protip for characters in visual media using an epipen: it usually helps to take off the blue end cap first

okay for anyone who does not know how to use an epipen, aka an adrenaline autoinjector:

•take off the blue end cap
•press the orange tip firmly against the meaty side of the thigh until it goes click
•hold it there for three good seconds
•release, call emergency services

if the person has severe allergies (like me!) they may have a second epipen on them. if their condition doesn't improve in the first fifteen minutes after the first injection OR if they go into a second anaphylactic shock, repeat the above.

do not give them more than two!!

they have a handy little catch phrase these days, 'blue to the sky, orange to the thigh'

back in the nineties the whole thing used to be boring grey and you used to have to like, swing it real hard to stab into the thigh

designs have since improved lmao

someone w anaphylaxis level of allergies should definitely be wearing a medic alert on them detailing their allergies, usually on their wrist. this may be helpful for you, good friend and/or acquaintance who was with them when it happened, to catch on to what happened.

while we're here

DO NOT:
•give you allergy friends unsolicited advice
•blame their upbringing for being sheltered
•blame their birthparent for doing something wrong while carrying
•say 'wow i would die if i couldn't eat x'
•or say 'i would be so skinny on your diet'

~thirty ago people barely understood what allergies WERE. if my mum suddenly avoided all the foods sis & i are allergic to while she was carrying, her health during pregnancy would have suffered

doing any of the above is a one way ticket to my fist flying directly into your face

ALSO:
•desensitisation/exposure therapy is not always for everyone
•it also shouldn't have to be!!!
•yes, you can be born with allergies. fuk u naysayers
•no it's not the same as being vegetarian/vegan we don't get to CHOOSE
•pls stop hoarding our specialty foods in lockdown

FINAL POINTS:
your friends with severe/and or multiple allergies, especially those who have had them since birth/youth, will most likely experience a Lot of social anxiety around food-centric gatherings. it will affect their social life a lot!!

they may turn down invitations to restaurants bc they don't want to draw attention to themselves by asking about ingredients or custom dishes. if they have to bring their own food, they may just consider it not worth it

these are things i have been through myself. its stressful!

for you, non-allergy person, the gathering is the primary aspect and the food is the secondary aspect

but for those of us who have to think about where we can safely eat when we go out or travel anywhere, we have to consider everything

please be aware of this!!

i'm in a much happier place nowadays where my friends very kindly ask me up front where i am able to eat when a food-centric gathering is on the cards, but this sense of social inclusion was not always the case for me!

be a good friend to your food-challenged friends!!

to add to this: not all vegetarian and vegan friendly places are necessarily allergy friendly. for example, i am additionally allergic to nuts, potato and sesame, which are three very common substitutes in vegan food

(vegans, if your multiple-allergies friends can and do eat meat, don't give them flak for it – there are only so many pills and medicines and health supplements we can take before it's frustrating and it's easier to get these things through food)

if you know your friend's allergies, have a look at online menus before offering suggestions if you have new places in mind! the internet can be pretty amazing these days

that being said: be aware that cross contamination can be a real danger for us, be it in the fact that they use the same knives or pans for everything in the kitchen, or in the oil that they use to prepare food. so it's not automatically going to be a-okay for us

anyway

IN SUMMARY:
•blue to the sky, orange to the thigh
•but pls take off the cap first lmao
•allergies is not just a food thing – it's also a social thing
•keep ur hot takes to urself unless asked
•be kind and considerate to your allergic friends!!

ALSO subsidise epipens and make them more accessible damnnit!!! they're expensive af and only last like one-two years before they expire and iT'S A SHAM

thanks for coming to my ted talk
is there where i put my kofi lmao