Can sugar alleviate anaphylactic reactions?

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I remember doing my questions and answers, and I came across this question about anaphylactic reactions/ allergic reactions. The situation was about a patient having an allergic reaction with no medications available at hand and the answer choice was to give a table spoon of sugar to the patient.

Now I am confused.. Does the sugar treat the hypoglycemia reaction for the patient? Or does it temporarily alleviates the allergic response by acting as an anti histamine to be able to open airway and prevent it from closing?

I have been researching and I cant find a right answer. Could someone help or correct me because I cant get it out of my head and its making me wonder so much. And very curious. Thank you!

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.

Did it say that was the correct answer, or that it was just one of the choices? I have NEVER heard of using sugar for anaphylaxis.

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No more than ground liver of newt, snake bile or sprinkling the patient with anaphylaxis with chicken blood.

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I doubt that give a spoonful of sugar was the answer but there was a study done that found having a higher blood glucose level had better outcomes during anaphylactic shock. This was not a study done on humans. The findings showed that being hypoglycemic aggravated the anaphylaxis. Keep in mind this study was also done almost 50 years ago, still an interesting read.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1557370/pdf/bripharmchem00014-0149.pdf

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I have heard that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down... :D

Seriously, I have never heard of that being a thing.

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I have no idea...but I always eat a spoonful of sugar when I have the hiccups and they go away. So it's good for hiccups, that's all I got. [emoji16]

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Specializes in Urology.
No more than ground liver of newt, snake bile or sprinkling the patient with anaphylaxis with chicken blood.

Seriously, with all the leprechauns and snake bile, you sure you didnt go to Hogwarts?! :)

OP sugar will do nothing for anaphylaxis (but like Pixie says, it helps the medicine go down, my 3 year old will not stop watching Mary Poppins!). You need sympathetic analogues.

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Specializes in LTC & home care.
Seriously, with all the leprechauns and snake bile, you sure you didnt go to Hogwarts?! :)

OP sugar will do nothing for anaphylaxis (but like Pixie says, it helps the medicine go down, my 3 year old will not stop watching Mary Poppins!). You need sympathetic analogues.

I thought about applying to the Hogwarts nursing program, but the BON hasn't fully approved them yet. It's a shame - Madam Malkins has the cutest scrubs.

As far as sugar helping anaphylaxis, I've been diabetic for the last 7 years, A1C generally runs high, and I've never had an anaphylactic reaction. Of course, I've never had any known allergies. In other words, I don't have anything useful to contribute, except that it's Friday and I haven't posted anything in a while.

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Specializes in RN-BC, CCRN, TCRN, CEN.

The only link I can think of is using glucagon as a smooth muscle relaxant in the case of an esophageal obstruction (just gave it last week for this). Perhaps it has some action on the smooth muscle of the bronchi as well?

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Specializes in Urology.
The only link I can think of is using glucagon as a smooth muscle relaxant in the case of an esophageal obstruction (just gave it last week for this). Perhaps it has some action on the smooth muscle of the bronchi as well?

It does, but I've never seen it used for anaphylaxis. It almost never works for food bolus so I guess in this instances trying it is better than not trying it!

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