feeling good he may not be able to do it. Our insurance covers them well, so we usually have a bunch. We have one set that we transfer between sports bags. So it will stay in his soccer bag during soccer season.Then it goes to his basketball bag. He has another set that he puts in his cinch sack that he carries around with him wherever he goes, and a set he keeps at school in his cinch sack that stays in his locker when he comes home.

You'll also need to educate his friends on what to look for reaction wise and how to use the Auvi-Q. They are part of his team and will help keep him safe. It's hard since you don't know what caused the reaction, so it's really important they know what to look for and when to use the Auvi-Q. We trained DS's friends this summer how to use both types. Please let me know if you have other questions! I"m happy to help.

This is all so helpful! Thank you! They tested tree nuts and corn as we had that too. Sent an alpha-gal panel since we ate burgers for dinner.

I like the idea of epipen inside tag and definitely training kids he's around. Harder as he's older and I don't always know them as well but necessary.

[nfceagles]

I have a 15 yo DS who’s had epi-pens since he was a toddler.

Auvi-q is definitely an easier shape to carry and the verbal feature gives people more confidence.

When he plays soccer he puts them (and his inhaler) in a top pocket of his soccer bag. I bought all the various bags he owns knowing he needed to carry Epi-pens. His favorite color has always been red which I really like because his bags tend to stand out from the others. I even once asked permission not to get the club team black soccer bag because of this and the coach agreed.

His school backpack also has a nice pocket at the top that he puts them in for school.

When he goes to a friend’s house he typically uses a drawstring bag that has a zipper pocket on the front. It also gives him room for snacks which he often needs to carry.

His bike has a zippered pouch he uses when he goes somewhere on that.

I’ll attach pictures of each. Notice there’s a key tag that attaches to the zipper alerting people that his epi-pens are in that pocket. I thought of buying several but instead bought just one that moves with his pens so we are really aware of which pocket they are actually in. (Versus a bunch of tagged bags that don’t actually have epis because they’ve been moved between bags.)

He hates anything but athletic shorts and pants. So I buy Adidas shorts and pants that have zippered pockets. Otherwise it feels like his epis are always about to fall out. Zippered shorts are harder to find so I typically just make sure he has two pair in rotation. He can wear those when carrying his backpack or the drawstring bag isn’t convenient and unzippered shorts most other times.

They should not be left in cars because the heat degrades the medication but if I have expired ones I will likely put a set in the glove box when he starts driving just in case he ever forgets. Expired epi-pens are better than no epi-pen in an emergency.

Tapatalk will only allow one photo at a time so I will put them in separate posts.


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[carolinamama]

Auvi q are somehow free with insurance and super user friendly. Like others have said, it talks outloud with specific injection instructions. I would get that one for him to carry around and give the school one of your existing epipens.

Did the allergist recommend carrying an epipen?

We have the Auvi-q and yes, allergist wants him to carry the epipen.

[nfceagles]

Soccer bag


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