Epipen – Food Allergy Parents

When our daughter was diagnosed with anaphylactic food allergies, I knew I needed a convenient carrier to hold her EpiPen or Auvi-Q allergy medicine. There are many medicine cases online, and after hours of searching, I chose two insulated belt carriers--one for home and one for school. One year later, I'm summarizing the pros and cons of two AllerMates Auvi-Q and EpiPen cases we used at school and home. AllerMates medicine holders fit two Auvi-Qs, a trainer, travel-size liquid medicine, emergency contact information, and our allergy action plan. They are insulated and include a thermometer strip. These cases can clip around your waist or the velcro straps attach to a bag or belt. A complete review of the AllerMates medicine cases is below, including: a video to show you two different AllerMates caseshow we use these Auvi-Q cases at school and at homethe pros and cons of AllerMates casespictures of what's inside our cases so you can see what fitsanswers to the most common questions I get from fellow food allergy parents MY HONEST ALLERMATES CASE VIDEO REVIEW Here's a video so you can see both AllerMates belt carriers in action. This article may contain affiliate links from Food Allergy Parents' partners. Read my disclosure for more info. ALLERGY GEAR BY ALLERMATES Allermates is a company that makes gear like allergy bracelets, stickers, lunch bags, and medicine cases to make life with allergies a little easier. They make one of the best allergy bracelets for kids, and they make one of the best cases for Auvi-Qs and EpiPens too, in my opinion. Here's my honest opinion of the good and the bad. ALLERMATES CASE CONS The only con I have is that the adult case is bulkier than I expected. It measures 8" x 3.5" X 1.5" whereas the youth case is 8"H X 3"W X 1 3/4"D. You can see the size difference in the picture below (blue is adult in "Grace" style and purple is youth in "LOL lilac" style). When I bought these over a year ago, the youth size (purple) did not include a thermometer strip and the ID card was hard to locate in that outside pocket you can see above. However, AllerMates fixed both of these issues, so both sizes now include a thermometer strip and have easy-to-find id tags. ALLERMATES CASE PROS Here's a list of the AllerMates carrier pros: insulatedhands-freeeasy for school staff to take along on field tripsadjustable belt so both sizes fit kids and adultscan buckle around the waist or remove belt and velcro straps onto purse, backpack, diaper bag, sports bag, or beltthermometer strip to make sure temperature does not get too hotice pack included in adult case (not included in youth size)carabiner included in the youth caseholds multiple EpiPens or Auvi-Qssmall travel bottle included for antihistamineroom for inhalerid card to add emergency contact informationdiscreet holder looks like a fanny pack and it can hide under a sweatshirt, jacket, or larger t-shirtseveral color and styles to choose fromavailable on Amazon There are so many good things about the AllerMates cases, I can easily recommend them to other parents who carry allergy medicine. CAN YOU FIT AN INHALER IN THE ALLERMATES CASES? The website says yes, but when a reader asked me, I dug out one of my inhalers to test make sure. Above is the youth case, which is holding two Auvi-Q injectors, one Auvi-Q trainer, a travel bottle of liquid antihistamine, and an inhaler. WHERE CAN YOU BUY ALLERMATES CASES ONLINE? The larger EpiPen / Auvi-Q case comes in two colors: Grace BlueJet Black The smaller AllerMates belt carrier for kids comes in several fun and classic designs: LOL LilacPink StarlitPlay Ball NavyTickled TealBusy Boy BlueSquares PatternPoppy Red The two places I've found to buy AllerMates cases online are Amazon and the AllerMates website. ARE THESE AUVI-Q AND EPIPEN CASES INSULATED? Yes! The reason I chose both of these AllerMates cases. When you have a child with anaphylactic allergies, you always want your medicine nearby. But epinephrine should not be exposed to extreme heat because prolonged heat exposure can reduce epinephrine's effectiveness. Between hot vehicles, field trips, and summer days at the park or pool, I worried if the heat would weaken the medicine. So, storing allergy injectors in a convenient, hands-free insulated case like AllerMates deluxe case and the youth case seemed to be the best solution for carrying Epipens and Auvi-Q medicine at school and home. TOP 8 ALLERGY FREE SNACK IDEAS While you're thinking about your kiddo with food allergies, don't forget to grab your free ALLERGY FRIENDLY SNACK GUIDE so you always have some safe snack ideas. I researched and curated this guide for my fellow food allergy families to make food allergy shopping online a little easier for you. Enjoy! SAVE FOR LATER AND SHARE WITH OTHER FOOD ALLERGY PARENTS