This morning I have been trying something a little bit different. I've never done this before let alone heard of it. I'll give you three guesses what I was doing with a jar of coconut oil first thing this morning. Thanks to my friend Julie I found myself standing nervously with a teaspoon of coconut butter and my heart racing, talking to myself in the mirror. "You can do … [Read more...]
Death by adrenaline auto-injector – are they safe?
People often ask me, are adrenaline injectors dangerous? "If I use one on my child and they weren't having a severe reaction, could it cause them any harm?" Is it safe to use an expired EpiPen, Jext of Emerade adrenaline injector?Could using two auto-injectors ever cause an overdose of adrenaline? Adrenaline is not dangerous, so if in doubt, inject! These are all … [Read more...]
First time your allergic teenager eats out without you – letting go, slowly
This is Alison's story, a mother to three children, the oldest of whom is 13 and a half, and is anaphylactically allergic to tree nuts, ground nuts, sesame and lupin. My eldest son was diagnosed when he was 36 months after a lot of reactions and finally quite a major one. When he was 4 and a half, he had full anaphylactic shock. Our family has led a very controlled … [Read more...]
Fear of using your adrenalin injector – don’t be scared!
In my recent Ruth's Allergy Diary slot I wrote about conquering the fear of injecting yourself or someone else with an adrenalin auto-injector. Have you been there? Or have you just not used yours because you were too terrified, despite having an anaphylactic reaction? If you too have ever felt completely overwhelmed and totally unprepared to use your injector - you are not … [Read more...]
Another year of freefrom food awards judging
You may be thinking that it's the life of riley, swanning up to Foods Matters head quarters and tasting a bit of this and bit of that. Well you'd partly be right, it is one of the high lights of my allergy calendar, but not because it's easy. We arrive early and get started straight away with categories packed with different products entered. Sometimes 30 different freefrom … [Read more...]