They hit again! Stupid allergies!
After spending the entire day on my birthday, outside in the elements, I went in for my next allergy shot on Monday morning. I hadn't had any allergic reaction all day long the previous day, so I wasn't too worried about getting my allergy shot.
I did, however, wait a few hours to go in because I wondered if it would be a problem, but I convinced myself it wasn't.
My allergy dose was increased that morning (6/25) from the lowest possible dose, to the next to lowest dose. When receiving the allergy shots it's required that you wait 30 minutes in the office. I looked at the clock and noted that I had five minutes left..... and then I coughed. One cough.
"hmmmm," I thought, "I might need to get my inhaler."
Second cough.
I opened my bag and was collecting my inhaler, when I coughed a third time.
The nurse asked me if I was okay and I told her I might need my inhaler, but that I was fine. She asked if I was feeling chest tightness, which I was... but just a little bit.
She told me not to use my inhaler and that she needed me to come back. She put the finger monitor and my O2 sats were at 98%..."okay, good," I thought....but I was beginning to cough and my chest was getting tighter and I was really needing my inhaler. My lungs were not happy and my asthma was reminding me that it exists. And then my lips began to tingle; not too much but I noticed it.
The nurse asked me to come with her to a room so they could monitor me. At the time, I still wasn't too concerned. I thought it was a minor asthma attack...and I was frustrated they wouldn't let me puff on my inhaler.
As we walked to the room, we passed one of the doctors in the hallway and he told the nurse that "she needs epinephrine now." I sat in a chair in the room and he began to listen to my breathing. While he did, the nurse was preparing the needle with epinephrine.
I looked down at the monitor and I had dropped to 92% in a very short time. I could feel my sinuses, lungs and now my throat was swelling very fast and I realized just how bad it was. I was getting dizzy when she gave me the shot. From the time I began to cough to the time I received the shot wasn't more than 4 minutes....in that short time, I had gone from what I thought was nothing, to a very desperate place.
I sat on the bed and the jitters set in as my heart rate and blood pressure shot up. The doctor had stepped out for about 30 seconds to get my doctor and when they returned, he mentioned that I was looking and sounding so much better. I hadn't realized it showed, but he had known the minute he'd seen me.
I became very confused and couldn't string words into sentences properly.... They asked me about my birthday and I could hear myself saying, "smoke with family and the lake. Fun the lake." I wasn't making any sense. It's funny to me now, but I was so frustrated when I couldn't string together the right sequence of words.
Once I was able to breathe again, I waited for another two hours before I felt comfortable to drive. It's hard to imagine that my allergies can affect me in this way. I joke about the necessity to breathe, but it scares me to think that this is how my body responds to the elements.
If I'd been driving, I would not have recognized the seriousness of the situation in time to pull over, find my epi-pen, open the epi-pen and get it into my leg for 10 seconds. I learned two valuable lessons that day:
1. do not get your allergy shot after being out doors all day. I need to make sure I'm aware of what sets me off and avoid it.
2. I learned to recognize the first symptoms of anaphylaxis. In the future, I will use the epi pen with the initial symptoms.
(but, the goal is to avoid that altogether.)
I am grateful that
IF this was to happen, I was in the doctor's office with providers who recognize symptoms for what they are.
