Seeking Allergy Shot Information

I recommend you read Doris Rapp's book "Is This Your Child" by Dr. Doris Rapp. It's been around a while but has a lot of practical information. I read it from the beginning, not skipping around, and I found it very informative with a lot of practical things to do. She talks a lot about allergy extracts. It's available on Amazon.

Hi M.,
I rec'd them until I was thirteen. I have been free of allergies since. Good luck It worked for me and I am so used to shots that shots don't bother me.

I am so used to them that I was able to teach my very young children how to take shots without fear. I would give blood or have a shot and I would have my little ones watch while I explained how it worked. If they were getting shots, we would talk about relaxing and breathing. They had seen me so they weren't afraid.

I am happy to report that almost thirty years later, I am still allergy free. The key is a good allergist with really qualified nurses. A great nurse makes all the difference in the world since they are administering the shots.

Take Care

I noticed you're getting a lot of responses and it seems like you're getting about 1/2 for and 1/2 against, so my response may be of no help. I had allergy shots as a child. I was allergic to everything under the sun, grass, trees, pollen, animals, and several foods. I had allergy shots until I was 16 or 18. My doctor had a plan that included tapering off the shots and an eventual end date for the shots. I still have some issues with pollen when it's bad, but I take a mild OTC allergy med (Chlorpheniramine, 50 tabs is only $5!) and I don't take it everyday, only when I'm sneezy. Did my allergies (all but) go away because of the shots? I don't know, it's not something I really ever questioned, I'm just glad they did. My doctor treated 3 generations for allergies and asthma and I trusted him highly.

As for the shots being traumatic, I'm sure they were in the beginning, but I can tell you that I got over it quickly. I remember adults being shocked that I could go in and get my shots without my Mom (she was in the waiting room, something I insisted on because I was a "big girl") by my side and without crying or flinching. I think this has even benefited me as an adult especially when it comes to the needles for fertility treatment and Diabetes.

I wish you luck in deciding what is best for your child.

Being the parent of a food allergic child I had to respond to your request. IF your child is allergic to foods, dont let any allergist tell you there are shots for food allergies, there is lots of research to back up that isnt safe. You can go to foodallergy.org or www.aaaai.org. They are the absolute experts on food allergy. As for seasonal allergies, my thoughts are this. Depending on the severity of the allergy, claritin, zyrtec are all over the counter. Many, many people use these drugs to alleviate seasonals, including myself and my entire family of five. If the allergies can be controlled via this method, this is the one I prefer. I hesitate to put a child that age through allergy shots to "cure" allergies just because it is a weekly or bi weekly trauma to him. It's not a good thing to show a five year old a needle, (peds rn, so been there done, that ! LOL). I would search out recent literature on it through mayo clinic and such reputable sites, I am not up on the most recent thoughts, but i do recall a few cases in my short nursing career, and they did not feel that shots helped much, especially unless they were given year round. I myself would certainly ask for a second opinion regardless. The idea of the body being desensitized after recurrend injection is fine, but isnt that what also happens when we are exposed to them in real life? Why not avoid the allergy as much as you can, treat when you need to and let mother nature take it's course. If i were allergic to grass (probably am, sniff, sniff) being exposed more and more in my day to day activities seems like a good option as compared to shots. My entire family has seasonals plus the two boys and I have food allergies and we avoid the foods we are allergic to (I have hives and abdominal pain when i eat things I am allergic to, my oldest is anaphylactic for many bean/protein oriented foods and we always stay clear of those due to hives, swelling, anaphylaxis, my youngest gets hives)...We also cover our matresses and use albuterol as needed, run the air conditioner and try to shower before bed, easy things to avoid nasty reactions. Please let us know what you find out, I am not as "up" on the seasonal allergy shots, but the food allergy I am certainly up to date on. Just my two cents, let us know what you find out.

My son is 8 and has very severe allergies. Out of the 30 things they tested him for he failed 26 with a high content. The Dr. was concerned about giving him the shots because his allergies are so bad that he was afraid he would have an allergic reaction to the shots. So, instead of going each week for the shots we choose to give him the oral drops. They custom make these drops for the individual based on the tests. He pumps 1 drop of medicine under his tongue 3 times a day. He will be on this everyday for 5 years strait and it should have the same effect as the shots. It is less painful for your child and a lot less time consuming. Insurance companies do not cover these drops because the FDA did not approve them here in the USA. They cost $180.00 for 3 months worth. I am very please with the results his counts have drop in 1 years time and they are very convenient. They are made in La Crosse, WI by Allergychoices Inc. and they are called Sublingual Drops. I hope this helps.

