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Science: Health: Allergy
Epi-breathe   (+7)  [vote for, against]

I have been allergic to certain foods since childhood. Luckily, I've never had anaphylaxic reaction (yet?), but I've come close (?) Because I feel like my allergy isn't severe enough, and because I don't get exposed to situations where I could accidentally eat something I'm allergic to very often, I don't carry an epi-pen, but learning more about allergies, I feel like maybe I should. The cost of epi pens is crazy expensive though (especially because the damn thing expires after a year even if you don't use it) .. so I still don't carry it ... add to that, some recommendations wisely call for having multiples (just in case you predictably forget it), one would be hard, so multiple epi pens are completely out of the question.

Over the last few years I have been wondering whether there is a possibility for self-first aid though. After all epinephrine is just a synthetic version of adrenalin. If I can induce adrenalin, it's going to be the same. But how do you produce adrenalin on demand? One way is through breathing. I find that Wim Hoff breathing exercise followed by extreme breath holding produces a decent adrenalin rush. For me personally "extreme" feels like 1:15 minutes (I feel like I'm dying but I'm not even close to passing out of course). The exercise can also be repeated - and it doesn't seem to wear off.

Today I accidentally ate a food that I am allergic to, and tried it out on myself. So far I've avoided 90% of the reaction I would normally expect from making such a mistake. Normally I would have itchy throat, upset stomach (maybe vomiting later?), and I would be laying down in discomfort for 2-5 hours, and be generally out of commission for the day. In fact, a minute after ingesting the food, I started to feel the chain of symptoms coming on, and they subsided minutes after epi-breathing. Right now, it's been 1 hour after ingesting the food and because of the intervention all I feel is a very mildly upset stomach, but not itching and definitely not other discomfort. It seems to work. Please don't try this at home if you have severe allergies. From what I understand this is nothing to play with.
-- ixnaum, Dec 29 2021

Fascinating. https://www.medical...-and-norepinephrine
The diference between epinephrine and adrenaline. [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 31 2021]

For [2 fries]: https://www.mayocli...stress/art-20046037
It might be the cortisol, more than the adrenaline, that does the long-term damage. But the principle is similar. [pertinax, Dec 31 2021]

Interesting. I'm fascinated by this type of self-contained medical solution, but I see how it is unlikely that it would ever be seriously studied or widely known. Assuming it actually works and it wasn't just a mild reaction for some other reason, it would be a good thing for people to know about except if it caused people who should carry an epi-pen to not carry one. Not to mention if someone tried this method unsuccessfully, they would be that much closer to suffocating when their throat closed.
-- scad mientist, Dec 29 2021


Is there an easier way to trigger an adrenaline rush?
-- scad mientist, Dec 29 2021


//Is there an easier way to trigger an adrenaline rush?

That's what I am also curious about
-- ixnaum, Dec 29 2021


+ Bravo to you for figuring this out.

I want to make you a scary *adrenaline rush* Jack- in-a-Box, where you never know what is going to pop out at you, so inducing a bit of adrenaline for you. Somehow you can activate it with your breathing!
-- xandram, Dec 29 2021


Or move to the UK, where our amazing NHS will keep you supplied with epi-pens free of charge.
-- xenzag, Dec 29 2021


Wasn't there another company out there that was challenging them at one point?
-- RayfordSteele, Dec 29 2021


Are you claiming epinephrine acts as a powerful antihistamine? I think it does not. My understanding is all it's issued for is to prevent the closing of the airways and the like. I have many allergies myself, though, and a reasonably good control over my body. In the interest of science I'll do what I can to create adrenaline and see whether it prevents a histamine reactions.
-- Voice, Dec 30 2021


generally speaking, this is why a strong coffee helps too -- when I started having asthma, and long before I sought proper treatment, I'd drink it when I was feeling wheezy
-- theircompetitor, Dec 30 2021


Shirley the closing airway induces panic and causes adrenaline to be released so i don't see how that could work.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 30 2021


I image it would be all about the dose and the severity of the reaction. I assume that most people can't produce as much adrenalin on short notice as you'd get in an epi-pen. I could imagine that some people may have survived a anaphylactic reaction because they panicked. So the next time you see someone having trouble breathing because of an allergic reaction, and no EpiPen is available, DON'T try to calm them down. Maybe pretend to kidnap their child while they are incapacitated (although explaining that to the cops afterwards could be difficult).

