Are You Allergic to Allergy Shots?

Allergy shots, otherwise called immunotherapy are a treatment used by allergy doctors for patients whose symptoms have not been dealt with adequately by standard allergy medication.

Most people with allergies have their symptoms of inflammation, swelling, wheezing etc under control with over the counter remedies.Sometimes these are natural remedies like vitamin C and other times brand name pharmaceuticals.

Sometimes however, these don't seem to give enough protection. If you are often kept in bed or at home, off work, when your allergies flare up or you have symptoms which are increasing in severity you must take action because ignoring an allergic reaction can be dangerous.

Allergy shots are injections. They are injections of small amounts of the substances you are allergic to and the emphasis is on the word, "small" there. Preceding the allergy shot you will need a thorough and extensive series of allergy tests to find out what you are allergic to.

A mix or cocktail of allergens is then prepared specially for the individual patient and used in a very dilute form.

Providing you tolerate the initial dose, subsequent injections have the allergen mix at a higher concentration and gradually over several months, the shots get stronger and it is hoped that the body gets used to the allergens and does not flare up in a dangerous allergic reaction.

You may need to attend an allergy clinic weekly for several months as the dose is slowly increased. When your maintenance dose is found, the schedule may alter to attending once a month. And this may go on for 3 to 5 years. So although an injection is a quick treatment, immunotherapy as an allergy treatment is a long term treatment option.

There is an alternative way of using this kind of "challenge" treatment. Instead of injecting the allergen mix into the bloodstream, some physicians use a sublingual treatment. Here the allergen mix is put under the tongue. This seems to be better tolerated by some patients. Whether that is due to chemicals present in the injectable allergen mix not being in the sublingual dose is not clear.

The literal answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article is, "Yes, you are allergic to your allergy shots". However if you get good results by using them, then that fact may not matter.

Severe allergies can ruin you life so it is important to check all reasonable treatment options. And for some that may include immunotherapy.