Should You Be Afraid to Use Your EpiPen?

There’s been a lot of news about EpiPen recently and much of it isn’t good. The most notable issue is obviously the fact that the life-saving drug has increased in price to a point that many people who need it simply can’t afford it. However, with this news, some others have taken a closer look at a lot of aspects of the EpiPen. We’ve even seen some saying that they’re not safe to use. At Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Medical Group, we wanted to address this issue for the public.

Allergies can be life-threatening

Before we get into the specifics of the EpiPen, let’s take a look at how significant allergies are in California and in the U.S. in general. As you likely know, there’s been a big increase in the last few decades. An allergic reaction can be extremely mild and lead to nothing more than an itchy nose and a few sneezes, but it can also be extremely serious.

When a person experiences anaphylactic reactions, they can lose their breath, lose consciousness, and can even die. In fact, there are an average of 150 deaths every year in the U.S. caused by allergic reactions. Then there are deaths caused by allergic reactions to the sting of a bee, wasp, yellow jacket, or hornet: an average of 50. The good news about these numbers is that there is indeed effective treatment for these reactions.

The goal of treating allergic reactions

When you work with Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Medical Group, we’ll go over all your options to treat severe allergic reactions. Our goal is to treat you how to recognize an allergic reaction early and to ensure you get treatment early. In most cases, that treatment will be epinephrine, which you may know better by the name adrenaline. There’s a myth that seems to be gaining traction that an EpiPen, which gives you a quick burst of epinephrine, isn’t safe because it can cause heart attacks. This is a false and dangerous myth.

Epinephrine is safe for most people

The danger of using an EpiPen is very low and is much, much lower than the risk of letting a severe allergic reaction go untreated. Often we see patients who will use an antihistamine before they use their EpiPen, and this is not the best idea. They only work with very mild allergy symptoms and there’s no evidence that they are effective at all on anaphylaxis. Studies have shown that fatal allergic reactions result in death within 15 minutes to a half an hour after the exposure, and antihistamines take more than an hour to start working.

If you have questions about how severe your allergies or how to handle an emergency reaction, contact Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Medical Group. Depending on your particular allergy, there are a variety of techniques we can true to help treat the actual cause of the reaction. Call us today at 805-658-9500 to set up your appointment.