999 allergy call – get a taxi!

Now this kind of shocked me and when I finally got to hospital it shocked the A&E staff too who told me I should definitely not have been sitting phoning around for someone or a taxi to take me to A&E.

This was totally my fault and I’ll get to what caused it in a bit, but I accidentally ate a bite of something containing milk and had a very mild reaction to it. Because of my very severe reactions in the past I took this seriously and phoned 999.

I also phoned my Mum because it was very odd what they told me…they told me to find a friend of family member or failing that book a taxi and get to A&E within the hour… really?

It did turn out to be a very mild reaction in the end with just lip, throat tingling and that horrible claggy feeling in my teeth where even they feel like they’re itchy. So I took antihistamines and the reaction subsided withing ten minutes to nothing. I had a slight burning in my stomach, like mild stomach ache but nothing else. No breathing difficulty at all.

What proved difficult was finding that all important lift. I was thinking to myself, this can’t be right. What if I didn’t have family close by or friends I could call? I actually do have my Mum just around the corner but she was about half an hour away in a car and so was on her way to me, but no good for rushing to me to A&E. So I dutifully worked my way around the friends who were close enough to help and none of them picked up. What about people who don’t have anyone they can call?

Should they really be calling a taxi to take them to A&E?

I was just about to call a taxi but gave my Mum another call just to update her. I felt fine and was just sitting where I was calmly with my adrenaline out next to me, breathing deeply and keeping calm.

By this time she was only ten to fifteen minutes away so we agreed it was probably better for her to take me to A&E than to phone a taxi which could take a while to arrive.

When I got to my local hospital, Wexham Park they were amazing but also very shocked that I had phoned 999 after eating something I’m very allergic to and been told to get to hospital within the hour to get checked out.

This is definitely not correct procedure in their eyes and apologised. The lady who saw me said she would be reporting it as incorrect prodedure.

The staff were brilliant and I was whizzed straight through, probably because my face and arms were quite red and sore looking – another silver lining to TSW and eczema. This was much to the dismay of one man, who had been waiting for 4 hours, he made himself very vocal when I was called in after my bum had barely hit the seat plastic… but I figured if he was well enough to complain he could wait a bit longer.

What happened in A&E…

This is the first time I’ve been to A&E for a suspected allergic reaction and felt so well, it meant I was able to observe what was done, the tests and procedures and speak to staff, something that I usually can’t do when I’m so unwell on other occasions. This is what they did:

• Blood Pressure – This was completely was normal. I’m not 100% sure what it was but it was no cause for concern
• Blood saturation – where they use that peg on the end of your finger. This showed 100% sats so again, perfect!
• Blood Tests – They also took bloods to test for Triptase which is elevated if you have had an allergic reaction
• Canula – They fitted a canula which was the worst part of the procedure as my veins were non existent. This allowed them to easly draw blood and potentially administer medication if they needed to.
• Doctor – Finally I saw a doctor who asked me what had happened, looked at what I’d eaten and assured me I’d done the right thing by coming in. Better to be safe than sorry. He listened to my lungs to check my breathing
• Discharged – I was eventually discharged at around 9.30pm when they had observed me for about three hours and were satisfied that I was stable and not in any danger of going into anaphylaxis.

I was very impressed with the care I received at Wexham and went home feeling calm and relieve, if a little stupid for having made the mistake in the first place and missed the milk ingredient.

Which leads me to my next blog post… confusing labelling. My next post will focus on this and discuss how confusing they can be.

The product in question is actually clearly labelled with Buttermilk on the ingredients list but there were a few reasons I missed this and not just my failing eyesight.

It was The Foods of Atherny Sodabread and multiseed toasts…

It was listed as the first ingredient, in bold, but it seemed to blend in with the word Ingredients at the beginning of the list, which was also in bold.

So firstly, I missed it, even after checking and rechecking, and secondly, if it’s first in the list would that indicate it was the biggest constituent of the product?

This is clearly not the case as it’s a crispy, sourdough toast which was also gluten and egg free. It didn’t have any other allergens present and so, even though I checked it about five times in the shop, I still missed it.

I checked it again before opening it and I still missed it.

After just one mouthful, which was one cracker, my lips began to tingle and I got instant early warning signs that dairy was present.

I stopped eating anything else and checked the ingredients of the humous (no milk present) the falafals (no milk present) and finally the little toasts… and then I saw it… Buttermilk.

Has anyone else had this before? Have you checked and checked and STILL missed an allergen on a label?

I feel like a bit of a fool and a little bit of a time waster for taking up a bed in A&E for three hours but I’m home, happy and safe. A little bit fragile and itchy (but then I’m always itchy). My face does feel a lot more active and sore but this is par for the course anyway when cutting out steroids.

I slept in till midday which is unheard of but I feel fine today.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has had similar experiences and also what people think about 999 operatives telling someone to get to A&E within the hour!

What if I’d got worse trying to get down my stairs to the taxi or waiting friend/family member?

What if I’d got worse and had a reaction in their car while they were driving an unable to do anything to help me?

What if…?