Talking Allergies

the latest newsletter from Anaphylaxis Canada + that newsrelease sponsored by An. Can + AL mag stress the importance of letting coworkers and friends know about allergies and showing them how to deal with emergencies. that got me thinking---I realized that I don't really inform people fully. while people generally know about the allergies, I don't train people on how to administer the pen. I'm wondering how other allergic adults deal with this. Do you show people at work? Anyone with whom you are eating? Whenever you receive a dinner invitation?

Lisa
Great idea I have told many of my coworkers, but have never thought of training a couple of them how to use my Epi-pen. I only work part-time, but I do eat in a common breakroom. (I work in a medical lab, but it is in a separate facility...not in a hospital with Docs nearby.) I'll have to do this the next time I work.

I also tell all my friends about my allergy. I can't go to someone's home if they have been cooking shellfish. But I have not trained any of my friends to use my Epi-pen. Fortunately, a few of my friends from church work at the preschool, and have been trained already

Thanks for the reminder,
Daisy

I do think it is a good idea to let people know at work---for one thing it would drive home the seriousness of the condition. I go to school part time and work part time as well--but at home/in the library so the work issue isn't as relevant for me.

From here on end I'm going to bring my epipen trainer along if I'm staying with friends as a houseguest.

The one thing I would feel awkward about would be explaining this as a dinner guest. It is daunting for people to cook with people with allergies in the first place---I never expect people to cook for me, but sometimes they insist or cook at least one thing that I can have. I can imagine the effect of explaining the whole allergy thing + issues with cross contamination and then saying...oh and here's where I keep my 3 epipens and let me show you how to use them. I think that that might stress people out.

Lisa, I woud think that it is most important when pepole are trying to feed you, perhaps they would simply offer to let you bring your own food!
How much information do you give out, to whom and when?
The information that needs to go out has 4 steps:
-exsisting condition
-signs and symptoms to look fo
- how to proceed
-where to find your medication
Those around you when you are most likely to need help (eating) should be aware and able to assist you. I would think that close friends could be trusted all of this, someone at work should know as well (do you have a workplace health and safety commitee?)
A medical alert bracelette should suffice for everyone else.

contrary to everyone else here, I have trained my team of co-workers, my close friends, family and everyone else who asks for it.

When I first started to work where I am now, I made a demonstation of my Epipen at a team meeting (my boss at the time witnessed one of my reactions... he didn't want me coming in without anything in place to protect me!)... and everyone new over the past 5 years has been advised of where to find my Epipens and all of them were curious as to how to use them, so I do a demonstration. There are even some co-workers that ask me for a refresher course once in a while because they don't remember... we even did a drill the other day as to how fast they would find my Epipens in my bag if I forgot to wear them!

As to explaining that at a dinner party I have friends, so-workers and family that are already trainned... so when I go to dinner parties, someone there is already trained... when I go at conferences and all I normally have a co-worker there, so I don't worry much. Everywhere I go I have one person present that is trained and that I trust (I never show up around food without having a trusted person present!). At every new group or situation, I find one person of trust and tell them all the details and train them at the Epipen­. Lately, I have met more and more people that take it very seriously and want to know what to do if something happens!

There are a few reasons why I do it the way I do:
- I do it more than I did before because my first symptom with inhalent is that with swelling, I loose my voice :S... which is not good to explain the situation to people!
- My reactions in the past 7 years have been mostly at work...
- People at work are well trained because my boss knows the seriousness of it as she has anaphylactic children.

Mylène

Mylene, it's good to hear that your coworkers are so supportive. Sounds like you've done a great job at training everyone!

---------
susan, I definitely need to communicate more about the allergies. how much I tell people depends on the situation. My close friends fully understand the severity of reactions, but, no, I haven't talked about "signs and symptoms" or "how to proceed"....I think they know that my epipen is in my purse, but I've never shown them where it is exactly. I now tell even acquaintances I'm going out to coffee (or in my case, tea) with that I'm allergic to nuts and I ask them if they can avoid getting anything that obviously contains nuts...perhaps I should let them know where my epipen is just in case. I did have what I think was a contact reaction at Starbucks—but my only symptom was a hive on my leg, and I think for me I would need to actually eat something with nut traces to need the epi.

