Allergy shots?

[Crankin]

I took them as a kid around age 7-8 and then again in HS for 2 years and in my 30s, when I developed asthma, new food allergies, hives, and a general chemical sensitivity, which has since gone away.
I know I am allergic to mold, dust, and peanuts. I have always done the environmental things. The shots as a kid didn't do much, but I think the ones I took as an adult helped get me out of a very terrible cycle I was in. But, I stopped because I always had a weird reaction afterwards. Not quite an asthma attack, but feeling weird. I think it may have been the preservative used. But, my older son was deathly ill with chronic bronchial stuff and he was allergic to Bermuda grass, which in AZ is everywhere. He also had something (a deficiency, I can't remember) with IgA, one of the histamines in the body. It really helped him. He took them for about 2 years. Of course when we moved, both he and I became 100% healthier. The dust in the desert was not good for either of us. I put away my nebulizer for good.
I like allergists better than pulmonary docs. I had been going to one for about a year when the asthma stuff started in the 80s and all he did was give me prednisone. The allergists I saw understood the issues better.
I think you could keep going, using meds, but you have had a lot of stuff, some of which might be helped by the shots.

[ny biker]

For me, the hives can be triggered by something that causes the histamines to increase in my system, but they don't appear to be an allergic reaction to anything specific. And the asthma is mostly not allergic. Pollen that I am definitely allergic to is high right now but I kicked a$$ on the lung function test they gave me today -- the nurse was actually impressed by the results. The only allergies that really cause consistent problems for me are seasonal. So I don't feel like shots would be worth the expense.

I know people who get them, so I suppose they find them helpful.

Asthma treatment has improved significantly since the 80s. But some cases are more allergy-based than others, and of course some doctors in any specialty are just not very good.

[Crankin]

Oh, I know how asthma treatment has changed. My son's allergist in Tempe is the person who actually invented that first combination inhaler that is often prescribed (the name is escaping me, but I know Emily used to take it!) as a preventative. Weirdly, his brother and family live in Acton and in the past were sort of part of my social circle. I have never been diagnosed with pollen allergies, but it seems like I've developed them. I am sensitive to changing weather conditions, though.
I would not do shots now, though. My hives are definitely stress related, but there is an underlying allergy component. The only times I've had them in the recent past has been related to wearing wool. I was never sensitive to it before, and it's usually around this time of year, after a couple of months of merino. My mom had hives on and off for years and she also had asthma, so it's genetic. I remember her taking oatmeal baths for the hives .
It just sucks to live with this stuff, though. I have weird reactions to all sorts of things, which makes people think I am a complainer! I had a couple of years where I could not even walk through a department store, due to the perfume smells.
Of course you aced the lung function test!

[emily_in_nc]

Oh, I know how asthma treatment has changed. My son's allergist in Tempe is the person who actually invented that first combination inhaler that is often prescribed (the name is escaping me, but I know Emily used to take it!) as a preventative.

LOL...I'll have to think on that as I can't recall now either! I remember that it came in a purple plastic disk, and the reason I stopped it was because it was found to (possibly) cause osteoporosis. As a petite, white female (high risk group for osteoporosis anyway), that wasn't something I wanted to mess around with. Now I just use my rescue inhaler (albuterol) if I am having a wheezy day. Fortunately, a couple of inhalers gets me through a year or more. Have not had to use it much here in Florida at all. Some places and some times of year, it gets a bit more usage.

[Crankin]

Yup, a lot my asthma treatment surely hastened the development of osteoporosis.
I also have an Albuterol inhaler and I rarely get it refilled more than once in a year, usually have just one. I use pre-ride, on hot days, or when there's an air quality issue. Before, I would avoid riding in those conditions, but given how hot it's been the past 2 years, I can't avoid it.

[ny biker]

It's Advair. Still in use, but not the first course of treatment because one of the two medicines in it can have serious side effects. I am currently using Flovent, also a purple disk, from the same company, with just one active ingredient (which happens to be the same active ingredient in Flonase nasal spray, which I recently started taking to relieve the effects of the early pollen explosion). I have ridiculously dense bones, so am not at as high a risk for osteoporosis.

I also rarely use the Albuterol. I would probably need it more without the antihistamines and Flovent/nase.

[Pax]

My wife has awful osteoporosis from inhaled corticosteroids, but the alternative is not breathing so she still uses one. The best thing for her though was us living in Florida, she had so few asthma issues she had weaned off her inhalers and was only using the singulair pill.

For me, I'm a big woman with big dense bones, I could live to be 150 before I ended up with osteoporosis from my inhaler.

[emily_in_nc]

It's Advair. Still in use, but not the first course of treatment because one of the two medicines in it can have serious side effects.

Yep, that's it. Thanks, NY. Senior moment here! I haven't used it for years, so that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. I do remember that death from asthma was one of the possible side effects.