I took the allergy shots but stopped them because of the time commitment. When I stopped, I was going once a month, but I was just tired of going. When I was taking the shots, I rarely had any problems with my allergies. Plus, my doc kept me supplied with meds in case I did have a flair up. Now that I have stopped getting them, my allergies flair up all the time and I get sick more often.

I heard of a gentleman, that was also going to my doc, that had allergy shots done when he was a child, during the 70s, and had to have them again as an adult because of new ones that popped up. I hope this helps!

I had severe allergies that kept me up at night and often I could not taste or smell. My allergist found I was allergic to trees, grass, dustmites, dogs, cats. I got allergy shots for 2-3 years, once a week. It lessoned the severity of my allergies more than 50%! I still have allergies, but it is a LOT milder than what I used to suffer from. It's definately worth it.

I have heard of a lot of people who have talked about how they have had shots as a child and then needed to start them up again later in life. I will admit to having my own doubts, however I think that if I can buy my kids a certain amount of time of feeling "cured", then the shots are worth it. That being said, my son, my husband, and I are ALL taking allergy shots right now. It has been about a year for all of us. I am not convinced that I am seeing any change in my own allergies as of yet, but I think my husband is and my son may be. It takes time, which is frustrating after a bit. My son is 5 now and has been a trooper through the original scratch test (he and daddy had the test at the same time so that he wouldn't be as scared) and all the allergies. There have been a few weeks where I've had to hold his arms (he has a shot in each arm - we all do - because we have SO many allergies they won't fit in just one shot) while they gave him the shots. He hasn't cried or thrown a fit, but he does get scared and it's obvious he doesn't want the shots most of the time. We actually give him a quarter for each of the shots and the nurses are wonderful about having stickers and suckers as rewards.

I wouldn't go forward if I didn't feel it had a chance. I know how awful my own allergies make me feel, and it seemed to have been getting worse each year. Children are more receptive to such treatments and it sounds like a HUGELY better way to go than the idea of giving my son all these antihistamines for the rest of his life.

Be aware of the side effects some of the drugs have too - Some of the nasal sprays I've tried have made me jittery and while Zyrtec is the only pill form antihistamine that seems to work for me - it makes my son irritable and his behavior goes off the scale! He's had luck with Allegra, but we supplement with Benadryl and that makes him drowsy. Claritan seems to work for many, but didn't do anything useful for us. I have also found that some antihistamines seem to work for some allergies and not for others, so results may vary as the seasons change and different allergies become prominent.

I subscribe to an email at pollen.com that is sent out when certain allergies in your area are higher, based on your zip code. It's not as detailed, or accurate as I'd like for info - but it does help me know some of what we're being exposed to out there. My husband made me up a spreadsheet for all three of us so we know who is allergic to what and how severly, so I can reference it and see if we need to stay indoors. My only real worry with all this is that we'll probably be needing to add my daughter to the spreadsheet in a couple of years too.

You don't say how many of the things he was tested for he was allergic to, or how highly. We were VERY allergic to a LOT of things, so our doctor was quick to say that shots were right for us, and the best chance of getting us feeling healthy again.

My son started allergy shots around the age of 5 too. Today at 27 he is allergy free. I started shots as an adult, went for about 3 years and I still have a lot of the same problems I had before just not as bad. I would also suggest doing a sinus rinse with him. I find this works great as long as you do it everyday. I would start the shots if I were you.

There are so many medications out these days - try them first for the non food allergies. For food - avoidance is key - there is no vaccine (although I hear they are testing one for peanuts).

Oh and should you go the shot route, be advised the allergens are different depending on where you live. So, while the shots worked for me as a child as an adult living in another area of the country they became a mute point and I now take an antihistamine (I have to change it up from time to time) & Singulair daily to avoid the chronic sinus infections I suffered from since coming out this way.

Both my husband and I had shots as kids (one of us grew up in the Midwest and one in the East) and we both went from wearing slim pants to husky. My MIL swears there was something in the vaccines that triggered us to gain weight and when I mentioned this to a clinical allergist a few years back he seemed to agree. I know there can be many factors to gaining weight (neither of us have obese family members), but it still seemed strange. Curious for others out there who had shots as a kid - do you remember putting on weight around the same time?

Not to sound like a drug company again (no, I am not employed by one nor are any of my family members), my advice is to talk to your doctor about the medications available like Claritin, Allegra, Zyrtec, Flonase, Singulair (I swear this works wonders for me), Nasonex, Advair, Alavert, etc... before you go the shot route.

