My two children are severely allergic to milk. Last year, when my son was 5 and my daughter was 7, my husband came home from the store with soy cheese. I was upstairs, and he gave them each a piece. They took one bite and immediately did not feel well. My son started sneezing and vomiting within about one minute. My daughter just said her lips and mouth felt funny. 

My husband was insisting that the cheese had no milk in it, so I didn't really know what was going on. But I said, "I'm calling 911." Once I got on the phone with them, I felt so much better. They said help was on the way, and to get my EpiPens out and ready just in case I needed them. After a few minutes my son was coughing and seemed to be wheezing, so I thought we should give him the EpiPen (I had already given them Benadryl in the first minute). I had never used the EpiPen, and I was so glad that my husband was there, because he was very calm and gave it to my son. I didn't remember that you had to hold it in position for at least 10 seconds, to give all the medicine a chance to come out, but he did it correctly.

The ambulance arrived within about five minutes of our call. The drivers seemed shocked that we had used the EpiPen on my son, and I was thinking I shouldn't have done it. They said he was wheezing a little, and my daughter seemed fine. But they said they would take her in the ambulance, too, since we were going for him. She sat next to me in the ambulance, and my son was on a stretcher. As we neared the hospital (about 15 minutes' drive), I heard one of the EMT's say, "I don't like the sound of his breathing," and for the first time I was really scared. When we got in there, several doctors and nurses were buzzing around him. 

The ER attending said that his pulse-ox was very low at 88. When I asked if I should have given him the EpiPen, she said it saved his life, which really scared me. Meanwhile, my daughter was sitting next to me very silently. An EMT told the doctors that she was a patient, too. They checked her out and she was in some distress, as well. Her throat was swelling and she was wheezing. She had a bit of a delayed reaction, it seems. They both had to be transferred to a critical care unit for overnight observation.

I am now not going to hesitate to use the EpiPen. I have been told to use it whenever there is any doubt. My husband has also gotten more diligent about reading labels. In the case of the soy cheese, he thought since it said "lactose free" on the front that it was fine. It contained caseinate, which was listed in the ingredients. 

Bernadette
New York