Things Are Improving When It Comes To Epinephrine Auto-Injectors

The Auvi-Q is here.  And it's about time.  These are amazing little things and perfect for anyone who has been a slave to the basic
EpiPens of the past.

Weather you are a parent who has to live with the dreaded thought of having to stab your little one with the pen, or a person who has had to use the epinephrine on yourself,  you will love the Auvi-Q.  If you are not an epi pen user, you can only imagine what it must be like to be faced with the chore of doing this 'the right way' in a crisis situation.  Think about school nurses who could be faced with dozens of kids who may, at any moment, need a life saving procedure.

A couple of facts that make this product excel in my mind -

This injector talks to you, with step by step instructions; perfect when in a stressful situation.

The Auvi-Q is compact and can easily be carried in a pocket or purse.

As in the basic style pen, it come in two dosages.

And - you can use the Auvi-Q right through your clothing; no more having to strip down to get to the thigh for injection.

Check out this vid about how simple it is to use. Then share it with family and especially your children.  It is bound to take a bit of the fear away.








Here's a bit of interesting info that I found on a great wed site called OnSpotAllergy. 

. . . . around 1.7 million Americans have now received EpiPens via prescription. I was shocked by that low number, because by my calculations about 75 million Americans are at risk of anaphylaxis from food, latex, insect stings, and medication combined.

. . . . .  only around 7 per cent of the people who are at risk of an allergic reaction are now thought to hold EpiPens, either because they never bothered to get a prescription, were unaware of their risk, or could not afford the $100 price-tag… and even people who have prescriptions sometimes leave their EpiPens behind.

I guess my thought is that anything that will make carrying Epinephrine easier, is worth a try.

I am not a spokes person for this product.  I have never had to use an Auvi-Q or even seen it used, with the exception of a tester.  What I am is a person with extreme allergies, with a family full of extreme allergies, and most importantly - a grand parent of a couple of little girls who's lives are controlled by very serious allergies to nuts. Needless to say, when their mom shared this information with me, she was ecstatic. 

Allergies Inherited?

     A big question is "Are allergies inherited and if so, which ones?"

      It seems somewhat obvious to our family that allergies are being shared and passed on.  What seems confusing is why we all have such different allergies.  And why can I not find more specific info about the whys?

     From everything that I have read, allergies tend to run in families and can be passed down to children from generation to generation.  People who tend to suffer with chronic allergies are usually referred to as “atopic allergy” sufferers. Atopics have an underlying tendency to allergic reactions and may be encoded in the DNA that are passed from parent to child. The genetic risks from two parents can add up but the actual figures are uncertain because the results have varied from study to study. If one parent is atopic, then there is a 20-58 percent chance a child will be also, whereas if both parents are atopic, then the chance grows to 50-80 percent.  7% of fraternal twins and two-thirds of identical twins share peanut allergy.  . Unfortunately, allergies seem to be on the increase even though we carry the genetic allergy makeup of our ancestors.

     Genes are about two-thirds of the problem with our environment playing an important role in allergies. Environmental conditions such as diet, smoke, air pollutants, pollen, dust mites, mold and other allergens determine whether or not an allergic reaction occurs. Allergens in our indoor and outdoor continue to increase thus causing more allergic reactions even in those individuals with little or no allergies the previous year. 

     We can control some of the indoor environment by eliminate certain allergens from our home such as smoke, dust mites, insects and so on.  What about the outdoors?  There’s only so much we can do but we do need to try.