M.

Hi M.!

I am curious if you have tried daily meds like Zyrtec, Claritin or others? My daughter has a rare disease called Mastocytosis and she is allergic to who knows what and unfortunately we can not go for testing since her allergies will change from day to day.(today she may test positive for allergies to whatever but then tomorrow test negative to it) But to avoid reactions we give daily doses of Zyrtec which have helped greatly!

I am not sure if I would do the shots if I were you... what are the risks? How likely is it that he can grow out of them on his own? How traumatizing will it be to go for them? Again, I have no idea what the shots require. I know most of us parents even hate taking our kids for their vaccines I can not imagine allergy shots!

Good luck to you and I hope you find the answers you are looking for! Many blessings!
- T.

Support Understanding and Research of
Pediatric Mastocytosis
http://www.mastokids.org/

I am a HUGE proponent of allergy shots. My son had a lot of allergies when he was born. He was in the hospital with pneumonia several times before he was even 2. He was on nebulizer treatments 4 times a day from 18 months - 7 years old. At that time we were able to ease back all his medications until he was med free (except for virus flare-ups)by age 9. That was only possible because of the shots he did from age 5-8. I take them now as does my mother and brother. We also are much improved, but it was extra remarkable with my son. I was extremely allergic to cats, but within 6 months of starting my shots, we got a cat, and she sleeps right next to my arm all night. Certain times during the year get a little irritating still - when my system is overloaded with too many allergens at the same time.

My sister is 21 and she gets shots once a week she has only been getting them for about two years I beleive. She goes to school so I am not sure if she gets them there but I know when she is home and she doesn't get them the entire family knows because she is miserable so I would say they work for her. Hope this helps. It is the only experience I have had with them.

I developed very bad seasonal allergies in the sixth grade and took weekly shots until I was a junior in high school when they weren't as bad. They helped, and the school nurse at the middle and high schools gave me them so my mom didn't have to take me out of school to the dr.'s office each week. It worked out well since she didn't have to take time off from work and pay for a doctor's visit. This was in the 90's in Indiana, so I'm not sure if school nurses do that in this area. I still have allergy problems at times, mainly in the fall, but it seems they get less worse each year. I just take Claritin or Benadryl and am fine.

I started receiving allergy shots when I was 12 and continued them for about 3 years. 20+ years later, I still have allergies. However, they have definitely become less severe.

I stopped taking them because they just became a hassle when I was a teenager. I wonder now if I had kept on if I could have lessened my allergies even more.

I guess my final take on this is that it can't hurt. If you're willing to commit and give it a try, go for it!

Hi M.,

Although I can't tell you anything about allergy shots for kids, I have had allergy shots as an adult and they worked wonders for me. My grass allergy, though, was pretty bad - every since I was little I haven't been able to sit in grass without breaking out in hives, and the grass areas during my allergy test had welts that were around 4 centimeters wide and flares that were somewhere around 10 centimeters wide. When allergy season hit every year, I really couldn't even function, even when I took allergy medications. I started shots 5 years ago and now I can sit in grass, which I think is pretty amazing. It is true that it is not a cure-all (I still have to take an antihistamine every day during allergy season), but mine were so bad and they've improved so much that I really felt it was worth it.

We are not children, but my husband and I go for allergy shots once a week, and yes - they are helping. This year we get to bump it down to going every other week. I cannot speak for the food allergies. My ENT told us that the younger you can get a child started on allergy treatment, the better for the child. We suspect our daughters of also having seasonal allergies. Keep in mind that they do make a liquid vial that you ingest instead of a shot. From what I have heard they do not taste bad. You pick them up when new vials are needed and administer yourself. Unfortunately the liquid is not yet covered by insurance. I did do the math and when you break it down, it wasn't much more than I would have to pay for the shots (after insurance covered that). So if you consider the treatment and don't want the inconvenience, that is an option.

