Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffThe best way to prevent anaphylaxis is to avoid substances that you know cause this severe reaction. Follow these steps:
- Wear a medical alert necklace or bracelet to indicate if you have an allergy to specific drugs or other substances.
- Alert your doctor to your drug allergies before having any medical treatment. If you receive allergy shots, always wait at least 30 minutes before leaving the clinic so that you can receive immediate treatment if you have a severe reaction to the allergy shot.
- Keep a properly stocked emergency kit with prescribed medications available at all times. Your doctor can advise you on the appropriate contents. This may include an epinephrine auto-injector. Make sure your auto-injector has not expired. These medications generally last 18 months.
- If you're allergic to stinging insects, exercise caution when they're nearby. Wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers. Avoid bright colors and don't wear perfumes or colognes. Stay calm if you come in proximity to a stinging insect. Move away slowly and avoid slapping at the insect.
- Avoid wearing sandals or walking barefoot in the grass if you're allergic to insect stings.
- If you have specific food allergies, carefully read the labels of all the foods you buy. Manufacturing processes can change, so it's important to periodically recheck the labels of foods you commonly eat. When eating out, ask about ingredients in the food, and ask about food preparation because even small amounts of the food you're allergic to can cause a serious reaction.
Be prepared
It's important to do everything you can to prevent an anaphylactic reaction by avoiding your triggers. But even if you're careful, at some point you'll likely be exposed to the substance you're allergic to. Fortunately, you can be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to an allergy emergency by knowing the signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction. Work with your doctor to develop an emergency plan that specifies what you should do in the event of an anaphylactic attack.
