Allergy Shots

[Babygirl6915]

Had a Skin Test with my Allergist today in response to the allergies that showed up on my blood test. After doing the skin test turns out I am allergic to around 12-15 environmental allergies in addition to my food allergies. She said she does not normally recommend Allergy Shots but that they would be very beneficial for me. Now I come from a very homeopathic hippie family & I HATE medications. But if she is right & it would help I will do them. But I want to know, if you get Allergy Shots, do they work? How long did you/have you been doing them? Are there any side effects? And any other tips, pointers, or if you just have an opinion PLEASE let me know! I have to make a decision ASAP. Thank you!!!

Jess

[dlp252]

Well, I started having allergy shots in 2002...for the first three years I saw very little improvement and had to continue to have them twice a week for that entire 3 years.

Then I discovered my gluten/casein problem around the same time my allergist retired. THe allergist who took over his practice used a different method of shots/serums, and since starting these, I have been able to get to a "maintenance level" of once a month. I'm not sure if it was the shots that helped or going off of gluten/casein that helped or maybe a combo of teh two, but I do think that leaky gut had something to do with my allergies and that by NOT eating foods I'm intolerant to, that let my immune system work more like it should. In the last few months I actually started reacting to the shots themselves, not sure what that's about, but my allergist doesn't want me to stop just yet. So, still undecided how much the shots have helped, but for now I'm continuing them at a lower level.

There is actually no "medicine" in the shots, at least not in any that I've had. They use a solution which contains small amounts of the stuff you are allergic to in a saline type solution.

[tarnalberry]

allergy shots aren't pharmaceuticals, in the sense of prescription drugs. they're small quantities of the substances your body is allergic to in order to teach your body to not react to 'nominal' levels of the substance. they *can* work for *some* people for *some* allergies, except food allergies, generally. enough caveats? they worked fabulously well for my father, but I've heard of others who have had less success. and, of course, they have to be administered properly.

[luvs2eat]

I did desensitization shots for terrible hay fever for years. They helped A LOT.

Thankfully, the allergies got less and less over the years till they're mostly nonexistent anymore. I don't have to take anything.

[mftnchn]

I taken shots for many years. Here's what I understand:

Bests results for pollens, trees, grass, weeds.

Dust and dander would not be quite as effective, but still very useful. (dust can have different things in it)

Molds are a little less effective. There are so many and only a certain number are available for your mix.

I have taken all of the above and it makes a HUGE difference. I can't take antihistamines so were it not for the shots I would be in bad shape.

My allergist has 4 different ways of doing the shots, depending on how sensitive a person is. The strongest dosage type treatment is designed so that eventually you will not have to take shots. I am on a weaker dose type treatment and have to keep doing a maintenance dose. I do these myself actually (diabetics do too!).

It is not too common but if you find an allergist that treats chemical and food sensitivity this can be very helpful. Not every patient responds but if you do it is great. They "titrate" the dose of the allergen to find the dose that "turns off" your symptoms. You can take this sublingually. It has to be re-titrated every once in awhile. It didn't work for me, but did for my children and I met many others at the allergist's office for which it was a lifeline.

[Cheri A]

My dd takes drops sublingually and I believe it has helped her tremendously. Much less of a hassle than going to the dr every week too.

[tmb]

I am probably too late with this information to assist with the allergy desensitization. However it might interest you to know that a Swiss company called Cytos has been testing an allergy vaccine that requires far less injecting than traditional desensitisation jabs. It is still not commercially available, but the trials have been very positive for long term benefits and quite possibly can be applied to many allergies, not just dust mite. Their testing has shown that the vacine itself appears to correct the allergy reaction even when not paired with a specific allergen.

See this link for their latest press release. Thei site gives the entire history of testing. If you accepting that jabs might help you then you should consider waiting for these trials to complete, given the desenstising takes a few years anyway.

Open Original Shared Link

[Gemini]

Had a Skin Test with my Allergist today in response to the allergies that showed up on my blood test. After doing the skin test turns out I am allergic to around 12-15 environmental allergies in addition to my food allergies. She said she does not normally recommend Allergy Shots but that they would be very beneficial for me. Now I come from a very homeopathic hippie family & I HATE medications. But if she is right & it would help I will do them. But I want to know, if you get Allergy Shots, do they work? How long did you/have you been doing them? Are there any side effects? And any other tips, pointers, or if you just have an opinion PLEASE let me know! I have to make a decision ASAP. Thank you!!!

Jess

I am allergic to molds, mites and tree stuff....mainly hay fever type misery. I started allergy shots about 10 years ago and still get them monthly. I am afraid to stop them because they work so well for me! I used to get sick 2 times per year, spring and fall, with a horrible sinus infection which eventually made it's way south into my lungs. Out of work for at least a week each time. After about a year of allergy shots, I stopped getting sick and have had only 1 sinus infection in the past 9 years. I will be honest......I still react to the allergens if they get bad enough but never get as far as having an infection and I take NOTHING else for my allergies....no meds whatsoever. I would say this is a success and would highly recommend them.

It's very strange to me that some doctors still think they don't work. Apparently, they don't have allergies!

dlp252.....the reason you may be reacting after having shots for awhile could be due to an especially bad allergy season. When pollen gets bad enough, you are getting exposed outside, which the shots probably are keeping under control. Once you hit maintenance dose, that dose can be pretty high.....the point is to "up" your resistance and that's done by "upping" the dose you can tolerate. Sometimes, after having a shot, you will react because that dose can push you over the edge if the outside stuff is high to begin with, and you react.

I have only had one reaction in 10 years and it was not fun.....my throat started to constrict and I was already home at the time. Thank goodness I keep Benadryl for emergency use! I can't imagine why any good physician would let a person give their own allergy shots.....too dangerous if you have a reaction!

[dlp252]

Thanks for the info...not long after my post, I did indeed stop my shots. It's been over a year now and I am so glad I stopped them. I was truly reacting every time I got them, since stopping I haven't had any problems with congestion or allergies.

[Carol607]

I have Celiac. Each time I started allergy shots, I started having night time seizures. There was not an immediate seizure after each shot, but thee was a trend. Each time I stopped the shots, the seizures stopped.

When faced with a flu shot, I asked my neurologist. He said to stay healthy and have the shot. I had the shot. The next day, I was told that I was not alert, that I was spacy and scared my family. Within a week, I had a seizure.

Thinking about thimerisol and other metal poisonings, I got tested. Negative.

Draw your own conclusions, but I will have to think very carefully before having another shot of any kind.

[kareng]

I have Celiac. Each time I started allergy shots, I started having night time seizures. There was not an immediate seizure after each shot, but thee was a trend. Each time I stopped the shots, the seizures stopped.

When faced with a flu shot, I asked my neurologist. He said to stay healthy and have the shot. I had the shot. The next day, I was told that I was not alert, that I was spacy and scared my family. Within a week, I had a seizure.

Thinking about thimerisol and other metal poisonings, I got tested. Negative.

Draw your own conclusions, but I will have to think very carefully before having another shot of any kind.

Just to let you know, these posters haven't been on the forum since 2008. Don't expect an answer back from them.