View Single Post
  #13  
Old 07-11-2018, 02:36 PM
Black Feather's Avatar
Black Feather Black Feather is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 94
Default

I can give a brief overview of anaphylaxis and an explanation of how Epinephrine and Benadryl each work in the body to clear up any confusion on the subject.

Essentially, anaphylaxis is an overreaction of your immune system to a specific allergen that results in your body releasing a bunch of cells and proteins, as well as histamines (which cause cells to release fluid and swell). This excessive immune system reaction causes symptoms like tightening of airways, swollen throat, wheezing, difficulty breathing, coughing, hives, swelling, hypotension (low BP), etc.

Epinephrine combats these life threatening problems by stimulating different adrenergic receptors in your body. The stimulation of these receptors causes constriction of the veins (thereby increasing blood pressure and reducing swelling), increasing heart rate and strength, and relaxes the muscle tissue of the lungs. Epinephrine injected will take effect in <2 mins, but as I stated before, it only lasts about 10-20 minutes, so consider carrying more than one if you are a long way from the hospital.

Benadryl is an antihistamine that is used to relieve the symptoms of allergic reactions like swelling, running nose, and watery eyes. It does this by preventing the histamines from attaching to cells in your body. So it's not that it "masks" the anaphylaxis, it just does not treat the life threatening aspect of the reaction (constricted airways and hypotension), and it takes a lot longer for it's peak effect (30 min - 1 hour).

In summary, Epinephrine is your primary life-saving drug and Benadryl is your secondary drug used to treat non-life threatening symptoms of severe allergic reactions. Hope that clears some stuff up.

Source: Paramedic
Reply With Quote