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I was quiet last week and here’s why, was recovering…. I’m recounting this sage for two reasons, a) to see how common it might be (there are some mentions of Anaphylactic Shock revealed by a Search on the site, mainly connected to wasp stings) and b) as a warning. I unexpectedly suffered it last weekend, I had no idea I was prone to it, the hospital said I’d had a narrower escape than I realized. I’m thinking it might be sensible to warn others because many gardening activities may put you more at risk than you otherwise might be.
Anaphylactic Shock is basically an extreme allergy reaction. Many people suffer allergic reactions and learn to live with them…e.g. various forms of hay-fever and asthma are common and may be quite disabling, there may be foods, pets or even fabrics you avoid, some (including me) may seem more prone to insect bites than others and regularly apply the anti-bug spray or always have Anthisan at the ready. At the extreme end are individuals with nut allergies that can be life-threatening or those persons that carry epi-pens (self-injecting adrenalin) to overcome cases of dire emergency through, for example, wasp or bee stings.
The Anaphylactic Shock is at that end of the scale but the first time it happens you’ve no idea what’s happening or what to do… - or at least I didn’t. And as it develops you’re likely to be in a somewhat confused state about the symptoms. In my case after a day’s gardening (mainly cutting back Hawthorn and Russian Vine hedging) I got some itches on wrists and back of neck and I just thought Damn Insects and applied Anthisan… But no effect this time, more itches, raised red blotches and then quite violent itchy weals, lips sensitive and swelling to a point where couldn’t drink and then couldn’t easily breathe through the mouth…. And that’s the real danger because if it then spreads to tongue, throat or nasal passages without immediate professional assistance you can basically suffocate.
Well it didn’t quite happen this time so I survived but I’m told it’s more likely to be worse if there’s a next time (because responses are generally faster and further each repeated occasion) so the moral is IF THE LIPS BECOME GROSSLY SWOLLEN GET HELP IMMEDIATELY (999 or whatever). Don’t wait to see if it gets even worse (which is what I did) because that doesn’t necessarily happen slowly but can happen in a few minutes. The body takes such instant and huge response to what it perceives as an allergy threat that it actually runs the risk of destroying itself… so be warned, get help early!
Once forewarned, as I am now, there are easily available measures you can take which are basically daily doses of anti-histamine or, when it threatens, a big hit of anti-histamine (Piriton and Benadryl seem to be two over-the-counter regular ones) to delay or prevent the onset of Anaphylactic Shock; or in extreme cases you may be prescribed an epi-pen.
Not to be alarmist, I just think it should be more common knowledge than it appears to be at present and hope by telling the tale I can make others aware of what to do for the best if it suddenly happens to them for the first time: the sure sign is grossly swelling lips… get help!
Anaphylactic Shock is basically an extreme allergy reaction. Many people suffer allergic reactions and learn to live with them…e.g. various forms of hay-fever and asthma are common and may be quite disabling, there may be foods, pets or even fabrics you avoid, some (including me) may seem more prone to insect bites than others and regularly apply the anti-bug spray or always have Anthisan at the ready. At the extreme end are individuals with nut allergies that can be life-threatening or those persons that carry epi-pens (self-injecting adrenalin) to overcome cases of dire emergency through, for example, wasp or bee stings.
The Anaphylactic Shock is at that end of the scale but the first time it happens you’ve no idea what’s happening or what to do… - or at least I didn’t. And as it develops you’re likely to be in a somewhat confused state about the symptoms. In my case after a day’s gardening (mainly cutting back Hawthorn and Russian Vine hedging) I got some itches on wrists and back of neck and I just thought Damn Insects and applied Anthisan… But no effect this time, more itches, raised red blotches and then quite violent itchy weals, lips sensitive and swelling to a point where couldn’t drink and then couldn’t easily breathe through the mouth…. And that’s the real danger because if it then spreads to tongue, throat or nasal passages without immediate professional assistance you can basically suffocate.
Well it didn’t quite happen this time so I survived but I’m told it’s more likely to be worse if there’s a next time (because responses are generally faster and further each repeated occasion) so the moral is IF THE LIPS BECOME GROSSLY SWOLLEN GET HELP IMMEDIATELY (999 or whatever). Don’t wait to see if it gets even worse (which is what I did) because that doesn’t necessarily happen slowly but can happen in a few minutes. The body takes such instant and huge response to what it perceives as an allergy threat that it actually runs the risk of destroying itself… so be warned, get help early!
Once forewarned, as I am now, there are easily available measures you can take which are basically daily doses of anti-histamine or, when it threatens, a big hit of anti-histamine (Piriton and Benadryl seem to be two over-the-counter regular ones) to delay or prevent the onset of Anaphylactic Shock; or in extreme cases you may be prescribed an epi-pen.
Not to be alarmist, I just think it should be more common knowledge than it appears to be at present and hope by telling the tale I can make others aware of what to do for the best if it suddenly happens to them for the first time: the sure sign is grossly swelling lips… get help!
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