what the hell did you eat mid route that caused anaphylaxis?
t2 at best

Yipes --- don't you think this is more a question for your DOCTOR than for a forum where g*d-knows-who is trying to answer your question?

There's this weird thing, called gorp, aka trail mix. You may have heard of it. It's often a mixture of nuts, which, hey, what do you know, can cause anaphylaxis. And t2 are my ski boots. Try a bit harder next time.


Take a look at other threads in this forum; quite often there are doctors who respond, who are also climbers. Weird, ain't it?
And, just to help you with that icky thing called comprehension, take a look at the first line on the original post. Hell, I'll save you the scroll: "Hopefully someone knowledgeable will be able to answer this."

Thanks to the others for your responses.

*Benadryl is actually available in an injectable form. We give it to people who have bad reactions to anti-psychotic medications all the time. I've never been real clear on why we don't use it as such to treat anaphylaxis. Anybody know why this is?

As the others have suggested, consider not being more than 15-20 minutes from where emergency medical personnel can reach you and always have a cell phone with you. I would suggest taking up sport cilmbing or bouldering.

what the hell did you eat mid route that caused anaphylaxis?


t2 at best

Yipes --- don't you think this is more a question for your DOCTOR than for a forum where g*d-knows-who is trying to answer your question?

Moving fast will help the body create it's own natural adrenaline (Epi.) That might buy you some time. (A good friend of mine was caught unprepared at the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison when he got stung. He blasted up the wall in near record time, and was OK when he got to the top. I think that is due, in part, to his "Oh, s---... I gotta get up and out of here, fast" reflex. Fight/flight thing. His body probably produced a lot of adrenaline, and that staed off the allergic reaction.)

Last year, I got stung about 6-8 times (within 10 seconds) by yellow jackets in Tenaya Canyon, and about 2-3 days after being stung, the small welts grew to around 2-3" diameter and itched like crazy. They eventually went away after around 2 weeks (I used 0.5-1% hydrocortisone anti-itch cream).

Anyway, any guesses as to my chances of developing more serious reactions? I've tried to carry Benadryl tablets around since then, but haven't been that serious about making sure I always have them quickly available.

mtn_eagle, first you offer an overly technical explanation of anaphylaxis and then you make this statement:


WTF? You don't even know if this guy (shaky_legs) is actually allergic to anything, let alone how bad his allergy is. Suddenly he needs to become a boulderer? What a horrible fate to so randomly and glibly assign to someone.

Allergies can be managed in a wilderness setting with the appropriate training and equipment. Why not encourage him to take a wilderness medicine class or something?

(fights urge to make nasty comments and ends post here)

Hopefully someone knowledgeable will be able to answer this:
Scenario: I’m midway up a multi-pitch and am at least two full-length rappels from the bottom, and a good 45-60 minute hike out. Being the safe boy that I am, I’ve got two epi-pens with me. I have the misfortune of reacting to whatever it is I’m allergic to, say a bee-sting or something I ate. Realizing what’s happening, I jab the first epi-pen into my thigh. That’s good for about 15 minutes.
We start heading down, and I feel the anaphylactic shock symptoms arising again. So I use up the second epi-pen, which is pretty much the limit of what you should take.
So, now, am I screwed, or will the double doses of adrenaline be enough for me to get me out of there?
For arguments' sake, I also have some Benadryl with me.

Now... As long as you meet the criteria below, you're *probably* safe taking two doses. Perhaps even three. But if I, as a paramedic, had a patient that needed more than 3 doses of Epi, I'd be thinking one of two things: This is the worst allergic reaction in the history of medicine, or this isn't an allergic reaction but something else that looks like an allergic reaction.

The criteria: No history of coronary artery disease; no history of hypertension; no history of congestive heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy, or other cardiomyopathy; under the age of 45; no recent stroke or brain surgery; no kidney failure.

Moving fast will help the body create it's own natural adrenaline (Epi.) That might buy you some time. (A good friend of mine was caught unprepared at the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison when he got stung. He blasted up the wall in near record time, and was OK when he got to the top. I think that is due, in part, to his "Oh, s---... I gotta get up and out of here, fast" reflex. Fight/flight thing. His body probably produced a lot of adrenaline, and that staed off the allergic reaction.)

i believe that it is inappropriate to even discuss the contraindictions of epinephrine in this context. reno, you work in EMS and have a different setup than a climber on a cliff somewhere who is absolutely under no way going to have access to plentiful IV drugs and airway ALS. while it is true that people with cardio risks are not your ideal epinephrine candidates, that DOES NOT MATTER because there is a good chance that the person suffering from a reaction this violent will die from it. there is only a slight chance we will precipitate a cardiac event.

i dunno man. i dont have any stats up my sleeve, but i am led to believe that the epi dose your body kicks out under dire circumstances is small beans compared to the hefty kick an epi pen will give.