Question:
Ive written here before about my sons asthma woes.....and i have yet
another question.
He is 12....has been on maintenence with his shots for 4 months (never
had a reaction) . Tuesdays allergy shot brought on a reaction..a huge
knot on his arm where the injection went in and lots of itching. It is
also hot. His GP dr is baffled by this and recomended benadril...thats
not helping and here it is Thursday and hes still itching and has a
knot. First question is...What can i give him to reduce the
itching....and second question is...After being on maint. for 4
months..what could have caused a reaction now?
Answer:
For the itching my allergist's office uses 1% hydrocortison cream. They
just rub a bit around the injection site and whelp. My underdstanding is
that a severe reaction, including anaphylactic shock, can occur at any time.
If the doctor is baffled by this, it may be time to get another doctor.
It may also be time to re-evaluate the allergy shots. They aren't for
everyone. To reduce itching, try running hot water over it, as hot as
he can stand. This tends to release the histamine for a few
hours. Works for poison ivy, I don't know about this situation. Perhaps soaking the arm in warm water would help increase the
circulation and help disperse the allergen serum.
Accidents do happen.
Was the dose being increased,
or ohanged when the old syrum ran out,
and the new syrum had the wrong strength?
Or the nurse accidentally gave too big a dose; or mixed his
serum up with somebody's elses?
He's lucky it's just an itchy knot, and not an anaphylactic reaction.
What type of allergens are being injected.
My doctor gave me a standard mix shot in one arm, and a special
mix in the other arm [weed & tree pollens, dust, dust mites]
Strange that this happened all of a sudden, without any previous
reactions; your doctor will probably need to halve the dose;
if you decide to continue. [could split the dose, half in each
arm]
Whenever this happened in my office, when a person had been tolerating a
maintenance dose, we assumed we had made a mistake. At the next visit we
gave half the dose. If OK we next gave 3/4 dose, and the next time went
back to full dose. He should be going to a board-certified allergist for the injections.
Just because your GP is allowed to give shots (if he/she is the one
giving them) doesn't mean they should. I'd be a tad nervous about a doctor who is "baffled" by an allergy shot
reaction. I'd be getting a second opinion, if I were you.
