Allergy shots, anyone?

My and DS's hay fever has been SO BAD these last few weeks, that I would do anything for a shot if I knew it would make it better.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that it is completely painless, like my annual flu shots and my second COVID shot. I honestly did not feel a single thing, I had to ask them if they really gave me a shot! How can a needle go into your arm and you not feel a thing? Weird, but good weird. 

I’m 64 and have had chronic allergy/sinus issues all my life. I had sinus surgery in 2000 but it really didn’t clear up the recurrent infections. I had allergy testing years ago, both blood and skin prick, but neither test showed anything. I take OTC antihistamines, nasal rinse every night, OTC steroid nasal spray. I have a wonderful ENT who understands my issues. But. I never really improved until I had a 4 month bout of hives that lead me to a proper allergist. Testing revealed I am allergic to cats, molds/mildew, and every form of tree and grass known to mankind. I started allergy shots in February, 2 times a week. I’m down to once every 3-4 weeks and they have changed my life. I’ve had ONE sinus infection since January. Previously I would get between 2 and 4 a year. Typical allergy symptoms have been reduced or eliminated.

Shots are a time commitment. You have to get them on a schedule. It’s not something to approach casually, like oh, I don’t wanna go today. But it is worth it.

I did them as a child. It really helped me. I had severe allergies and asthma. I still have them but they are very manageable with regular medication, nothing like what I dealt with before.

My allergist closed his office completely for 3+ months at the start of the pandemic and I definitely noticed a difference in my symptoms. 

My understanding from my doctor is that if you do allergy shots as a child you can train your body and at some point stop the shots and still continue with the relief. Since I didn't start until my 40s, there's a really good chance that if I stop all my progress will go away. As of today, I'm totally fine going once a month forever. 

I started in my 50’s and the shots changed my life. I use to be sick for an entire month in the winter. That stopped with the shots. I’m allergic to lots of things, mostly nature, and I can’t believe how much better I tolerate nature now. I say go for it.

I did them a couple of years 30 years ago, and restarted about 7 years ago. I still have issues with allergy seasons, but they're diminished from what they were.

I absolutely recommend them. I have (had?) a high allergic response to a lot of different allergens so at first I was getting a shot in each arm once a week. Eventually it tapered down to a shot in each arm every three weeks.

I’d been on them for almost five years so was thinking about stopping anyway when the pandemic hit and made me wary of going into the office. I’d done them all in-office for the first year or so and then was allowed to do self-injections at home, but still had to go un for the first set of shots from a new vial. Now that I’ve been off them for about 18 months I feel some of my symptoms creeping back, but at a much lower level than before.

I recommend anyone who can afford allergy shots to get them. They made such a positive impact on my life that II wish I had done them decades earlier.

I wanted to get them, but when I checked with insurance, they weren't going to be covered. It was going to be something like $750 a month to start for me or something like that. Don't remember the exact nummber, but I remember it being aboe the total of all our other household bills besides the mortgage. Um, nope, I'll suffer.