We need an Allergy Tsar in our government to stand up for the growing number of people living with life threatening allergies. The current situation means many are not getting the advice they need and lives are tragically being lost due to lack of understanding , training and awareness.
Allergic disease is increasing in the UK to epidemic levels.
Yet, for far too long, allergy services have become a postcode lottery service in the NHS. It’s time people living with allergic disease had their own champion.
That’s why today Natasha Allergy Research Foundation (NARF) founder Tanya Ednan-Laperouse and Emma Turay – two mothers who lost their teenage daughters to anaphylaxis – have joined together to call for the Government to appoint an Allergy Tsar.
This video of Tanya and Emma talking about their daughters breaks my heart. They share their fears, anxiety and thoughts following losing their daughters. And they discuss what they think needs to happen in order to prevent further avoidable and unnecessary deaths from anaphylaxis.
Do you take antihistamines or not?
One thing Tanya brings up has really got me thinking and also a little concerned because even my book, ‘The Reluctant Allergy Expert – How to Kill the fear that anaphylaxis could kill you’ suggested taking antihistamines.
I always thought this was advisable and recommended by professionals.
I thought it would help to lessen symptoms.
I have ALWAYS taken antihistamines at the first sign of anaphylaxis, except a few occasions when I’d run out. On these occasions I’m not sure the outcome was worse, different at all or better.
I’m also pretty sure that I’ve dodged a serious reaction many many times by taking antihistamines and seeing if that helps. I would only ever do this if my breathing was OK and all I was experiencing was hives and itchy lips.
But this video has made me really rethink and reassess! I will be blogging about this in detail soon and trying to get the advice from medical professionals, because I’m pretty sure everyone is saying the wrong thing.
Find out more about the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation here: https://www.narf.org.uk/
You can read the article in The Daily Mail today, “Food allergies took our darling daughter from us, we must act now before others suffer the same fate say two mother’s united in grief.”
Please support the campaign by signing and sharing the parliamentary petition:
There are currently 4,856 signatures so help us get to 10,000.
Thank you for your support.
And I’d love to hear your thoughts on what the Allergy Tsar would do, do we need one? Should we use antihistamines?
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