On a side note: if you are ever in a tough spot and need a boost in strength, would a shot from an EpiPen help?
-- scad mientist, Dec 30 2021


is adrenaline boosting prohibited in the Olympics? then likely yes
-- theircompetitor, Dec 30 2021


A guy walks into a bar, asks for a glass of water ...

Will pain initiate adrenaline? personal choice allows anything, morally moderated, by society, of course.
-- wjt, Dec 31 2021


Interesting. [link]
Yep an epi pen just boosts adrenaline response.

As someone with... I guess abnormal adrenal response, (when shit goes sideways and my glands go off it is extremely painful almost to the tips of my extremities as near as I can tell in a single heartbeat), then yes, jabbing yourself with an epi pen will give you incredible strength for as long as it lasts.

I've a hunch though that every time your system has to undergo that stress it shortens your life-span.
(I have absolutely no scientific research backing that hunch btw just experience and gut feelings but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts whatever research is out there proves it correct)

So, what have we learned?
Don't stab an epi pen into your leg for a simple bar fight, save it for flipping that overturned car off your family.

m'kay?
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 31 2021


//Is there an easier way to trigger an adrenaline rush?//

Emergency bungee jump? Taser yourself?

//generally speaking, this is why a strong coffee helps too - - when I started having asthma, and long before I sought proper treatment, I'd drink it when I was feeling wheezy//

Ha! amazing discovery! But it's not really acting through adrenaline or the adrenergic receptors. Like a lot of things, we don't know exactly why, but caffeine is a methylated xanthine, specifically 1,3,7 trimethyl xanthine. It works on a bunch of targets, but the adenosine receptors and intracellular phosphodiesterases probably being the most important. The caffeine relative, theophylline (1,3 dimethyl xanthine is an approved old-school asthma drug. A brief scan of the literature suggests that Albuterol/theophylline have been tried together as they should synergize having different mechanisms, but for some reason they've always gone with oral theophylline. Given that caffeine is a STAGGERINGLY cell permeable drug, I think a 10-100mg shot of caffeine straight to the lungs would have a much faster/more pronounced and synergistic result.

//jabbing yourself with an epi pen will give you incredible strength for as long as it lasts.//

This is my theory on how Eddie Hall lifted the record 500kg deadlift. Doing the lift, he bled from the nose and lost vision in both eyes. Signs of extreme blood pressure, and in at least one interview he's asked how he did it and says "Pure adrenaline" with a twinkle in his eye, by my interpretation anyhow. You can't really test for adrenaline, can you? Even if you did, it's present in wildly variable amounts naturally and goes away pretty damned fast.

//I've a hunch though that every time your system has to undergo that stress it shortens your life-span.//

Nah, the body (& all eukaryotic systems I'm aware of) thrives on intermittent stress. Consistent stuff is what the body is bad at: Lift a big weight, then relax: Stress time, then repair time, great. Constantly hold hand on mouse: Small stress signal gets lost in relation to no stress, or no stress rarely exists. Signal/noise gone.

//Over the last few years I have been wondering whether there is a possibility for self-first aid though. After all epinephrine is just a synthetic version of adrenalin//

There are, of course, many synthetic analogs of adrenaline, designed to do different things. We have 3 adrenergic receptors. Adrenaline hits them all. Albuterol hits mostly B2. Ephedrine hits B1&2 and a drug called Mirabegron hits 3. These drugs all have much slower action than true adrenaline, but ephedrine is pretty quick and cheap (is in some types of Bronk-Aid, that's ephedrine, not pseudoephedrine). If you want to boost the vasodilatory component, obtaining some nitroglycerine pills/patch might be possible. you could probably concoct an emergency powder/liquid shot containing the right amounts of these. Not ideal, but better than dying.
-- bs0u0155, Jan 03 2022



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