Some time ago I kept a hive of honeybees as a hobby. They froze to death one winter (it happens - usually the beekeeper just replaces the dead bees the next season), conveniently the winter when my first child was born. I didn't want to have a toddler in the yard with the bees, so I don't keep bees any more.

But when I did, I had an epi-pen. Not because I'm allergic, but because my mother is, and I realized it was possible that one day I'd discover that I had inherited an allergy that had been dormant for my early life. So I had the epi-pen.

And I used to imagine having to use it. And I tried to imagine what I'd do if it didn't work, or didn't work fast enough. I eventually figured that my backup plan would be to bite into some Benadryl gelcaps I had, figuring that would be a quicker way to get the dose into me than swallowing a tablet (and realizing that swallowing might not be an option during an anaphylactic shock episode). I don't really know whether this would help at all, or not. I'm no doctor. But from my relatively ignorant reasoning, it seemed like it might be worth a try if I were facing asphyxiation in the succeeding minutes.

So I offer it here for comment by those who know what they're talking about, in case it may be of some use to someone with a severe allergy, or in case it's recklessly dangerous and something the doctors among us need to caution against.

Back on topic: I have no dangerous allergies I know of, but I'm perfectly happy never to have another nut-containing food on aircraft again for the sake of those who do. In the current situation, though, I think a previous poster's suggestion was reasonable in proposing that alergic passengers who don't provide sufficient advance notice would have to take a later flight.