Epinephrine in the Summer

You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating- epinephrine is the ONLY treatment for anaphylaxis. The earlier you use it, the better. And because you never know when you might be accidentally exposed to foods you are allergic, this means that people with food allergies have to carry around their epinephrine at all times. Right now, this means carrying our kid’s autoinjectors with us to the pool. To the beach. To the park. And it’s summer here. And hot. You know what temperature my kid’s autoinjectors are supposed to be kept at all times? 68-77^oF (20-25^oC). That’s okay if we’re inside. But what if we’re aren’t?

Ah yes. Totally reasonable expectations for something that must be next to my toddler at all times.

It's been getting over 90^oF for weeks here. And if it's 90^oF outside, it can be close to 120^oF in a parked car. That is hot. And definitely hotter than the suggested temperature. But what effect does it actually have on the epinephrine? Surely the manufacturers can’t expect us to keep her autoinjectors with us at all times AND in room temperature for an entire year until the expire?

Well, there was a review in Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology on how epinephrine degrades in various temperatures in 2016 and the results are pretty encouraging. While they did see loss of effectiveness of epinephrine, especially in hot temperatures, the temperatures that showed significant change were well outside what’s normal outside (158 ^oF, 70 ^oC). Cold, didn’t show as much change in the effectiveness of epinephrine, but freezing temperatures can break the glass (of vials in ambulances) and potentially change how the automatic injection works.

You know what? This is great news. I’m sure the official recommendation of manufacturers and doctors hasn’t changed- it probably is best to keep my kid’s autoinjectors in a reasonable temperature. But to me, this takes some of the stress off. Okay, so I still won’t leave it locked in parked car in the sun. At the pool, I’ll leave it in the shade. But am I going to pack a separate cooler (without ice packs because it’s can’t freeze, but instead filled with room temperature water bottles???) just for the epinephrine while we are at the beach? Absolutely not. I’m already a crazy food allergy mom. I don’t need to be a crazy food allergy mom with multiple coolers.