[pct-l] pills for first aid kit

[Will Hiltz]

One further point regarding this in particular-



I assume most people with severe allergies know this, but it critical to
carry BOTH epi-pen and benadryl.  The epi takes hold really fast to reduce a
severe allergic reaction but its effects are somewhat short-lived.  Hit the
epi and THEN take benadryls (while your throat isn't swollen shut).  I've
had to poke a kid with an epi and it can be a scary experience.  I've also
heard (and maybe others can chime in here) that each additional bee sting
(or exposure to poison oak, etc.) increases your chance of having a serious
reaction even if you've never had one before.  Water helps a lot in these
situations- drink copiously!


YITOOD,

Easy

On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 12:40 AM, Greg Mikol <greg.mikol at ieee.org> wrote:

>
> Don't forget Benadryl (diphenhydramine)!!
>
> In '07 just north of Tacoma Pass in WA, I got stung by a bald-faced hornet
> (It's a yellowjacket cousin...at least that's what I think it was). It got
> me twice (it doesn't lose it's stinger). Once on the arm and once on the
> back of the neck.
>
> I didn't know I was allergic.
>
> Within 45 minutes my feet were so swollen and broken out in hives I
> couldn't walk anymore. 50 mg Benadryl (2 pills) and about 30 mins. of
> chilling the f--- out got me walking again. I retreated to the forest road
> at the pass (giving the nest *very* wide berth on my way back past). I
> figured I could flag a ride into town. Little did I know that there was a
> bridge out between me & town, so nobody was going to be coming over the
> pass.  I took 7 Benadryl within ~7 hours and still had really bad hives. I
> have gross pix if anybody wants to see them :) but I got through the night.
> 2 more pills in the morning and I was out of Benadryl. I road walked into
> town & got bailed out but I was breaking out in hives for 2 more days. If I
> had been in a more remote area and/or my reaction had been more severe,
> things could have got dicey.
>
> What's the lesson? If you have known severe allergies, you should
> absolutely be carrying an epi-pen. But you may have an unknown sensitivty,
> or your sensitivity could change due to stresses from thru-hiking, so a
> whole bunch of Benadryl could (literally) be a lifesaver, and they don't
> weigh that much or take up that much space.
>
> My personal experience and my $0.02
>
> --Greg
>
> PS: +1 on the narcotics in labeled bottles. Maybe not too much of an issue
> while you're on the trail or even in town / in transit, but if you forget
> to get rid of them before you go through customs on your way back into the
> states, it could get interesting.
>
>
>
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