From Pills to the Doctor – Allergy Shots Bring Relief to Many
Tara has suffered for 28 years with allergies and now gets the shots. She was able to get them back in 1993 when the test involved being pricked all over with a needle in the back, then lost her job and her insurance so had to go back to suffering with pills that stopped working eventually. Later she got another job, more insurance, but wasn’t able to get the shots for long before losing it all again.
Now, finally, after years of suffering once more she was recently able to start up the shots again a few months ago after a grueling routine of tests now done on both arms. Because her allergies are so severe she has to get shots in each arm. Typically a patient starts out going twice a week for shots, then once a week, then every ten days.
You are actually injected with a very small amount of the thing you’re allergic to so you build up immunity to it. Allergy shots help your body fight the allergen. They work well for pollen, eye, bee-sting, and some drug allergies. Allergy shots aren’t for everyone though. Not those with heart problems and if you’re pregnant you should not start them.
Shots are usually safe but some people can have severe, shock-like reactions to them. It usually takes six months or longer to feel relief from allergy shots. “The most important thing is that people not treat allergies as a trivial problem,” said Dr. Dean Metcalf.
A lot of people who move from other areas to Texas who have never had allergies in their life develop them once they relocate. “It is impossible to completely eliminate all the things that might trigger your allergies but taking steps to delay your exposure to certain allergens might help,” said Dr. Jonathan Bernstein. Ten years ago Carma Winfrey-Hayes’ allergies escalated ten-fold in less than a year.
“I was sick constantly with breathing difficulties, escalating to asthma attacks and other strange reactions like falling asleep in the middle of the day,” she said. Arthur Merrion tested his apartment with malt-extract lab samples which showed four different kinds of molds present.
Rachel Patton, now 28, was allergic to her kindergarten room full of mold as a kid and used to get shots with her dad weekly, who also suffered from allergies. Michael Koenning said when checking or asking prices for air testers in his area he found them to be very expensive. Reggie Higgins, also an allergy sufferer, recommends the book The Silent Killer for those allergic to molds and those experiencing other allergy problems.
