I have always had problems - significant problems - with allergies. But this year, I'm really really suffering. Usually I could control them with Claritin-D, but that wasn't working, so I went to the doctor who gave me Allegra, Patanol, and Rhinocort and told me to take Benedryl and Sudafed as needed.

Aside from the Benedryl (even the non-drowsy knocks me out - I'm highly sensitive to Benedryl), nothing is working very well. To say I'm suffering is an understatement. Every inch of skin itches, my eyes are swollen and red, I can't breathe. I'm just not in good shape.

Even though my insurance applies them to the insane deductible, I have to do something so I'm looking at allergy shots. I'm worried about the reactions though. I mean, they are freaking putting this pollen and whatever else INTO my system.

So yeah, I'm freaked out. Anyone done them?

And yes, I know about all the natural alternatives. I've tried local honey (made my throat close up, apparently I'm allergic to honey??), grape seed extract, apple cider vinegar, a bunch of other herbs that the herbal dude said to. NOTHING is working. And yes, I give it at least 2 weeks before declaring it's crap.

No but I hope you don't need them. My oldest son has asthma and is suffering with allergies right now. Claritin isn't quite working so now we are going to try Zrytec and if that doesn't work it's time to try prescription meds. :duh:
I hear you about the insane deductible! Ours is $500 per person. :angry2:

I used to be on allergy medicine two times a day. I had some allergies in California, but nothing really bad other than cats.

In Ohio, I'm miserable. You name it, I'm allergic to it. Trees, Dander, etc. There were days when my eyes were so swollen, it hurt to even open them. During high school, I finally just decided to get off the medicine and do the shots at the same time. I didn't mind the shots, and they did them every week for the first year and a half. Then after that, it was every other week. The year after that it was another week added. I think I only did three and a half years (when I went to college, it would have been an issue to find someone to do the shot).
I'm a lot like you, BTW. Even non-drowsy stuff normally knocks me out.

I take over the counter stuff if I'm really suffering now--like an antihistamine when I'm really bad, or some sinus stuff when I have really bad pressure, and I stay away from things that I'm allergic to.

For the most part, cats are not an issue anymore. I just wash my hands religiously. And I have to watch for shellfish, walnuts and some other type of nut too. Bananas are bad (no tropical punch type drinks or anything either), Cilantro can be bad. Sometimes I break into hives, but I drink a lot of cold water have cool compresses for when that happens.

As for the reactions, when I took my allergy tests (they do at the start and then once a year), my arms would swell up for days. When I got my allergy shots sometimes they'd hurt a little at the injection site, but I got over it. I don't really remember a severe reaction other than once--, but that was over 3 and 1/2 years. I went home and slept off the effects and was babied for a day, I think. I will say that I'm happy I got them now, because I'm rarely as miserable (or as medicated) as I once was.

Hope this helps.

Well I never had a problem with allergies as a child, but I do now. The only problem I have is the drainage and usually the walmart brand of claritin helps. But now my husband is selling herbalife and they have this product called RoseOx. Take one a day it helps a lot.

Thanks everyone - Cheesy... LOL... ours is $2000/$5000 - we have an individual plan - remember, self-employed. Sucks. Goth, thanks for the lowdown. I am completely out of options at this point. As afraid of needles as I am, I'm going to have to suck it up and put on my big girl pants and get over it. LOL. The Allegra isn't doing anything except making it hard for me to drive. I HATE THIS. In Hawaii, I had ONE allergy attack in 6 years. One. Here in Austin, which is apparently the allergy capital of the world along with the live music thing, it's constant. I'm just really worried about reactions because, like I said, I'm in nasty shape right now. Sigh... off to call the doc and watch my husband freak. LOL.

I took allergy shots when I was a kid and would get terrible headaches. So my Mom decided that it wasn't worth it and treated me with Benadryl and no shots. I grew up in the Ohio Valley and that is the allergy capital of the world. They say if you don't have allergies when you move there, you will before long.

So I suffered severe allergy problems for the next 25 years. I finally sucked it up and went back to the alergist and got tested. Essentially, I was allergic to anything that grows (every pollen, mold, tree, etc.). I started taking 2 allergy shots (one in each arm) twice a week.

Then when we moved to Seattle, I found an allergist and she retested me and changed my formula a little. Then I was taking shots once a week and she got it down to one shot. I only had one severe reaction when they did the initial injections of the new formula. I broke out in hives head to toe but I was at the doctor's office and they took care of me for an hour or so until my hives went away and sent me home to sleep for a day.

