Rare medication alergy, what should I do?

May 8, 2009 8:27 PM

I'm allergic to benadryl, as in can kill me. Even a normal does causes me to brake out in hives and my airway to swell. Do I need to wear some sort of med alert bracelet (is there even one?), is there something I should, at the least, put in my wallet?
posted by blackout to health & fitness (13 comments total)

Do I need to wear some sort of med alert bracelet (is there even one?)

I think you definitely SHOULD wear one for any life-threatening allergy, you can have a MedicAlert bracelet say whatever you want (condition-wise), they'e customized, so YES, there is one! Get one!
posted by tristeza at 8:32 PM on May 8

Yep, what tristeza said - almost any website which sells them will offer customization.
posted by DavidNYC at 8:34 PM on May 8

Put a note in your wallet too. Can't hurt. Most heart patients have one.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:36 PM on May 8

Agree with everyone else, and here's why: Benadryl is commonly used in response to allergies. If you had a severe allergic reaction (to it, or to anything else), after Epinephrine, you'd probably be given Benadryl.

In an emergency, it'd be VERY important to have a bracelet.
The bracelets are customizable, and you can do it however you want -- bracelet, neck pendant, whatever.
posted by davidnc at 8:40 PM on May 8

Also for what it's worth, as a pilot (meaning because I need my certificates to fly, also I have a weird fear of getting in a car crash and nobody knowing who I am) I have my wallet with me at all times, unless I'm like in my house.
Would a paper/note in my wallet be just as good as a MedicAlert or in emergency situations are they less prone to check my wallet than something around my wrist/neck?
posted by blackout at 8:45 PM on May 8

I'm not an EMT, but I don't believe a wallet card would be as good or as immediate - what if your wallet is burned, or falls out, or whatever? The necklace or bracelet is THERE, on you, at all times. Please do it.
posted by tristeza at 8:54 PM on May 8

My cell phone has an emergency contact section with room for notes...I put my medical stuff in there too. No idea if anyone would actually look, but it didn't cost me much time to type it in.
posted by stevis23 at 8:57 PM on May 8

Some EMTs answered this question and you may find their responses helpful. (They look for medic-alerts but do not search wallets and such.)
posted by txvtchick at 9:28 PM on May 8

I used to be an EMT and I guarantee that it would be far too late by the time someone looked in your wallet....get a bracelet or necklace, medics are trained to look for them as they try to figure out whats up.
posted by legotech at 10:12 PM on May 8

I'm allergic to aspirin and Ibuprofen, as well as sulfites. I have a Medic-Alert bracelet that lists all of those.

I'd get the actual Medic-Alert bracelet, and renew your membership every year. That way, not only can they see the immediate allergy info, but doctors/paramedics, etc. can call and get info on who your regular doctors are, what meds you're taking, etc. I renew my membership at 3 year intervals.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:05 PM on May 8

You could get the information tattooed somewhere on your person that would be brilliantly obvious to any EMT performing any aid.
posted by ZaneJ. at 1:18 AM on May 9 [1 favorite]

EMT chiming in to say definitely get a bracelet. No one is going to be poking around in your wallet on the scene. Not only that, but if you're having a serious allergic reaction, one of the first treatments (on the paramedic level, IANAP) is to push IV or intramuscular... benadryl. Which would almost certainly kill you if taking the tablets wouldn't.
posted by charmcityblues at 8:36 AM on May 9

Wear a bracelet. It will solve both of the fears you mention. It will list your name AND your medical concern. On a previous Ask Me question, a person pointed out to me that the med-alert bracelets provide the responders with the critical info they MUST know even if you can not tell them yourself. It was this comment that caused me to get mine. I use American Medical ID for mine. I'm a repeat customer now.
posted by onhazier at 11:44 AM on May 9