Allergy Medicine – Allergy Shots
By editor | September 24, 2007
The final step in treating a child’s allergies is allergen immunotherapy, better known as allergy shots. These shots work by repeatedly giving a child a very small, controlled dose of the allergens that affect him. Allergen immunotherapy eventually slows or even stops his reaction. Think of it as training the child’s immune system to stop interpreting an allergen as a threat.
Allergy immunotherapy is highly effective and usually reduces symptoms and the number of medicines that children need to control their symptoms of allergies and asthma. The most exciting potential benefit is that it might prevent additional allergies from developing. Children who might benefit from allergy shots:
- Have allergies all or most of the year .
- Are allergic to things that can’t be avoided, such as pollen .
- Need to take a lot of medicines to control allergy symptoms .
- Need to take medicine to treat another ongoing health problem, and those medicines are affected by allergy medicines .
- Do not respond to or do not tolerate medicines .
- Cannot use or are unwilling to use medicines
Allergy shots are not for everyone. They may have side effects because they give a child the very allergen that she is allergic to. Side effects or reactions tend to occur in the first thirty minutes after the shot. The most common side effect is a hive or rash at the site of injection.
Other more serious side effects include coughing, wheezing, or anaphylaxis (the whole body reacts). Allergy shots, therefore, should only be given in a doctor’s office, and a thirty minute wait is recommended before leaving the office.
Another problem with immunotherapy is that it takes a long time to work. A child will need to get shots at the doctor’s office once or twice a week for about six months. With each shot, the amount of the allergen is increased a bit. After about four to six months, the amount of the allergen reaches a steady, even level. Called the maintenance dose, it is given each week and slowly extended to every three or four weeks for the next three to five years.
Whatever allergy treatments you and your child’s doctor decide to pursue, remember this basic fact: keeping the allergy symptoms at bay will go a long way toward keeping your child’s asthma under good control.
Tagged under:allergen immunotherapy allergens allergy medicines allergy shots anaphylaxis Asthma symptoms of allergies
Topics: Asthma | No Comments »
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.