Eventually I got down to one shot every 2 or 3 weeks and now I'm not taking shots any more. They really helped me.

The thing to remember is that they are injectiing you with the allergens but they start with VERY, VERY small amounts and increase the dosage very slowly over a period of time. Overall, it took me about 5 years to get completely off the shots. Now I take a nose spray once a day and use over the counter meds when they act up a little (very rarely - ususally when I go visit my Mom back in KY).

I did get a little swelling and itching at the injection site everytime I got the shots but it would last a couple hours.

Oh yeah, like you, I HATED needles. Whenever they had to take blood or give me a shot before my allergy shots, I would almost be in tears. I had to tell them not to let me see the needle and make sure to tell me to turn my head away before they got the needle out. The first couple weeks of allergy shots had me getting nervous but then I realized that the needles were so small and it really didn't hurt and it got to be OK. I'd still turn my head away but it wasn't bad at all. I do still have issues with other needles but I'm not nearly as bad as I used to be.

My son has severe allergies. The poor guy is allergic to almost any allergen you can think of; foods, insects and air born allergens. When he was about 10/11 we did the shots for about a year. Every time they tried to move him up the ladder with a heavier dose of allergen, he would react with a mild asthma episode, so, after a year we decided to forego further treatment. At 22, he's doing really well. His allergies do act up from time to time, but not anything like they used to.

I think the shots do work for most people; but they're not for everyone. I say go for it if you can afford it, but keep your trusty Benadryl™ on hand, in case of reactions. If you've been so miserable, it's worth trying! (I was going to say it's worth a shot, but realized what a corny, unintentional pun it was! Lol!)

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one sensitive to Benadryl. That stuff knocks me out, too.

I've always had really bad allergies, but this year, they're not bad. :shrug: I never can fit it with the crowd, can I? :lol:

Matt has allergies. He is allergic to just about everything too. When he was about 7 years old he went and got tested. They gave him 4 shots a week, than it went to every 2 weeks and finally 4 shots a month. When it got to be monthly they called it maintenance. He only had to see the allergist once a month. Our family doc gave him the shots most of the time. Sometimes on the initial shot he would get a little reaction.
Matt was getting the shots for about 5 years than allergist asked him if he felt that he needed it anymore. Well of course Matt said no :lol: Doc explained that he liked to stop the shots around 5 years. Matt was old enough that he knew to stay away from certain stuff. And if he seems that he needs something he takes Zrytec.

Very rarely does Matt have a breakout in hives. But if that ever happens he runs a slight fever with it. I give him aspirin and Benadryl. Seems to do the trick. Don't know if I ever noticed him being sleepy with it though.

I have problems with my sinuses and a bit of allergies too. Sometimes the grass gets to me. My family doc told me to take the Zrytec and also I take some advil and I'm ok after awhile. My daughter at times suffers with sinus problems too. My sister and brother had the same problem when they lived here.
My sister believes it's living on the east coast :shrug:

(Taking notes) ... Austin, another place to scratch off the list of cities to retire to... :lol:

My son took shots until he was 8, then went off them. Antihistamines and a rescue inhaler 2-3 times a year are enough for him now. (He's 24.) I've taken the shots for years. I simply had to take spring off from everything - bedridden- (school, work, anything that involved going outside from March to the third week of April) until I started taking the desensitization shots. Now I wear a pollen mask, but I can go about my business as long as I don't hang around outdoors. My eyes aren't red, I'm not stopped up and my lungs are clear.

My drill: Nasalcrom (OTC & nonsteroid, nonantihistamine allergy blocker
for the nose), Zyrtec (OTC, more effective than Claritin), and my asthma meds. Maintenance shots every month. In high pollen season, I add half a Chlortrimeton to the Zyrtec if my allergies start breaking through and sometimes a Sudafed to keep awake.

Vitamins help, sleep helps, keeping stress low helps, yoga and meditation help,
keeping the your sleeping environment as free of allergens as you can helps,
keeping molds, yeast and indoor pollutants low (formaldehyde for example)
helps.

The needles are tiny. If your arm bothers you much beyond one day, they should repeat or drop back a dose.

Hope you feel better!

