Allergy shots for a 13 year old

[Piper]

My children and I had to take allergy shots two different times for a couple of years. The first time my children were 5 & 6. After giving them in the office for the first month, the doctor taught me how to give them to the children and myself. It worked fine. It was much less expensive.

The second time (new crop of allergies,) the doctor gave the first two and my son was 13 so he taught him how to self-administer the shots. The second batch was the last--thank goodness!

Now keep in mind that my children are now in their mid-forties! It was a long time ago!

 

[DIS_MERI]

I have been getting allergy shots for a little over a year (hit maintenance in November). I am, according to my doctor, an "ideal patient" in that I always come every week for my shots unless I feel I am too sick (being sick makes a reaction more likely), always stay the 30 minutes for checks, and I always report reactions (welts bigger than a half dollar or reactions that aren't just local, but are systemic).

I am a veteran and get my shots at the VA hospital, so copays and costs aren't an issue. A nurse gives our shots. I didn't test for a huge number of allergies (6, I think, I get shots from 2 different vials, weekly), but a couple were pretty severe. After having to take zyrtec twice a day just to feel human, and still running through a box of tissues a week, I am completely off of allergy medication

I do still get shots weekly, by my choice, because I react more if I go to 2 weeks. If I can get to where I stop swelling up so much at 2 weeks then I will drop down, which will be awesome since it is a 75 mile drive each way to get the shots. I've had 3 reactions that were systemic, basically like a instant headcold with mild chest tightness and a pleghmy cough, but not to the point I needed to use my epipen. The first 2 times it hit about an hour after my shots and I wasn't sick at all before and the last was within 15 minutes (this time I had a cold that I didn't think was in my chest). I am so incredibly happy I decided to start shots.

I also have a friend with 2 boys, now 5 and 8, who would end up hospitalized with asthma attacks multiple times a year and basically couldn't leave the house. They've been getting shots for 3 years, I think, and haven't had a hospitalization since the first year of shots and can play outside now. Actually, I can't swear the younger did shots until recently, they actually did both shots and sublingual for the older boy.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

Add me to the list of posters surprised they would do the shots without a parent/guardian present.

I am ALSO surprised they would do the shots knowing your son would be walking or biking a mile there and then home again after...? We were always told NO physical activity for at least an hour before and after, as it can increase the chances of having a reaction to the shots.

A few years back, my son had them for almost 3 years - off and on. We had some breaks because of schedule conflicts and summer visits to his dad for 6 weeks at a time, but we did get up to monthly and he is still much better than he was before.

When we started with the allergy shots, He was allergic to every single thing they tested him for except pine trees. Trees, grass, dust, mold, pollen, dogs (we have two but that allergy has been mild), and cats. It was like 26 of 27 things or something. He was getting THREE shots every week - two in one arm, one in the other. They had him on all kids of medicines and inhalers, and he still always had a constant asthma cough.

Now he's taking one Zyrtec a day (or sometimes we switch to Claritin depending on the season) and that keeps everything under control. He can even pet and hold his grandma's cats now, which before the shots he couldn't even been in the same house as a cat. No more asthma cough, either! So even though we didn't finish the entire course of treatment, he seems to have reaped lasting benefits from them. It was always a huge pain to get to the appointments, but for us, worth it!

I just don't know if the biking/walking thing is a good idea - IMHO.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Luv2scrap,

Your description of your son sounds very much like mine -- a long list of allergies, and breakthrough symptoms despite lots of medication. If we could get to the place you describe I'd be thrilled.

I asked about what constitutes exercise and they said no P.E. class or football games, probably no vigorous biking, but a slow stroll through the neighborhood would be fine, and that the kind of riding you do in the city where you have to stop every block or two to wait for a light is fine too. There's also a bus from about 2 blocks from my house to right outside the allergist, so that could be an option too.

I also have to repeat that I was as surprised as anyone that they'd do it without me. I was asking about options and was wondering if I could have him walk to the place and me meet him there to take him home. So, I started by saying "we live walking distance, could I" and the allergist said "Oh, that's an easy solution, just have him walk over, get the shot, stay a while and walk home".

 

[Binnie]

Logistics are a pain, but I will admit that allergy shots have changed my life. I went from having constant allergy symptoms and sinus infections to have them only sporadically and feeling better all the time.

If you can manage it, it's completely worth it.

 

[disfan07]

I just started mine today and I had 9 injections!!! Because of the long list and types of allergens, I have 3 separate vials (so 3 separate injections) for each dose adn I get 3 separate doses in 1 day so 5 injection sin my left arm and 4 in my right. My arms are freaking killing me!

But luckily, because the doses were so low (she started me out very very low on purpose), I only have a small drop in oxygen levels (down from 96% to 92%) and no full asthma attack. Yay! Hopefully, as the strength of the doses increases, nothing more will happen.

But I got to spend 3 hours of quality time with my physician today....its a good think that we get along!

As for the timeline, my allergist told me that for regular immunnotherapy (meaning 1 dose once a week) it should take 6-9 months to reach maintenance. Her opinion is that if you still need them every week after 12 months, they are not worth continuing. That is apparently standard protocol. If you are still having them once a week after 12 months, they are supposedly not working the way they are supposed to. But obviously, each physician has a different opinion and a different way of administering allergy shots.

She also mainly does cluster (or rush) immunotherapy so most of her patient reach a therapeutic level between week 9 and 12. I will be at every 2-3 weeks by month 3.

 

[Best Aunt]

I did allergy shots for several years as an adult.

My allergy doctor had several nurses who gave the shots. One jabbed me like she had been trained throwing darts. It seemed like she would hold the needle several inches from my arm, then jab from that point. It seemed like the other nurse would gently bring the needle all the way to my arm, and then inject me. It always hurt much more afterward when nurse # 1 had done the injections.

Happily, nurse # 1 retired. (I wonder how many kids' complaints were ignored by parents who didn't realize how bad it was with nurse # 1.)

I quit the shots for several reasons:

(1) One arm always hurt more than the other. They said it was due to what they were injecting. (Maybe trees and weeds hurt more than cats, I can't remember). That arm would hurt for days after I got the shot. The discomfort from the shot was greater than the discomfort from the allergies.

(2) Before I started, they said it was going to be something like once a week for a period of time, then once every two weeks, then once every three weeks, then once every four weeks.

But when I was at the point of it being once every four weeks, they suddenly said - oh, no, you're not necessarily done at the end of the year. You will be re-tested. If the test shows that you're no longer allergic, you can stop the shots. But otherwise, you get shots once every four weeks indefinitely.

Well, I certainly hadn't planned on a lifetime commitment!

(3) When I was about to have surgery for an unrelated issue, I quit the shots. I was not about to deal with sore arms on top of other sore body parts.