Allergy Shots

[DaveAri]

Once again I am turning to fellow B&B members for other than shaving advice. In an earlier post I spoke about a sinus infection that seems to be finally gone after three different courses of antibiotics. Now I’m using a neti pot every morning along with a one Costco generic Zyrtec and generic Rx Flonase. My ENT also an allergist had me tested and I am allergic to 16 different things. Now I am being told that I need to get weekly allergy shots (one in each arm) for 80 weeks. My GP does not think I should do it but the ENT insists that it will be best for me. I’m feeling a much better. According to the allergist it was only a 20% chance that sinus infection was caused by any allergy.
Any ENT's, allergist's or fellow patient's out there who can share some advice on if I should go and get the shots.

 

[airplanedoc]

While I am none of the above,

My dad just had a sinus infection, and went to a ENT (who once saved my dads life when he had a heart attack, goes to our church, and is a close friend of the family) I know it took 2 and may have taken 3 courses of antibiotics for my dad to be rid of his sinus infection. So I think you treatment for the sinus infection was probably reasonable. My guess is that your ENT/Allergist thinks he has you scarred and is trying to sell you a high profit/low cost set of allergy shots so he can make a few extra bucks on office calls etc. Unless I have had severe allergy issues in the past, and alot of them, I wouldn't be getting any allergy shots weekly. I think it is safe to assume that everyone is allergic to a handfull of things.


Just my .02

 

[DaveAri]

While I am none of the above,

My dad just had a sinus infection, and went to a ENT (who once saved my dads life when he had a heart attack, goes to our church, and is a close friend of the family) I know it took 2 and may have taken 3 courses of antibiotics for my dad to be rid of his sinus infection. So I think you treatment for the sinus infection was probably reasonable. My guess is that your ENT/Allergist thinks he has you scarred and is trying to sell you a high profit/low cost set of allergy shots so he can make a few extra bucks on office calls etc. Unless I have had severe allergy issues in the past, and alot of them, I wouldn't be getting any allergy shots weekly. I think it is safe to assume that everyone is allergic to a handfull of things.


Just my .02

Thanks for your reply. I just called the Dr. office and spoke to the allergist, I was surprised by her reaction. She claimed that she never heard a Dr. being against the shots, so I think your right. Sounded like a sales pitch. "You better hurry only a few more left." Plus the cost to me would be $20 a week for just the first 80 weeks. Who know what they will bill the my insurance company. As this point I doubt I will be taking them.

 

[dpmtherrien]

I had allergy's for most of my life. It took a very serious reaction to something one time that sent me to the hospital with a referal to an allergy spe......t. The result was testing which showed I was allergic to just about averything known. This was followed by allergy shots in both arms for well over 20 years. The shots were covered by my insurance plan so I just followed the Dr.'s advice. The end result is after the years of shots, repeated checkups by the spe......t, Its now been almost 10 years of complete freedom from the symptoms of the allergies. It worked, and I'm enjoying life with no symptoms of any allergy's what so ever.

 

[DaveAri]

I had allergy's for most of my life. It took a very serious reaction to something one time that sent me to the hospital with a referal to an allergy spe......t. The result was testing which showed I was allergic to just about averything known. This was followed by allergy shots in both arms for well over 20 years. The shots were covered by my insurance plan so I just followed the Dr.'s advice. The end result is after the years of shots, repeated checkups by the spe......t, Its now been almost 10 years of complete freedom from the symptoms of the allergies. It worked, and I'm enjoying life with no symptoms of any allergy's what so ever.

Thanks for your reply, I don't think the my symptoms are that bad as yours and might go for a second opinion.

 

[Mojo88]

My question would be do you have frequent colds or sinus infections? My son was a chronic allergy sufferer that started taking allergy shots at 2 years old after constant colds and infections. for him it was necessary as it affected his hearing and speech.
You mentioned an allergy test, I was wondering if it was the complete scratch series? If so there is no way to skew those results and you probably are allergic to all the items tested.
I can only speak for my son,but after years of injections he got tired of going to the doctor and decided to go off the shots. When things flare up he takes Zyrtec and does well.
In the early stages they wanted to put him on steroids and we refused. At that time it was the newest strategy and after several years of review, the conclusion is that steroids caused more harm than good.
My thought is if you are in no great constant discomfort and can control the symptoms for a manageable time stick with the simple solution. It may be a seasonal allergy problem, not chronic. If it is a constant, allergy shots are a proven practice for treating allergies, and it is safe.