Worst US Cities for allergy sufferers:
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/news/200704...llergy-capitals

Well, I called and found out the cost. Yikes. I'm looking into how bad the season is going to be and might try to tough it out and look at going in January when my deductible starts over so I'll get maximum benefit from my lovely insurance. LOL

My allergies have gotten worst as I get older, but I'd die if I couldn't go outside. I notice mine are usually worse inside, probably because outside I'm too busy to notice that my sinuses are full and my eyes are itchy. You all have my sympathy.

Hmm... most of my outdoorsy friends don't have allerigies, or if they do they aren't troublesome. I wonder if outdoorsy people have become desensitized by snorting in pollen all the time or if people with allergies just don't become outdoorsy because they are too miserable? :shrug:

I got them for 3 years in OH and have never had the severity of allergy problems that I had before the shots since.

I've given them too. Usually the scenario is they start with tiny, tiny increments and build them up. We had to have patients wait 20 minutes after the shots before they could leave to make sure that they did not have a reaction. Most of the reactions were local if they had one but once in a great while we'd have a full blown problem. Epenephrine usually took care of it and then you'd have to go backwards on the shot a bit and build back up.

I don't buy it. I've always loved the outdoors. I hike, bike and garden - I just can't do them when the pollen is skyhigh. Levels in the Atlanta area today are 2659 pollen particles per cubic meter.

Of course, Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh are on the list, and I'm smack dab in the middle of all of them. :lol:

Not buying that either. My poor son has them too. I have them. I LOVE to garden. But I haven't been able to in years because I simply cannot. I can barely walk outside. I spent many a day outside as a child and as an adult. I was a completely different/active person when I lived in Hawaii because I didn't have this allergy monster over me. I used to go for a 2 hour walk simply because I wanted to. Here? Even in Winter I have a small allergy problem.

I've suffered this long. I'm going to suffer it out until January and then start the ball rolling. I know that seems silly, but I'd like to pay as much as possible towards that deductible in one year.

God, I hate my insurance.

I took them when I was 10. Made a deal with my parents - I'd cooperate with the braces if they did something about that infernal stuffy nose I had. :giggle:

I'm very happy I got them. I don't suffer nearly as much as I did then. And they test you to judge the level of your reaction, etc. Plus, at the place I went to, they made me get the first shot of every vial at the office (my parents were trained to give me the rest of the shots), just in case I reacted to it. And I kept adrenaline in the fridge so if I did react to a shot, I could get that.

Though the testing was an agony of itching, I'm very happy I had them.

**runs upstairs to check what my doctor gave me**

I came home to the Yukon from BC this spring to the rudest allergy attack I've had yet. It wasn't so bad so far as the hayfever type symptoms (except that it was unusually early -- normally I don't suffer 'til June), but I also got this all-over rash. At first I thought it was a reaction to the soap I used at the hotel, but I'm starting to think it may be my laundry detergent or something 'cause it's been two weeks since I got home and it's just spreading, not clearing up. I just hope it's not the cream I'm reacting to! :lol:
I've got a nose spray, too, something called Nasacort Aqueous, a corticosteroid.
Eye drops, too, which are apprently designed only to treat allergy symptoms and are completely useless for any other sort of eye complaint :lol: They're called Patanol, apparently. I've got pretty awesome perscription coverage (being Status Native and in a Federal Territory in Canada), and the eye drops still cost me $10.50 -- normally somewhere closer to $50. She said to take Reactine or whatever as the package says and that was the best she could do for me. She didn't even MENTION these shots yous all are talking about, and I went in SPECIFICALLY to discuss my allergies and my concerns regarding my allergies and how unfun it is to itch everywhere and be all full of snot and not be able to speak in complete sentences because my brain feels all feverish.

Are these shots not available in Canada, perhaps?

perhaps consult a dermatologist?

I had to go to a specialist for my shots, but my general practitioner did recomend it.

GateGypsy, I don't know if the shots are available in Canada or not, but I do know that they rarely do allergy testing - I saw many different doctors over the years as I always suffered with allergies in Manitoba - doctors always prescribed meds and said the testing was not worth going for..... they always said it's expensive and the info you get doesn't gain you anything - so I'm thinking, at least up until 5 years ago, the shots probably aren't available there, because the results of the tests would be what would define the shot you get....

The best thing I ever found for my symptoms - in Canada - was Tylenol for Allergies! I used to take Flonase (prescription nasal spray) every day and that helped tremendously - when things flared up too much for that, then I took the Tylenol.

