Have you ever heard of an adrenaline injection like an EpiPen or a Jext-pen? These are injections given to a person when they are having an allergic reaction. There are over 1.000.000 different types of allergies in which you could end up using an adrenaline injection in case of anaphylaxis, which could lead to shock or even death. Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening, severe allergic reaction and should always be treated as a medical emergency. Going into anaphylaxis can be quite scary, it is heavier than a "
You may have already read in a previous posts that I am chronically ill with a rare disease. Part of that disease is that I can get severe allergic reactions, that means I always have to carry an adrenaline injection with me.
I have been carrying an adrenaline injection with me wherever I go for over the past 12 years. And I have had to use it a couple of times, which can be quite scary. It is not really difficult to use the adrenaline injection and anyone could do this which is a good thing because like in my case I could end up in shock and there is a possibility then that I can't do it myself. It is always important that when you get an adrenaline injection to carry with you, your direct surroundings do know you are carrying such an injection, in case they would have to use it on you and even more important is it that they know the correct way of using the adrenaline injection.
I have had a friend of mine once asked me about it (this is years and years ago when I first started to carry an EpiPen) and she wanted to know where I kept it and when she should use it on me. So as we were thankfully talking about the subject she asked me; so basically it comes to taking the injection and sticking it into your heart. PLEASE DON'T! This is a totally different procedure and has nothing to do with inserting an EpiPen.
And it isn't that crazy she would think something like that maybe you even thought about that being the right thing to do. I mean it is what John Travolta does to Uma Thurman in Pulp fiction. Well, actually such a thing doesn't even exist nowadays. There is no form of an adrenaline injection, that you would carry around with you in case of an allergic reaction, where you would stick a needle through someone's heart. So that has been a widely known misconception about adrenaline injections.
And yes of course, some adrenaline injections may work differently from one another. I only had the experiences myself with an EpiPen and a Jext pen which work quite the same. But as far as I know there is really no such adrenaline pen which you would carry that would work like that.
I never like the term allergies because some people don't understand, they just wave it away like it is nothing or even make fun of a person with an allergy saying things like well you shouldn't eat that or you shouldn't have done that and they just don't fully grasp how dangerous allergies can be. That is hurtful and I hope if you were unaware of what lies behind the word allergy that what I wrote helps you understand and be more understanding. And when it comes to allergies or intolerances I have always believed that you cannot know or judge something if you don't know how it feels or how harmful it can be. And all allergies are different even the same one allergy can be more severe for one person than another. So if you ever come across someone who tells you about their allergy please take time to listen and take them seriously. I hope you can understand it can be difficult for someone to share that with you so just try and be as understanding as you can even though you might not (fully) understand their situation be open to what they are sharing with you. And sometimes someone just needs a listening ear or even a shoulder to cry on.
If you would like some more information about an EpiPen or a Jext-pen I have put the links of a few of the official websites down below. And there are even official EpiPen and Jext-pen apps available for Apple and Android phones. These apps are quite similar to what they offer. They both seem to have an alert option as to when you'll be needing to replace your adrenaline injection and instructions on how to use the adrenaline injection. I say seem to cause I am not a fan of the apps because they aren't available to anyone who downloads it. Because for the EpiPen app you'll need a password from your doctor which I think isn't even for every country only for the UK or China and when it comes to the Jext app you'll need to enter a number that is on your Jext-pen. I think for both apps it is a missed opportunity to make them only available for the patient, I think it could come in handy in a lot of situations like when you are a teacher and one of your students is carrying an adrenaline injection or maybe one of your coworkers. Like I said before it is always a good idea to let your direct surroundings now you are carrying an adrenaline injection, for what purpose you are carrying it and how one can help and handle if something would happen. Because sometimes you are not able to do it alone or at all. So when I sum it all up I won't be using any of the apps because it has no extra value to me but I do understand the value for some and therefore it might for you. That why I did want to share the existence of the apps. If like me you are not going to use the apps, what I do is set a reminder in my phone for when I should get a new adrenaline injection every time I get a new one and don't forget that once you used an adrenaline injection you should always replace it with a new one.
x Poppy
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| EpiPen app Logo |
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| Jext app Logo |
Other than using my own experiences I have also used a couple of sources to write this to the best of my abilities.
If you suspect you have an allergy please console your doctor.
informative websites:
https://www.epipen.com/en
https://jext.co.uk/
sources:
https://www.epipen.com/en
https://jext.co.uk/
https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/allergy-treatment/adrenaline-for-severe-allergies
https://www.leef.nl/kennisbank/de-adrenaline-injectiepen-tegen-anafylaxie-in-voorbereiding-op-vakantie/
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