Sometimes I go to school-related functions where food is involved and people might not know about my allergies (depending on who shows up). I don't eat anything, however.

Family members know that I'm allergic and they know anaphylaxis can be fatal, but again, I haven't shown them how to discussed when to use the epi. come to think of it, none of the allergists I have ever gone to have talked about this to me either. I get my info. on this from anaphylaxis canada and other such sources.

I don't eat at other peoples' houses all that much really---in Toronto I mostly meet people for "coffee" (or in my case, tea or juice) or if I do meet friends for lunch I bring my own. But I suppose even in a situation where I'm bringing my own lunch there is the chance that I might have touched something with peanut residue which could conceivably get on my food. This isn't that probable because I'm really careful but one never knows.

Once I got stuck in a *very* awkward social situation involving food...which I might not have gotten stuck in if I had fully explained the allergies beforehand. One of my professors from undergraduate days was coming to a conference that I was also attending in Toronto and she had mentioned on email that she was having lunch with a couple of other profs. I know her well, and she has attempted to take me out for lunch on more than one occasion, but I always remind her of the allergy situation and bring my own food with me. It didn't even cross my mind that I would be invited to tag along on this occasion---I assumed she was letting me know so that I could make other lunch plans. But it ended up that she had assumed that I would assume that I was invited. when I was going to take off for lunch, she said "you're eating with us, aren't you?" So seeing as I had brought my lunch with me I said I would...but then it became apparent that they were all headed to a Thai restaurant. As I wasn't eating anyways, I felt I couldn't very well say that I just don't like being around peanuts. Now that I have more info. about the possibility of contact reactions and airborne reactions I feel more comfortable explaining this...even if, medically speaking, I can get away with being around nus, I think that there are also good medical reasons to avoid it if possible. But at the time, I wasn't sure myself whether I was being a bit paranoid. I wouldn't object to going to a restaurant where things with peanuts are on the menu, but I do object if there are peanuts in practically every dish.

Anyways, I didn't even want to get anything to drink at the restaurant...and everyone felt awkward about the fact that I wasn't eating. (I brought my own food, but didn't want to even put my plastic tupperware containers on the table in a restaurant where there are peanuts all over+ I hadn't cleared it with the restaurant first). I was so stressed out about the peanuts and about the whole situaiton that I hardly said anything the whole meal.

So the moral of the story (not that there has to be a moral---I think I was kind of just wanting to tell the story ) is that I need to explain the allergies to everyone whom I know well enough to go out for lunch/coffee more than once because 1) it is safer and 2) one never knows when one might get whisked away to the peanut-allergic version of hell !

---------
As far as work goes, aside from encountering peanuts in the library (I'm a research assistant + teaching assistant) there aren't any work situations involving food...although I will have to go out for lunch with my committee when I finish my degree...being a TA for most courses in my department involves minimal interaction with students (which is unfortunate but that's the way the contract works. <we pause for a political message. this is the result funding cuts to centres of higher learning in this province!>)

Lisa, don't feel bad about not thinking that the person would have forgotten about the allergies... Some of my co-workers still invite me out to lunch... even if I don't leave the floor between 11 and 2 ... and they know where the Epipens are and how to use them! It is not a reflex for most people to think about allergies. The joke the other day was actually one of my co-workers inviting me to a conference in the cafeteria on lunch time... and she knows real well that I don't eat at the cafeteria because of fish smell... but she didn't put 2 and 2 together as we would be attending a conference, not actually eating ... in my mind there is no difference, but in "regular people" there is a big difference between attending a conference and eating... even if it's in the same room!

Thanks, Mylene

I just figured that she didn't remember because she might not understand that my allergies are fatal.....I expected that an epipen demonstration and a discussion about anaphylaxis (which we definitely should have had because she cooked for me and her other TA once as a thank-you--but that was before I was way less allergy aware than I am now)

If your coworkers can't remember about *your* allergies I guess that just goes to show that people need to be constantly reminded! We have to think about food all the time....I would love it if I could be so oblivious about allergies (well, I hope I wouldn't be quite so oblivious where allergic people are concerned, but you get what I mean).