Need input for families that have done allergy shots

[momto2js]

My oldest is almost 8 and has sever environmental allergies. We started immunotherapy about 4 weeks ago. I need some feedback to see if what we are experiencing seems about right.

Of course the first shot there was a scene because no kid wants to get shots and he made it known that he was no exception. However, in the end he admitted that it was not that bad and for the next few visits there was no drama. All of the sudden, this week the drama began again with him swearing that each time it hurts more and has become quite painful. Not the needle stick but the burning of the "medicine". I am not certain that I am going to be able to commit to the completely draining scene that happened this week were I physically dragged him into the office and held him down while he screamed 36 more times.

The nurse asked if he was feeling better, the answer is no he is feeling worse. His eyes are consistently running, his nose is a mess, he is itchy. We use enough baseline allergy meds that he really shouldn't be able to produce a reaction at all, but we are still needing some breakthrough Benadryl at least 2x a week. His skin is bad enough we are back to the Rx cream and that is just keeping him from scratching it off.

At some point, these symptoms are supposed to get better. In your experience how long did that take?? I didn't think things would get better quickly but the look on the assistants face when I said that he wasn't a lot better was one of surprise. I just really need a reality check from someone that has BTDT. I don't want to stop if this has a chance of working but if we should have seen improvement already then the amount of time and energy this is taking needs to be reevaluated.

 

[mistysue]

First, I want to say you should try to discuss this with your allergist ASAP, because there are always specifics of every case that need to be looked into.

That said, when my son started getting allergy shots it was brought up that because one of his biggest problems is eczema, there is a chance that with some patients the shots can make it worse, if not always than sometimes for a month or two. My son complained that they stung sometimes, but he is an extremely mellow person so he did not make a big deal of it.

I do have a question for you; are you completely sure that all of his allergies are completely environmental? I ask because we thought my son was having environmental reactions only to find out that he has mild allergies to wheat, soy, egg, dairy, sesame, peanut, some tree nuts, buckwheat and shrimp... there were so many items we didn't know about that there was always something causing a reaction. We had no clue it was food. He also still has the environmental allergies, but they are much easier to deal with when his body is not already in distress. (we often had a child who looked sort of like a peach crocodile)
I am guessing you have had to answer a million questions from everybody about whether it is your soap, a cleanser, an air freshener, etc. In my experience people tend to not notice the effects of food unless the kid stops breathing, so it seemed worth asking. I also have an uncle who found out about 30 years ago he was allergic to aspartame. They thought he had seasonal allergies only to find out it was that he drank certain beverages seasonally. I want to toss out the idea that there is also a whole world of additives to compound things for you.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hopefully you have this worked out already. In case...

What are the ingredients in the shots? That's something my mom never asked when I was given them. And they did absolutely, utterly, NOTHING for me.

What helped me? Cleaning up my diet, getting regular chiropractic care (literally two adjustments as a teen and I stopped sneezing for months), and later I found that acupuncture was a lovely addition.

I'm not going to be a bread baker anytime soon (flour in the air can be a problem for me) and there are other things in the environment that are a problem, but I'm WAY better than I was as a teen. Thank you alternative treatments!