Are allergy shots still a thing?

[ktgrok]

My allergies are driving me nuts, and I'm going to try to be super vigilant about my OTC meds for a week or two, and then if still not happy will see about scheduling with an allergist I think. Is there a point to that? Or will they just tell me to take stuff I'm already taking? Do they do allergy shots anymore?

[Katy]

33 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

My allergies are driving me nuts, and I'm going to try to be super vigilant about my OTC meds for a week or two, and then if still not happy will see about scheduling with an allergist I think. Is there a point to that? Or will they just tell me to take stuff I'm already taking? Do they do allergy shots anymore?

Yes they still do allergy shots.  They work permanently for about 1/3 of people and temporarily for about 1/3 of people.  A specialist will probably run another allergy test if you haven’t had one in several years.

[Danae]

Yes.  My youngest was getting them, although we paused for Covid.  He’s looking forward to starting up again.

[Lady Florida.]

Funny, this morning I was thinking about seeing an allergist. I've tried all the OTC allergy meds, including the ones you have to sign for. Nothing works anymore. It's been over 20 years since I had an allergy test so I'm guessing I'd need to be tested again. They probably won't take my word for it when I tell them what I'm allergic to.

I took shots years ago, first as a teenager, then shortly after I got out of college. My first teaching job was in South Georgia near the peanut farms - near Jimmy Carter's home. Though I don't have a peanut allergy the pollen from the peanut farms (peanut dust, the locals called it) overwhelmed me. I haven't needed shots since I came home to Florida but lately it's pretty bad.

[ktgrok]

29 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Funny, this morning I was thinking about seeing an allergist. I've tried all the OTC allergy meds, including the ones you have to sign for. Nothing works anymore. It's been over 20 years since I had an allergy test so I'm guessing I'd need to be tested again. They probably won't take my word for it when I tell them what I'm allergic to.

I took shots years ago, first as a teenager, then shortly after I got out of college. My first teaching job was in South Georgia near the peanut farms - near Jimmy Carter's home. Though I don't have a peanut allergy the pollen from the peanut farms (peanut dust, the locals called it) overwhelmed me. I haven't needed shots since I came home to Florida but lately it's pretty bad.

So not just me, huh? 

I don't kow why this year is so bad! I feel like I got almost no break between oak pollen season and grass pollen season. Honestly, dust is also an issue, with packing we are disturbing things and I'm realizing I need to dust more! So cleaning is a priority this weekend. but still..ugh!

[Lady Florida.]

7 hours ago, ktgrok said:

So not just me, huh? 

I don't kow why this year is so bad! I feel like I got almost no break between oak pollen season and grass pollen season. Honestly, dust is also an issue, with packing we are disturbing things and I'm realizing I need to dust more! So cleaning is a priority this weekend. but still..ugh!

There's definitely something going on. Ds and I have been miserable but even dh, who is rarely bothered by pollen, is feeling it this year. 

I had dust problems when we moved last year. Ages ago one of my allergists said I should wear a dust mask when cleaning. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I do feel it when the house is dusty though. 

Edited September 3, 2021 by Lady Florida.

[Katy]

Try a cloth mask when cleaning & packing.  It might help a lot.

[wendyroo]

2 hours ago, Katy said:

Yes they still do allergy shots.  They work permanently for about 1/3 of people and temporarily for about 1/3 of people.  A specialist will probably run another allergy test if you haven’t had one in several years.

Unfortunately, my family tends to fall into the temporary group.

My brother got allergy shots for about 8 years as a child and teen. He stopped when he went to college, his allergies immediately came back aggressively, and they have only gotten worse with time. In the last 15 years, he has not opted to restart shots because the temporary fix is not worth the time, cost, and pain to him.

My husband got allergy shots for 10 years in his late 20s and 30s. He stopped when we moved cross-country, had minimal symptom control for a couple years, and then started back up about 10 years ago (when he was 40ish). He continued shots until the pandemic, paused since then, and his symptoms are now really bad again. So that is about 20 years of his life that he was consistently getting shots, with no long term benefits.

My son started allergy shots when he was 2 and continued until the pandemic when he was 9. His allergies are horrible right now, but he isn't sure he wants to restart, and I'm not planning to compel him. Now that he is in public school, he has very little free time, and I would hate for him to have to consistently waste afternoons at the office...especially since that is their busy allergy shot time, so you end up being there for a long time. We could probably fit in the visit before school, but that is another busy time so we would have to get there very early, and then he is spending most of the morning at school with a swollen, achy arm.

[RootAnn]

Dd#1 did the allergy shots for several years and they helped trememdously. Stopped when she went to college & gets symptoms again in a certain season & whenever she comes home (animals). So, the shots worked temporarily for her.

[athena1277]

Dh is getting ready to have some major sinus surgery and his ent was talking about sending him to an allergist.  He said they have something new where you take some kind of drops at home instead of having to come in all the time for shots.  Dh did shots many years ago and the time it took for them 2-3 times a week are one of the reasons he stopped.  We are excited about the possibility of doing it at home.  I don’t know more than that, but it might be worth looking in to.

[Loowit]

My youngest is getting allergy shots.  He is not on the maintenance dose and goes in once a month.  They have helped him tremendously.

We started him on allergy shots when he was a lot younger because of his asthma combined with allergies.  He was having constant sinus infections.  When he was younger it took a long time to build up his shots, and he had to go slower than normal.  He made it to maintenance level, but then we had to switch insurance and doctors and ended up taking a few years off.  The shots had still helped improve things, but he still needed allergy meds, but it made it much more controllable.

He went on them again a few years later, and then we switch insurance and doctors yet again.  This time, due to covid restrictions, he had to wait so long to get going again due to them limiting the number of patients, that he had to start all over again.  But he is now able to live life mostly off of allergy medications and rarely needing his rescue inhaler.  When pollen is really bad he still takes something and on shot days he has to take an antihistamine, but most of the year he is doing great.  I am hoping it will last.  He still has another three or four years of shots.

[ktgrok]

5 minutes ago, athena1277 said:

Dh is getting ready to have some major sinus surgery and his ent was talking about sending him to an allergist.  He said they have something new where you take some kind of drops at home instead of having to come in all the time for shots.  Dh did shots many years ago and the time it took for them 2-3 times a week are one of the reasons he stopped.  We are excited about the possibility of doing it at home.  I don’t know more than that, but it might be worth looking in to.

Yes - my cousin does that! Some kind of sublingual version. 

[kbutton]

Different allergists have different philosophies of how long to give shots as well. 

Sometimes rhinitis can be difficult to distinguish from allergies even with testing (this is what I gather from my current allergist). Sometimes the problem is more immunological. 

I would see an allergist that is also an immunologist. 

My first allergist is the one that gave me shots, and she didn't feel it was beneficial to give them for years and years. She said they should make a difference in the first 3 years or so with 5 years being on the outside. I think she pretty much only went five years out if people were having good responses, or they had to drop down to a lower dose (for pregnancy, for instance). Not all allergies respond equally well--she told me that mold would probably always be a problem even if it got better than it was at the beginning. She recommended that I never live with a cat even if I responded because my cat allergies were pretty bad. I know my ragweed allergy started responding around year 4, so she let me do another year to get ragweed sorted. I still have a little trouble during ragweed season, but prior to shots, I was at serious risk for yearly bronchitis or a very serious asthma exacerbation. 

Also, you can be allergic to things they don't give shots for. Pollens that tend to not blow around as far on the breeze are often not included in shots. I don't know if they even test for those things. 

You will need to be off of your allergy meds when you test, so a lot of places want you to test in the "off season" if you have one.