**Uppereast**

jchristel

I saw your post about the allergist & getting shots.  I almost made an appointment yesterday because I'm getting sporadic but pretty severe skin reactions to mosquito bites.  Sometimes when I get a bite it swells up to the size of a quarter and turns really really red.  I'm so afraid I'll get one on my arm or back before the wedding and will be walking around with what looks like a giant hickey on our wedding day.  I read up on shots and what I saw said that the shots can take up to 6 months to be effective.  I have 2 1/2 months until the wedding (give or take) so the shots would mosquito proof me sometime around December .  I have a vat of skin so soft and bought lots of OFF! today so I'm prepared to prevent them as best I can.  So after rambling, here is my question...

Are the shots something you've been doing for a long time?  do you use them to treat seasonal allergies?  Did you find they work faster than 6 months?  

uppereastgirl

The way it works is that you have about 6 months of weekly shots, then a few months of bi-weekly shots (this phase and the next one are called "maintenance"), then 3 to 5 years of shots every 4 weeks.  Then you're cured (usually)!  A miracle!  So yeah, it is a long process. 

My doctor says it is fine to double up shots during the once a week phase as long as it isn't two days in a row, so if you have time to be there twice a week (which is apparently the max -- three times a week is overkill), you could get almost to maintenance before the wedding.  But it definitely is a time commitment.  I never wait more than 5 minutes to see the doctor, and the shots themselves take 5 minutes (I get 3 shots each time for different things, so most of that time is mixing the stuff he puts in the injections), but then I have to wait around in the waiting room for 30 minutes to make sure I don't die or otherwise have an adverse reaction.  

I''m I think 25 rounds of shots in -- somewhere around 28 or so I'll reach maintenance (I'm a little behind because a few times I've gotten huge welts from shots, so the next time after those reactions my dosage is reduced).  I started feeling a difference after about 15 shots.  I'm definitely not cured, but I stopped getting welts and feeling itchy from the shots, and at the same time I went from waking up and having huge sneezing fits, and having to run to the bathroom to take care of neti pot/meds right away to being able to wait a while (I still definitely feel allergic when I wake up, but don't sneeze much and don't get through like 10 tissues in my first 5 minutes of waking -- so this is important progress!!!) 

According to my doctor, people who feel effects much more quickly than that are probably feeling placebo effects (although hey -- if placebo effect = no huge welt when you get a mosquito bit, that isn't so bad).

Of course everyone is different (and shots don't work at all for some people) but it *is* a long process.  If you could double up some weeks, I bet though that you could get into a safer place bite-wise by the wedding.  And either way, if you have the time for it, I'd recommend it.  Allergies are miserable.  And the shots are relatively painless (quick, and the needles are really tiny), and at least for me, free! (a lot of insurance companies don't charge copays for them)

uppereastgirl

Oh, and another thing -- if you're going through the shots process at the very least you'll have an allergist on speed dial in case you get bitten the week before your wedding. 

Good luck!

jchristel

Thank you so much for all of the information.  I've been bitten since the big welt bites and they are much smaller.  I'm thinking I had the big reaction to the first bites of the season because I hadn't been exposed to the allergen through the Fall and Winter and now I'm reacting more "normally" because I'm desensitized from the first bites. If I have another big reaction in the next week I'm going to make an appointment.  The good news is that I'm in pharmaceuticals so I almost always have a doctor on speed dial.  I know some of my female doctors who have wanted to see the pictures of my dress, jewelry and makeup trial wouldn't have any trouble helping me if I need it.    

I OFFed myself before our bike ride this morning when it was buggy and sat in front of a citronella candle on the deck at dinner tonight, so far so good.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.