What are your thoughts/experiences with allergy shots?

[Tap]

DD11 had seasonal allergies. She can still function but she is very miserable. She just had allergy testing done and she reacted to all most all grasses, many trees and a couple weeds. These are impossible to avoid here in the PNW (grass seed capital of the world is just down the freeway a bit).

 

The doctor feels she is a good candidate to allergy shots, and dd11 has decided she would like to try it. She will have 3 vials of the allergens and thus 3 shots each time. Doctor says she can start with once a week or twice a week, if she can tolerate them.

 

What was your experience with them?

[lllll]

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[Suzanne115]

My husband started taking them last year and they have really helped him. It is amazing how much better he feels.

 

 

Suzanne

[sheryl]

OK here goes. It may be different for a child than for an adult..don't know. I "developed" allergies in my early thirties in MI. It was fairly severe with some allergens that I went on shots. Then we relocated to a different "region" to NC. There are geographical allergies to consider. Do you plan to move? I was doing better in MI and then we moved to NC and it opened up another set of allergies. UGH!

 

I was on shots on and off, mostly on for about 17 years or so. My allergy dr wanted to wean me. He did so. I stopped altogether about 3-4 years ago.

 

I was taking shots AND allergy meds. Also it takes quite a while for all of this to "kick in" and help.

 

I've been absolutely fine off of the shots and meds. However, I've noticed this spring I've sneezed a tad bit more than in my other allergy shot/med-free years.

 

You may want to consider just the meds for now and graduate to the shots. The shots are not painful, but more involved than taking a pill. In time your allergist may allow you to order vials, buy syringes and self-administer shots. That's the policy at my dr's practice. But, you have to attend a couple of classes to be educated in the do's and don'ts of self-injections.

 

HTH! Sheryl <><

[celticmom]

I have severe allergies to both foods and inhalents and received shots for both as a child. If I missed my shot on Friday all my symtoms began to come back by Sunday. Most doctors do not offer the food shots now but I went to a doctor who was doing research on these treatments. This was in the early seventies and there were not very many other options available.

 

Another option to consider if most of her allergies are to pollen is local honey. It actually works on the same principle(desensitization therapy) as the shots and is much more pleasant.:D

[KrissiK]

It's hard for me to tell. I took them for 5 years and quit in February. I didn't think they'd helped, since I'm still on 3-4 meds during bad allergy season and even then I'm miserable. However, now I'm having vertigo, which I"m sure is allergy induced, so I don't know. Maybe the shots were helping more than I thought. THe thing is... some people have very obvious relief from taking the shots, and others not so much.

[msrift]

Well, we have had great success with them here. I've been taking them for about a year and a half, and my 7 year-old ds has been on them for about 9 months. I have both indoor and outdoor allergies, so there is no true allergy season for me, and I started the shots as a way to combat my allergy-induced asthma. The benefits for me have been dramatic. Within six months I went from needing two allergy meds and two asthma meds to just using my rescue inhaler as needed. I still will react to certain things, but I need a much greater exposure than before.

 

My ds is even more allergic than I am (he needs 4 vials/4 shots every visit) and we started him on shots when we couldn't find any medicine that could control his allergies. I want to make sure his allergies are under control since I have a sneaking suspicion that my uncontrolled allergies contributed to my adult-onset asthma. Ds has also seen tremendous benefits. He is down to one allergy med and is so excited to be able to play with dogs and cats, as well as just be outside without feeling miserable.

 

It is a commitment. Our shots will take about 5 years to complete and our doctor requires that we stay in the office for 30 minutes to see how we react. Good luck making your decision!

[Mom0012]

My husband, daughter and son all started shots at the beginning of last year. My son had a severe reaction to the shots, and was also developing a lot of anxiety about getting them, so we stopped his.

 

My husband and daughter have continued and seem to be doing much better this spring. My daughter still needs her Astepro, but she's been able to drop Nasonex and her symptoms are much more manageable than they have been in the past. My husband seems to be having improvement this spring as well.

 

I know another poster said the shots are not painful. That has not been our experience at all. When they first begin them and they are just injecting a very small amount of the serum into your arm, they are pretty painless. As they build up to the full amount, they have been quite painful for both my husband and my daughter. Sometimes they will have an arm that hurts them for a full day afterward.

 

My son started on allergy drops about 1 month ago and the doctor said not to expect any results until about a year of using them. For him, this was the better route since he had an extreme reaction to the shots and he was so upset about getting them. The drops are frequently used in Europe but not FDA approved here, so insurance will not cover them. We will see how he does.

 

Lisa

 

ETA: Both my husband and daughter had pretty bad allergies over the winter months this year. We're not sure if they are now becoming more sensitive to the "winter allergies" since doing the shots or if things were so bad for them in the past during the fall and the spring that the winter seemed mild in comparison.

Edited May 16, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[plansrme]

A scam with some medicinal value, no doubt, but in our case, the allergist lied to us to get us to take more shots. They started my daughter at 2x/week, supposedly for 6 weeks, at which point, I was told, she would go to 1/week and then 1/2 weeks, etc. Sixteen weeks later, they were still telling her to come in 2x/week. I kept asking when we would go to 1/week, and they always said it was "2 more weeks" or something. Got a different answer every time. When I challenged them on it, they assured me that no one had ever told me it was 2/week for 6 weeks, but I would never have agreed to the shots if they had said that it would be 16 weeks or 20 or whatever it would have ended up being before she graduated to 1/week.

My daughter finally was unable to tolerate the allergic reaction she was having to the shots, so we stopped. The allergist's recommendation was to take Benadryl before the shots, but they were never able to explain to me how that didn't negate the shot. Isn't the purpose of the shot to provoke a small allergic reaction, and wouldn't the Benadryl keep that from happening? I dunno, but I was fed up at that point, and I did not take her back.

