Agree. I also once had a life-threatening allergic reaction when I was a kid.
I had gone fishing with my cousins and we had to pass through this huge field of chest-high grasses to get to the pond. That night, I had chigger bites all over my body from that jaunt through the high pasture. So my mom had bought some "Lanacane" which was popular back then. This caused me to break out more and my body began to swell. My mom panicked and took me to the ER. Back then, you could call your doctor at home and so my mother did and the doc met us there. They gave me 100 cc of Benadryl which knocked me right out. Doc said if we had arrived 20-30 minutes later, I might not have made it. My air passages were swelling shut.
As it turns out, I am highly allergic to the active ingredient in Lanacane, benzocaine. I am also allergic to novocaine, xylocaine (sp?), and other products from that family of "Caines".