C. T.

When my son had a scratch test done at two, of the 12 things tested, 11 came out positive. His allergies were severe and he suffered from croup once or twice a month. He was too young for shots so the Dr. talked to us about changes that we can make at home. He said the most important thing was to get rid of the carpet and any heavy drapery. We had only been in our newly built home for two years so the idea of ripping up all the carpet and replacing it with hardwood kinda sickened us. There were alot of other things that we wanted to do in the house and replacing 2-year old carpeting was not one of them. We decided to invest in a good air cleaner and I covered all of our mattresses and pillows with dust mite covers and took away all, but one of his stuffed animals. I also made sure my house was dusted and vacuumed quite frequently and his blankets, pillows and stuffed animal were washed in hot water every week. This did make a difference, but he still had some issues. Finally, we decided to replace the carpet in the three rooms that he spent the most time (family room, his BR & the playroom). This made a big difference. We've had it that way until last year when we decided to replace the rest of the carpeting in the house. He is about to turn 8, and this year neither him nor I have suffered from bad allergies. And Spring was always the worse for the both of us. It was a pretty big expense, but it was well worth it in my opinion. You might want to start out small like we did. Plus with the new laminates that are out now, alot of them look alot like hardwood. We replaced the carpeting in the basement with laminate flooring that we bought at HOBO (in Joliet) for 98 cents a square foot. It is beautiful plus it is VERY EASY to install.

BTW, still no shots to date.

Good luck!

Hi M., I want to start off by saying before you get any shots of any kind, or any meds for your child, do massive research. I don't know much about allergies or the shots that are offered, but I do know that many people have adverse reactions to shots they had as kids. I know a woman who had severe allergies all of her life. She started going to a chiropractor and within a few months she noticed significant changes.. so maybe you can try that first.. hope this helps, good luck

Hi,

I was also 5 years old when I was diagnosed with allergies and the shots worked great for me, but it wasn't a 4 or 5 year treatment cycle. It wasn't until I moved to the Chicago area (from SE Texas and away from a lot of my allergens) that I was able to taper my shots off and I quit all together last summer when I got pregnant.

A couple of other thoughts:
1) If the allergist tells you that they can give shots for food allergies, go find another doctor. There is NO treatment for food allergies except to avoid the food. I grew out of all but 1 of my food allergies

2)Ask about antihistamines as well. If taken regularly, they do a lot to support the shots and ease discomfort when a flare up happens

3) Find out what the doctor's ongoing treatment plan is. How often do they retest, etc. Retests and antigen reformulation should happen at least annualy.

I have yet to meet anyone who has ever been "cured' of allergies, but they can be managed very easily. As your son's immune system continues to mature, he may be able to get off the shots.
Good luck!

Hi,

I have good news and bad news about the shots. I am a 60 year old grandma and I have taken allergy shots off and on since I was 11. I have never been able to completely stop, but they have helped. When I would stop the shots for a while, I would have more colds and sore throats not to mention the stuffy nose and swollen eyes. Most people only take them for a few years. I would recommend trying the shots to see the results.

I have three grown children and one beautiful grandson.

We have been doing allergy drops (from home - totally non-invasive) through Dr. Fredrick Hult in McHenry, IL. I am rather impressed with the results. My daughter is allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, peas, cats & dogs, tomoato, wheat, corn and loads of environmental and food additives. I hadn't realized that she was allergic to wheat since she never tested positive to it. Dr Hult discovered that and a few others through non-invasive testing of hundreds of things the same day. I did notice though that she would not eat wheat. After we started the drops, she began eating the wheat that I continued to offer to her and within six weeks, she gained 4 lbs and went from the 15th % tile to the 40th! He is homeopathic and not a tranditional allergist but the results are impressive. Hope that helps!

My son is now 16 but when he was 4 I finally took him to an allergist. he was always sick! Bronchitis - asthma - upper resp infections - sinus infections etc... It was horrible. I too had major allergies as well so at that time we both went for 3 shots every single week. It is a huge commitment but if you can do it, go for it. You wont see any effects until a year or so later but for us it was worth it. We stopped going after maybe 2-3 years but we have both reaped the benefits of the shots. Neither of us are battling an infection of one type or another every month anymore. We still get them but only once or twice a year. We take Zyrtec or Allegra or something during our "seasons" and if need be some sudafed or benadryl if we're having a flare up but our allergies are significantly less now after going thru those shots for those couple/few years.

C.

I started getting them when I was 8 b/c I could not stop coughing (deep like a man) which caused a raw throat. I got them for 4 years and they definitely helped...for awhile. I am allergic to 7 types of mold. My cough went away and we kept up with the shots until I was 12. Around age 17, my allergies came back, this time in the form of constant stuffy sinuses. I haven't tried the shots again, but no medication works for me. I think that they are helpful...I just hate shots.

So, the point I'm making, is that the shots can work...and work well (especially if you are young...they didn't work for my dad when he started at age 40), but the allergies may come back when your son gets older or come back in a different form.

H.