 

[BullGoose]

I too get frequent sinus infections have have gone down the allergy shot road several times. I would caution you against the shots for several reasons. First, it is potentially dangerous. I had a really bad experience where the nurse was not good at decimals and she gave me 100x the dose that she should have. Long story short...it was not pretty and it could have killed me.

Even under the best of circumstances, the shots are very time consuming, inconvenient and not necessarily effective. just my .02

 

[DaveAri]

I too get frequent sinus infections have have gone down the allergy shot road several times. I would caution you against the shots for several reasons. First, it is potentially dangerous. I had a really bad experience where the nurse was not good at decimals and she gave me 100x the dose that she should have. Long story short...it was not pretty and it could have killed me.

Even under the best of circumstances, the shots are very time consuming, inconvenient and not necessarily effective. just my .02

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am welcome to more. I have decided that as of now I have not plans to take the shots. As Mojo88 says for his son Zyrtec works fine.

 

[jzono1]

If you can, try alternatives to the generic Zyrtec. You may react better to different antihistamines. Cetirizine, the antihistamine in Zyrtec is pretty common, it's cheap & it works for many, but not for everyone.

Zyrtec just makes my allergy worse; I get even more drowsy than without any medication, and it doesn't affect the rest of the allergy sypmthoms. I switched to Loratadine and it works better without any drowsiness.

For the next allergy season I'm going to try to get my doctor to give me an Aerius (desloratadine-based third generation antihistamine) prescription. I've heard good stuff about it, and since I respond reasonably well to loratadine it might be even better.

There's lots of info to be had on wikipedia; there's more to antihistamines than Zyrtec. There's three generations of antihistamines, Zyrtec is from the first generation. 2.nd and 3.rd generation antihistamines have less side effects, and works better for some people.

 

[Mooncalf]

I have allergies of all types, indoor dust & outdoor pollens & certain foods. Confirmed by several testing methods (including full scratch series on my back - not pleasant). Thankfully none are more serious than an annoyance - itchy eyes/throat, etc. When I was around 5 yrs old I started weekly allergy shots, which continued for 2 years.

All I got out of the experience was an irrational fear of needles (lived in a small town, the old doc had shaky hands). So now I use antihistamines, and I must say an oral dosage is SO much nicer than injectables.

Cetirizine & Loratadine can be found in generic form fairly inexpensively. I find alternating weeks between them (only when needed, of course) works best. If I stay on any one for more than a week it tends to lose effectiveness. On my worst days, a dose of Chlorphenamine in the evening gives me restful nights sleep. Also frequent hand & face washing makes a world of difference.

I'm also allergic to cats, but live with three of them. Since the wife moved in with them, it was a rather sudden assault, which was hard to manage (brushing the cats often helped a great deal). After about 2 years though, something must have reset, as I no longer find myself reacting to the cats whatsoever.

The cat situation is the same idea as the allergy shots. Repeated exposure eventually causes your overactive immune response to lessen (i.e. give up). So while a good theory, I think results are wildly different depending on the individual. Perhaps in my case I simply didn't get the shots long enough to have the desired effect.

 

[Mooncalf]

There's three generations of antihistamines, Zyrtec is from the first generation. 2.nd and 3.rd generation antihistamines have less side effects, and works better for some people.

First generation would include Terfenadine (Seldane), Diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and Chlorphenamine (Chlor-Tripolon). All have a strong sedative effect.

Second generation would be Cetirizine (Zyrtec & Reactine), Loratadine (Claritin).

Third generation is the newer derivatives like Fexofenadine (Allegra) and Desloratadine (Aerius). These have the lowest sedative effect of all the chemicals mentioned.

Of course there are other niche chemicals. This list is solely based on what is available to me over the counter in Canada (except Terfenadine which was removed from sale in 1997).

 

[tlanning]

FYI nothing official because I'm just a common "layman". However my spouse is a different story. How old are you? She says thats pretty important. We both had sinus surgery over 20 years ago!! Best thing either of us ever did, (health wise). But allergy immunization is a different story and one of the most influential details as to do/do not is your age.