Allergy Shots - Do They Really Work?

I have 2 kids and a husband getting the shots. They seem to make a big difference. My oldest son kept getting sinus infections due to allergies and he hasn't had one in 3 years, since he started the shots.

The way it has worked is that they get them weekly for so many shots, then you go on maintenance where you have to get them every 3 weeks. Then when that serum is used up, you have an appointment for an evaluation about continuing them. Start a new serum, get so many weekly shots, then maintenance.

My biggest complaint is the hours that you can get the shots. This is specific to the place you get the shots, so your situation could be completely different. Their office is not open on weekends and Tuesday nights they are open until 6:30pm. Some days they are only available until 4:30 for shots. They do early ones on Thursdays, at 7 am and we have had to resort to that a few times to fit it in their schedule.

I didn't start the kids until they were older than six. One started at 9 and another at 10. I think it has been worth it.

M.

I used to go for allergy shots and they didn't help me. I'm allergic to everything. I was going once a week for 2 years and really didn't see any difference. Then my doctor retired and I had to go to a new doctor. I went there for a year give or take and then got pregnant with my first. They said I could continue the shots, but they couldn't up the dose while I was pregnat, I would just have to stay at the same dose during pregnancy, or I could just stop and start all over after.
I stopped and never went back. I figured I would have another baby in some time, so why start over and then quit and start over again.
I've had 3 kids since then and my allergies went away, or just got better and they don't bother me. I think the shots were just a waste of time in my case they didn't help me....
Good luck.

My husband and I both had VERY VERY horrible allergies as children -- all grasses/trees/weeds, cats/dogs, mold, dust- no food allergies. We both had shots for years as children (me starting at 7, him at 12) - I got 1 shot weekly for 6 years then was slowly weaned off. He went for 3 shots (his dust and mold were too strong and had to be in separate shots) weekly for 5 years and was NOT properly weaned. They start expanding the time between shots to "wean" you...or they should but I think his mom got lazy (he was kiddo 5). I am awesome -- do not take any allergy meds (I was on Zyrtec D in my early 20s when I lived near fields and was great on that, nothing now -- I took TONS of meds that didn't help at all as a kid). Hubby is pretty good with everything but cats (he wants to scratch his eyes out and has sneezing fits but apparently even that is better than he used to be) and mold (after swimming in the lake, he has nasal congestion). I HIGHLY recommend the allergy shots.

My daughter has 4 food allergies plus cats and dogs so far (she is 2 yrs old) so I am going to wait till she is about 7 (hoping she outgrows some of the food) and then start shots if she is uncomfortable. If you son's allergies aren't food -- he isn't likely to outgrow environmental ones. There aren't shots for food.

Good luck! If your son isn't now seeing an allergist who deals with peds and you want a good name, let me know. My daughter has life threatening peanut so we got a good referral and like her a lot.

Hi Diana,
Do you know how often you both will need the shots? Is it daily, weekly??? Also, I know you cannot control the outdoor environment but have you figured out what the indoor triggers are?