I am currently taking allergy shots for the allergens listed above and I have been taking shots now for just over 3 months. I am not taking any allergy medicine because one makes me too drowsy and the other too hiped.
Question: I seem to get a reaction after each shot in that they give me a little more of the serum during each shot. Well, Monday I started my last vial (1:50) that will complete the build-up phase and it has thrown me for loop. I have felt like I had the flu ever since, especially starting yesterday. Today, I feel a little better
Is anyone else having delayed reactions to their shots? I wait in the office 20 minutes after each shot and I sometime simply get a runny nose or such.
I feel that they are sort of starting to help (I know that 6 months to a year is typical to feel any relief) because I want to do things again and my head is getting clearing (not as much brain fog or spacey feeling or as down and out).
As I said on the other thread, I would truly be surprised if the shots impact your digestive tract. I've done them 3 times in my life, for 5 years at a whack, and never had a digestive reaction. And I'm one who is very sensitive digestively to drugs. Why aren't you taking an antihistamine the day of your shots? I always took a zyrtec to keep reactions down.
Titchou has any dr addressed the issue of why you had to have 3 rounds of allergy shots at 5 yrs duration? I was told that while I will always have allergies that after at least 5 years, I should not have to repeat them....and my sister had them 34 years ago, has never had to repeat hers, she also had asthma really bad, and that was resolved as well....I will ask my allergy dept about this situation as I want them to tell me realistic expectations....thats a lot of years to have to repeat it....unless they treated you for new allergies each time, that would make sense....but I guess I need to ask a little more questions about mine....
I'm surprised that your doctor has led you to believe that this is a one time treatment. While some people don't have to repeat them, most find that a 5 years series lasts 10-15 years before symptoms begin to return. I had the first in my teens, then in my 30's and then in my late 50's. And while I never developed any new allergies (heck, I'm already allergic to everything they test for!), I have found that the severity of each has changed over the years.
You should only be building up your shot dosages as fast as your body adapts. When you reach maintainence, you should be to the point that you have minimal reaction when you get your shots.
Bett, my first round of immunotherapy took 5 years. After 5 years off, my allergy symptoms started getting worse again. Some of my allergies, such as trees, didn't get as bad as they originally were, others, like cats, got just as bad. At my 6 year point, I started back on my second round of immunotherapy. At about 20 months, I went off 2/4 allergy meds and am now on every other week for shots. I'm hoping to finish the shots in about 6 months. The second round has been "easier" on my system than the first. Much less welting and the wheals are typically smaller--golf ball size vs. softball size when I do have reactions, which I don't always have. I have two vials of shots and one reacts more than the other because it has some of my worse allergies.
I've used two different allergy specialists. They have said the duration off of the shots depends on the person. With my bad allergies, they basically said 5 off may be my norm.
Allergy Shots: Dogs, Cats, Feather, Dust, Dust Mites, Molds, Trees, Grasses 
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