What are the risks of getting allergy shots for people with severe allergies?
3 comments so farI am severely allergic to dust mites. In his thirty years of practice, my allergist says he's seen only two other people with a worse allergy. Initially he was leery of giving me allergy shots because I am so allergic, but now he is leaning towards it because I am not responding well to medications and my asthma is constantly aggravated. I certainly do not want to continue taking seven prescriptions a day for the rest of my life, but I'm worried about the risks of the shots. My allergist seems to feel they're worth it for the potential benefit, but I'm not certain. Has anyone with severe allergies had problems getting immunotherapy? Was it worth it in the end?
I have done two rounds of allergy shots in my life. Once as an adolecent and once as an adult. Both times, within a couple of years of treatment ending, my allergies came back worse than before. I also have a horrible allergy to dust mites. When we move, I have to wear long sleeved stuff when we are packing because if the dust gets on me, I break out in hives in addition to the respritory problems. My last allergist told me I have "very impressive" reactions. I wasn't thrilled.
I am currently taking both zyrtec and singulair. This is working for me very well. You might discuss that option with your doc if you haven't already tried it. The Singulair works to stop the histamines from forming at all. It's not a steroid, it's not something that has to build up in your system, it just really works for me, at least in combination with the zyrtec.
I wish you lots of luck dealing with this. Allergies, esp severe ones, really get in the way of a normal life. I do feel for you.
Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under 4. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “What are the risks of getting allergy shots for people with severe allergies?”
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they start out with such a small amount, make sure he isnt giving you anything else some doctors give a baseline test where they have several allergens in the scratch test so if you show reaction you get a shot with several allergens instead of the one you need,
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I have done two rounds of allergy shots in my life. Once as an adolecent and once as an adult. Both times, within a couple of years of treatment ending, my allergies came back worse than before. I also have a horrible allergy to dust mites. When we move, I have to wear long sleeved stuff when we are packing because if the dust gets on me, I break out in hives in addition to the respritory problems. My last allergist told me I have "very impressive" reactions. I wasn't thrilled.
I am currently taking both zyrtec and singulair. This is working for me very well. You might discuss that option with your doc if you haven't already tried it. The Singulair works to stop the histamines from forming at all. It's not a steroid, it's not something that has to build up in your system, it just really works for me, at least in combination with the zyrtec.
I wish you lots of luck dealing with this. Allergies, esp severe ones, really get in the way of a normal life. I do feel for you.
References :
I am allergic to almost everything and allergy shots put me into respiratory arrest. I'm not saying that will happen with you but there is a chance. Perhaps a different "cocktail" of asthma meds or a possible change in diet could help?
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