Dr. Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo* is a Florida allergist, a food allergy patient herself – and a food allergy mom. But she describes the last role – allergy mom to two teens with severe food allergies – as the most challenging. “Because they are the ones I’m most concerned about having that severe allergic reaction.”
Now Sophia, the older of her two girls with the serious food allergies, is entering her freshman year at college. In an enlightening video discussion, Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo and Sophia describe precautions they’ve taken to ensure that Sophia transitions safely to living away from home.
The allergist tells Allergic Living’s Gwen Smith about the conversations about food that she and Sophia had with the University of Central Florida. Sophia then spells out why she’s confident her dorm roommates will be mindful of her tree nut and peanut allergies.
Plus, Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo shares her top general tips for college-age patients with severe food allergies. These range from training your friends about your severe food allergies and your epinephrine auto-injector, to how to manage ingredients, and not letting your guard down if drinking alcohol.
Sophia relates having a severe food allergy reaction to restaurant food in the past year (she discusses at 10:35 on the tape). She recalls the experience had a “scary-ish few moments.” However, she learned from it. A key lesson was that she can administer her own epinephrine auto-injector during anaphylaxis. “Now I know that I am fully capable of doing it. I have the power to do it.”
College & Severe Allergies Tips
In addition to suggestions in the video, Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo also offers the following tips for college students with food allergies.
1. Talk to your roommates and close friends about your food allergy so they are aware. Train them on proper administration of your epinephrine auto-injector.
2. Carry your emergency medications with you at all times. Always know where they are. She recommends using an Apple AirTag (or similar) with your medications, so you can instantly locate via the phone app.
3. Emergency anaphylaxis action plan: be sure to have one filled out, and keep copies. The plan will walk you or others through what to do, should you develop food allergy symptoms. Keep one copy of your emergency action plan above your desk, and another on the refrigerator or a bulletin board. Plan examples: AAP’s emergency plan; FARE’s plan.
4. Use the “Buddy system” when going out. Your buddy needs to know about your food allergy – and what to do in case of anaphylaxis.
5. Communication is key! Be sure to communicate with the university regarding your food allergies. Learn about what measures they have in place to protect students with food allergies.
6. Read labels every time – even when you think a food product is safe. Product ingredients can change. Plus, some allergy-friendly products may have similar packaging to products that actually contain allergens.
7. Be your own advocate. Many resources are available to help you with any food allergy concerns.
This video is sponsored by AUVI-Q, the epinephrine auto-injector with built-in voice instructions.
See video for full Indication and Important Safety Information about AUVI-Q in the video above or at auvi-q.com and talk to your doctor about possible side effects of epinephrine including headache, dizziness, palpitations, sweating, or shakiness. Seek emergency medical care after use.
*Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo is a paid advisor of kaleo, Inc.