When I moved to Colorado, my allergies disappeared and I had a wonderful 3 years until my system adjusted to new things and then I had bad problems very suddenly. Started the Flonase again, but it takes a while of using it daily before you notice the benefit, a couple of weeks anyway. The Tylenol for Allergies doesn't seem to be available here - at least I've never found it - so I started using Claritin-D when I get a worse flareup - and that works for me.

It's funny, I see many people here saying Zyrtec works for them - I took that for a while when it was still prescription only and it did nothing at all for me, may as well have flushed one down the toilet once a day! :lol: OTC Claritin-D always does the trick for me.

Hang in there, candieb! I know it's truly miserable! :hug:

And yeah, so many people have good luck with Claritin, but it does very little for me. :erm:

I posted a rather longish rant about my own allergy meds over in Potok's Drixoral thread so I won't repeat that part here. But I will add that I too am afraid of needles and though it was suggested to me numerous times to do the shots, I've always turned them down. I get by with my Allegra-D, Nasalcrom (nose), and Naphcon-A (eyes) year round, and during the particularly very bad times which are fortunately only a couple weeks a year here in the Boston area, I suffer with a sinus headache and pout and complain all day. But I'd rather have that than needles. :shudder:

LOL... yeah, I think I'm to the point where as scared as I am of needles, bring 'em on! LOL The oak pods dropped so it's getting better... still kinda nasty, but I'm living through it.

Is everything yellow where everyone else is? Or is it just here? Pollen is so bad that yellow is coating everything. :yuck:

Not quite yet fortunately. We have a little bit later budding of spring than you do down south, but very soon as the warm weather has just started to come this week, with a couple of 70 degree days already. :w00t:

So yeah, end of April/beginning of May around here is when we have everything yellow, and those are some of the worst times like I mentioned above. Pretty much a sinus headache 24/7 for 2 weeks straight! Ugh! :grr:

Yeah, we had the total yellowing of the world a couple of weeks ago... then the oak pods fell. That usually signals the worst of it is over for me, when those pods fall. LOL. The pollen is the absolute worst though. Molds are bad. Pollen makes me want to slit my wrists. LOL

Eegads there are a lot of us with unhappy allergies!

I was laughing about my most recent outbreak with a friend the other day. "It's nice to know that my immune system is so gung-ho that it attacks random invaders to protect me when it's bored," I said.
"Yeah, I guess," he answered,"It's like it says, 'Something touched me. BURN IT!!!" :giggle:

*le sigh* I wonder, are there many of us bookobsessors who are all allergic down in the Southern Hemisphere? I know that the bulk of the earth's greenage is up in the Northern hemisphere -- would that make it worse here by default?

Um, Gypsy, I hesitate to say this but itchy skin and no nasal symptoms after a hotel visit might be bedbugs. Even expensive hotels are having a problem with
them these days. Other things that come to mind are detergent (Tide is rough
on sensitive skin), fabric softeners -especially the dryer sheets, and a reaction to a new food. Hope you feel better. Itchy skin is the pits.

I'm thinking about trying shots....I have a constant but minor (I think) allergy to dust. I need to take an over-the-counter pill every night otherwise I suffer....itchy, light-sensitive eyes, running nose, sneezes...all that.

If it's that mild and only at night you might benefit from allergen control in the bedroom. This basicly means removing or encasing anything that isn't wipeable or washable. So encase pillows and mattresses. Get rid of feather pillows (I know, I loved my down pillow.) Replace carpet with washable rugs. Move the beloved bookshelf to another room. Wash your bed linens in hot water and bleach to kill dust mites - those ugly microscopic buggies that love our dead skin cells -
yuck. And you might consider buying a Hepa filter for the bedroom. I took those steps over the course of 10 years, starting with the least expensive and working my way up to replacing the carpet with hardwood. Again, if your allergies
are minor, just dust mite control for the mattress, pillows and linens make the difference.

:ditto2:

Yeah I've had to do all that as well, but of course I forgot to mention it as it's something I've been living with all my life, so I forget that I have a Hepa air cleaner going in the bedroom 24x7, or that I have those special cases for my mattress and pillow, or that we use a humidifier 24x7 in the house, etc.

Definitely good suggestions that rannie suggested here, and as a lifelong allergy sufferer, I can attest to their effectiveness as well.

I've got the thing for the mattress, but the dust is everywhere...in the car, at work, other people's houses so I still need the daily dose for that. And no amount of cleaning stops it. I'm not a neat freak but my best friend is, everything is spotless all the time, but my allergies still bother me at her house!

Thanks for the tips!