My husband had the car cleaned professionally!  It's nothing new, he's done it in the past and it never bothered me.  So why did it send me to the ER this time???    I'VE NOT THE SLIGHTEST CLUE!!!!


My husband left the car with me and had to go with someone in their car to another place while I was supposed to drive 10 minutes only to get home.  It was a warm day on Wednesday and knowing heat is always an issue I got into the hot car and turned on the AC as usual.  I knew he'd had the car cleaned and since it had never bothered me before, I figured all was fine now - I didn't have any reason for concern.   Although the smell was a bit strong, I didn't find it like perfume, overwhelming.  Just a bit chemically, that's all.  

I was about 2 minutes down the road when I began feeling my breathing become difficult and about a minute of two later found myself feeling weak.  By this time I realized I was in trouble, but I knew I had no where to stop to buy some water to take any meds and even if I did stop, I'd still have to get back into the car!  I was not in a good place to try to roll down all the windows either and considering that I've become sensitive to car fumes as well, this didn't seem to be a good idea, but then, I was beginning to find it difficult to think and reason things out anyway so, if my sense of logic wasn't working so well, I'm not surprised.  

At this point, my throught began getting tight and the dyspnea a bit worse and all I could think of was do I go to the ER or home?   If I go home, I'll be totally alone, if I go to the ER, how is it going to be, will they recognize this?!  How much work will it give me to convince them I'm in trouble?!

Home and the hospital are in the same direction, thankfully, and by the time I was at the entrance of my neighborhood I had made the decision - GO TO THE ER!!   It's right outside my neighborhood and my kids laughed and teased me that they built the new hospital just thinking about me!    They must have cause I pulled into the parking lot and found an empty spot (miraculous) and walked straight into the emegency room.  I didn't take a number, I walked right up to the nurses and told them out flat, "I'm in anaphylaxis!  I need attention NOW!"    

They sat me down, took my BP, shook their heads as it was high, and I told them that I needed to see the doctor ASAP and they called for a wheelchair and then pushed me right into where a doctor was waiting.   I sat there in the chair in front of her while she asked me questions about my symptoms and such and when she took my BP she looked at me with this questioning look and I told her yet again, I have mastocytosis, my form causes me to have hypertension with anaphylaxis.  It's a rare disease and it does some rare things.   By this time, however, it was all I could manage just to get this out and with my last look at her I told her that my doctor had left on my filea information as to what to do for me, that all she had to do was to look there.

She had me sent back to the "Red Room" where they hooked me up to monitors, gave me an IV of saline, gave me hydrocortisone and an injection of subcutaneous epinephrine and an intramuscular shot of H1 antihistamine.  

Within minutes everything began to revert and get back under control again!  I still went through about 3 hours of syncope, but it wasn't a bad situation on the whole and being on an IV certainly seems to help.  


What was nice, however, is that I didn't have to play doctor!!  I didn't have to really go into any in-depth explanations as to why I needed epinephrine nor what to do with me.  Thankfully, the doctor who had seen me come in about 3 weeks earlier immediately realized what was happening and took over for the doctor who had received me.  He may have been doing a bit of studying up since he last saw me too!!   When I was there 3 weeks ago, I and the doctors thought it was a stomach bug, but as it turned out, I had a urinary infection which triggered anaphylaxis, but I couldn't recognize the anaphylaxis cause it showed itself as a vomiting crisis - which has never happened to me before.  This time around was much more like my usual events of dyspnea, flushing, upper body weakness, confusion, hypertension - this is my normal and so I had no problem recognizing what was going on this time and thankfully, the doctor didn't either and so it was a breeze!

Yet, thanks to my farsighted endocrinologist, she made sure there was a file on me in case of an emergency and she left full instructions of how to deal with me!!!  May God bless my wonderful doctor, she's a true ANGEL!!!


So, I was in the ER about 4 hours.  They called my husband to come get me and he drove me home - all the windows wide open!  And I've been dragging myself ever since!   I had to take more prednisone yesterday cause I was still reacting a great deal.  I've been absolutely EXHAUSTED and feel like somebody forced me on an overnight march even though I slept the entire afternoon today!!!   I think that this is the hardest part about going through anaphylaxis, the complete exhaustion for days afterwards!!


But, I'm FINE and know that as long as I treat myself kindly, I'll get through this.


I just wish I understood WHY, all of a sudden I've become insanely allergic to smells!!!!

I wish I knew what to do about it, or how to keep it from getting worse!

Lisa

Well, at least I'm not alone with the silicone reaction!!   I was so stupid, looking back at it, but I really had not a single clue I was going to get so sick!!!

I'm STILL recuperating even though I've returned to my normal duties!!  SOOOOO VERYYYYY EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOO! Oh my gosh Lisa! I'm so sorry to hear this. Thanks for sharing what happened in detail it helps us all. That is so frightening. I feel somehow responsible for your smell allergy as I recall complaining to you about it just when you were starting to react to your daughter's perfume. I feel your mast cells got some ideas from mine Kidding, but I am SO Sorry. I am so glad you are ok and that they treated you quickly. you are very brave.

Smells are so hard to avoid. I'm finding inhaling some chemicals that don't even have much of a smell; even from a large distance is making me react. There are smells everywhere; it's insanity... I hope they figure out a way to make us better or the world goes scent free STAT. For now, I have adjusted my life to insane lengths to be rid of smells.


I hope you get heaps of REST REST REST! Let your body recover and let us know how you're doing. Don't feel obliged to do the billion things you do!

For our info, what do you do with the prednisone? A few days then stop, or a fast taper? Just curious..