Allergy shots and sense of smell question ?

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allergies4me

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Hello all,
Well I've been lurking this board for a few weeks and wanted to post a question.
My main complaint is my reduced sense of smell. I currently do pulsating nasal washes and take 2 squirts of Flonase daily after the nasal washes.

Let me give a short rundown of my situation
1) March 08 - Went to Dr. to inquire as to my constant stuffy nose and was told "you have allergies", she gave me a tapering dose of Prednisone and advised I follow-up with an ENT to insure there was no other issues. My sense of smell came back with a VENGEANCE. I was loving life again.

2) May 08 - ENT did a nasal scope and MRI of my head and stated there was a very small cyst which is not worth removing and would no way interfere with my olfactory senses due to it's location. He advised I follow-up with an Immunologist.

3) Next month (August 2008) I go to see an immunologist to get tested for allergies.

My question: If I do have allergies and begin the immunology (shots) is there a chance my sense of smell could improve?

Many thanks to anyone who can post their experiences or input.
RegarRAB,
Allergies4Me
 
Shots should help cut the severity of your allergic reaction, minimize the inflammation and congestion in your nose and, as a result of all that, should help your sense of smell improve (assuming they work for you).

The fact that the prednisone helped your sense of smell return is a good sign - you mention nasal washes and flonase - are you taking an antihistamine also?
 
Hi and thanks for the quick reply. Actually I did try some antihistamine's for a few days but they didn't seem improve my sense of smell at all, in fact they didn't do a whole lot except keep me from blowing my nose a little. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do in fact find I'm allergic to something airborne, that should at least make it easier to come up with a treatment plan. I would have never thought I'd have allergies since I rarely sneeze, blow my nose or have any dry (itchy) eyes. The decrease is my olfactory senses came on so gradually it was hard to really notice until the Prednisone woke my nose from a sluraber. It's a dangerous drug but great for diagnostic purposes. In fact within 4 hours of my fist dose I could smell ten times better. Thanks again for the response.
 
Well, Wednesday I go for my Allergy Tests. Can anyone who's been thru testing fill me in on what I might expect to happen during this test? How many allergens I should expect to be tested for, etc..?
Also, are there any important questions I should ask my Allergist?

Thanks.
 
There are 3 types of test so I'll give a quick overview of what you should expect:

1. They may draw a vial of blood (usually from your arm) for one of several different allergy blood tests.

2. The most common test is the Skin Pr!ck or Scratch test which they usually do on your back by scratching your skin with a sharp plastic applicator and placing a drop of a possible allergen on the skin. They usually do quite a few of these - as many as 24-60 depending on how many things they're testing you for - After 20 minutes they check to see if the skin develops a red, raised itchy area (called a wheal).

3. Depending on the results of the Scratch test they may also do Intradermal tests in which they use a syringe to inject a small amount of an allergen into the skin on your arm. They're more sensitive than scratch tests, but are usually only used for a small nuraber of allergens (or if they suspect you're allergic to something that you don't react to on the Scratch test).

Either way, you'll end up with a bunch of round red dots on your back or arm, along with some pen marks that they use to keep track of what's where, and you may have some really itchy spots that you'll want to put benadryl on after the tests (if you have a reaction).
 
Thank you gcsmithjr!
I appreciate the info on what I may expect. This bit of info does help my comfort level since this whole allergy issue is new to me. Thanks again.
 
Hello all,
Just wanted to follow-up on what happened with my allergy tests.
Well, I was tested for many items and I was found to have zero allergies. The Dr. stated I have "N.A.R.E.S" (Non-Allergic Rhinitis) and that I'd have to "live with it". Well that didn't make me too happy so I decided to do some research. I tried various things over the past month such as modifying my diet to exclude all dairy and wheat, no luck. I increased my nasal irrigations to twice a day, no luck. I finally read about Gerd and how it can affect your sinuses, I never knew that. I remerabered about 19 years ago I was on a prescription for Nexium due to a "pre-ulcer". I decided to try Prilosec and BINGO. Within 48 hours my sense of smell is back in ways I haven't noticed in years. I'm guessing that although my heartburn was only about twice a week it was just enough acid reflux to cause my sinuses to swell slightly. I just wanted to pass this on for those of you with Hyposmia who have tried various things.
RegarRAB,
Allergies4Me
 
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