Question:
Has any ever experienced side effects from allergy shots? I have just been
diagnosed with several environmental allergies (such as house dust and
pollen), along with several food allergies. My allergist wants to start
allergy shots for the environmental allergies, but I'm leery about them.
Answer:
Yes, the shots typically cause a small allergic reaction
at the site of injection; this shows the shots are working.
If the reaction is too large, they will reduce the amount
of serum next time. Occasionally patients have a more severe reaction,
anaphylaxis, which causes breathing problems. That's
why they have you wait 20-30 minutes in the doctor's
office after the allergy shots. In case of anaphylaxis
you will get an epinephrine injection. However such
a reaction is rare, especially if you don't have asthma.
I have experienced itchiness at the injection site. Shots greatly improved
my life, and I am glad I had them. If you get shots, be sure to take your
antihistamine as recommended before the shots. The biggest drawback to shots, in my opinion, is that there is no way to
know ahead of time if they will work for you. The only way to find out is
to get them for at least a year and see what happens.
