Anaphylaxis is as scary as it sounds

Ken Johnston
Editor

Anaphylaxis.... say that fast five times.
Saying it is not nearly as scary as what it is... or so I discovered on Friday when I went to the doctor.
If you read last week’s Ken’s Korner you know I had a close encounter with a hornet or wasp while camping a little over a week ago.
I described the symptoms to the doctor and told him how I treated it.
At the time I did not know that I had experienced Anaphylaxis... or a severe allergic reaction to the venom the bug had injected into me.
I had been stung in July and had some light headedness and some itching but nothing like last week’s experience.
My body had hives all over, extreme itching, I was light headed and my throat tightened.
But everything got better in time and I was feeling about 100% in about two hours. So I never thought much about it. Then some people I told my story to advised me to go to the doctor.
Well I had my eyes opened wide by the doctor who said, “You are very lucky.”
Anaphylaxis is a not a minor it is a SEVERE reaction to something... in my case venom.
He prescribed an Epi-pen for me to carry with me in case I get stung again. It is a portable injector with the drug epinephrine in it. The drug helps slow down or stop the allergic reaction temporarily. It helps relieve breathing difficulties which can be fatal in some cases.
I thought it would be a fix, but it only acts as a stopgap measure until I can get to the emergency.
Hard to believe that a small drop of venom can be life threatening to bodies our size.
Another thing that I found interesting is that those who are around you should learn how to administer the Epi-pen injection as the next sting might hold a much more severe reaction and one may not be able to administer it before losing consciousness.
At least the hornet season is almost over.
–Until then, Ken