reaction to allergy shots

  • Thread starter Thread starter jmhky
  • Start date Start date
J

jmhky

Guest
My 6 yr old daughter has been taking allergy shots since June 2009. She is still in the "building phase" of the shots. She's almost to the maintenance phase, but she keeps having swelling (a knot that's larger than 1/2 dollar), redness, warmth, and itching after most injections. Her allergist thought maybe in was a volume issue, so they only took her to 3 ml with the last vial (when they normally go to 5 before moving on) and went ahead with the next vial and started off with a teeny amount (lower than what they usually give for the first dose from a new vial) She didn't have a reaction to the first tiny dose. The second shot they gave her was the usually starting dose and she had all of the symptoms listed above again so that tells me it's NOT a volume issue. Last week they repeated that dose since she reacted and the swelling and itching was even worse. The nurses and her allergist act like they don't see this very often. Anyone else ran into this or something similar? Is this normal? I'm worried about taking her to get her shot this week.
 
I would be concerned. I had strong reactions on my arms after the shots, and the doctors/nurses just blew it off. 5 months into the shots I went into anaphylactic shock.

I wish now, that they had slowed down the rate at which they did my increases.
 
It's not that unsual an occurrence. Many people have swelling afterwarRAB. Have they suggested she take an antihistamine the day of her shot? if not, ask if it's OK. I always did that at my doctor's recommendation.
 
Yes, she takes zyrtec everyday. The swelling, itching, redness, and warmth are usually gone within 24 hours, but sometimes it last a little longer. My sister and her husband both take allergy shots and they said on occassion they'll have that happen, but not as frequent as my daughter.
 
If it really concerns you or is upseting to her, you can have them back off the dosage some. That will just mean it will take longer to get to maintenance.
 
I get 4 shots (2 in each arm) and get major lumps that last 3-4 days after the injection. They told me it's normal and the lumps are not as bad if I take an antihistimine the morning of my shots.
 
Actually, they had me take a xyzal at night before coming in the next morning.

The reaction happened while I was still at the clinic, so they shot me up with epi, then watched me for a good hour and then let me go. Driving home, I broke out head to foot in hives (I've never had skin allergy problems), called back and was told that the epi had not stopped the anyphalaxis and I needed to go immediately to the emergency room, where I spent the rest of the day hooked up to IV benadryl.

It was a real bummer. Especially since I had an easier time with ragweed last year, after only 5 months of treatment.

Since having the anaphylaxis, however, I seem to be even more allergic to everything. :confused:

If the anaphylaxis had only made me feel cruddy for 2-3 days, I might have considered staying with the shots, (Seeing as they FINALLY agreed that they needed to go slower with me than the average person!), but unfortunately it started a vertigo reaction that continued on and off for months. I just couldn't face going through that ordeal again.
 
Thanks for all of your responses. My daughter had a check up last week and her doctor (allergist/immunologist) has decided to keep her on a low injection dose with the current vial (instead of trying to increase to the target 5 ml). Then she is splitting her shots into 2 seperate vials/shots. All of the grass and tree pollens in one vial; and the cat,dog, dust, and mold into another vial. So she'll start getting 2 shots (one in each arm) each time. She's only one vial away from starting the "maintenance" injections so we are very close. It's just taking a little extra time. "Titchou", yes she takes brand name zyrtec every day. That's another issue now that they've recalled the children's zyrtec. The generics just don't work as well for her so the past week she's had a lot more allergic rhinitis symptoms. We have some xyzal samples the allergist gave us, but she has been doing SO much better this spring compared to last spring and I really don't want to start her on a new medicine. I'm hoping they get some new children's zyrtec on the shelves soon! Overall, the allergy shots have made a huge difference with her allergy symptoms and chronic sinus infections! I can't tell you how often she was sick and had to miss school because of allergy and sinus problems last year. I'm very thankful we decided to take this route!
 
Back
Top