My advice: get the proposed schedule in writing and find out how missing a shot affects that schedule.

This was THE big allergy practice in the Atlanta area, by the way, not some random solo practitioner.

Now, all that said, her seasonal allergies did get better after 3 or 4 months of shots. It did nothing for her cat allergy, though, which is the most severe and most life-limiting (the grandmothers all have cats, so she can't visit them for more than about 2 hours before we have to rush out).

 

Terri

[AuntieM]

It was life changing for my son. He was on shots between the ages of six and ten. In his case it was a near full cure.

 

That said, he had an outstanding allergist who was the son of an allergist. After years of watching his father's patients come in for maintenance, he vowed he was going to find a cure. And in our case, we feel he was successful.

 

He utilized a high dose regimen (a la John Hopkins protocol). Not all doctors will do this. Also, we have moved a lot and yes, there are different allergens wherever we go. But ds no longer lives on steroids. It was time and money well spent.

[Pippen]

It was life changing for my son. He was on shots between the ages of six and ten. In his case it was a near full cure.

.

 

:iagree: From childhood to young adulthood I had days when my allergies were seriously debilitating, and during my teen years I developed asthma as well. I started shots twice during high school and college but didn't stick with it. Finally it became so bad I got serious and it took a lot of meds along with shots to control. After a few years I was able to drop most of the meds, and am now down to a daily decongestant (which I could probably drop if I went dairy free). I eventually had sinus surgery to clear out the accumulation of inflammed tissue and that was a big help.

 

I know many people are helped by a few year's of shots and then are done. I have inner ear problems that can be made worse by allergies so I'm probably in it for the long haul just to help me maintain.

[Heather in AL]

IME, allergy shots are sort of like asking someone if XX painkiller helps headaches, only to find it worked for some people, but not others.

 

I am one who greatly benefited from allergy shots. I used to *live* on allergy meds in the spring and fall when I started my shots. I started them six years ago in May, after spring season was about done, and I have not taken *ONE* allergy med since. Nada. It was incredible. I also have gone from having 3-5 sinus infections per year (needing antibiotics) to none. Seriously. I wish I had done this sooner. In September, I came off my shots after 5 1/2 years (5 years for one shot since I started in May, 5 1/2 for the other due to starting a newer, better dog dander shot). I still have had nary a sniffle. Out of 47 test shots (trees, grasses, animals, dust mites, etc), I reacted to all but three--- and those three were molds and ragweed. I never suspected I was allergic to so many things!

 

That said, however, I do know of people who have not benefited at all. I also know of one family here whose 5year old dd was on them.... she is now 14 and only has an allergy reaction in the spring, whereas she had been on daily meds year-round.

 

I would definitely give them a try. You just never know, and if it works, it's wonderful! I'm trying to get my ds to go, as he goes through tissues like CRAZY every spring & winter, but he won't consider it.... yet.

 

If insurance doesn't cover it, it could get expensive, but for me, the meds I was on were OTC, so those were out of pocket, and in my mind, I traded the cost for those for the shots. I also didn't go to the doctor for antibiotics, so that money went for the shots, and honestly, I felt so.much.better that I gave that a monetary value. :D So for me, the shots worked out over time (in my mind) to be the same cost as not doing anything.

 

Oh, as for the doses and the time, when you get the shots, they check for 'reactions'... if you have a big bump, then the next time, they will reduce the dose, thereby taking longer to get to the 'maintenance dose', so yes, it could take longer than they initally tell you. However, for me, it was SO worth it!

[Greta Lea]

I mean he is now like a TOTALLY different person. He apparently wasn't sleeping very well (deeply) because of allergies. We thought he was just one of those people with fussy personalities, but no, it was just lack of sleep making him fussy.

 

He also was getting to be a little bit of chunky kid, but after the allergy shots, he's lost weight. He looks like a TOTALLY different person...thinner and with NO dark circles under his eyes.

 

My dh is a runner and before the allergy shots, my son would go run with my dh and would almost always have to have his inhaler. NEVER needs it now. He can now run 3 miles with my dh in the morning and then go to a 1 1/2 hour swim practice in the afternoon! There is NOOOO way he could have done that before allergy shots.

 

Also, we've noticed that he doesn't get viruses (cold and stomach) like he used to get them. He used to always be sick, but now he's the last one in the family to catch anything.

 

HTH!

[Pippen]

Oh, as for the doses and the time, when you get the shots, they check for 'reactions'... if you have a big bump, then the next time, they will reduce the dose, thereby taking longer to get to the 'maintenance dose', so yes, it could take longer than they initally tell you. However, for me, it was SO worth it!

 

I'm so reactive that after 17 years on shots all of my serum is diluted to half strength. Again, I'll reiterate that my situation was extreme to begin with and that I've continued due to an inner ear condition.

[weddell]

I have a friend who took them as a child and they did nothing for her. A couple years ago she started taking them as an adult and they have been almost a cure. She doesn't need her asthma inhaler as much and feels much better. Shots have improved from 20 years ago, so even for people who weren't helped as children, might find relief now. Our allergist says my dd will be a good candidate when she is a little older but he doesn't like to do them on young children (she's 4 now).

[Frontier Mom]

My oldest son took them several years back and it has been amazing!! He took them because he had allergy induced asthma attacks. Once we got the allergy attacks in check, he hasn't had any asthma attacks. I was told they might or might not work but it has been so incredible the difference they made for him.

 

I took them as a child and they helped me also. I took them with him for some issues I was having and some new allergies I had developed. That and the Neti-pot have meant no sinus infections in years which is huge for me!!

 

All this to say, I would give them a try but only based upon my own successes. It's really something you can't know unless you try.