Allergy Immunotherapy in Nashville

The answer to this question is that, whether you need allergy shots or not will depend on your individual circumstances. We won’t be able to answer that fully until we meet you and discuss your circumstances.

As a rule though, if avoidance methods or the usual doses of medications control your symptoms, then immunotherapy might not be needed. If any of the following applies to you, then you may be a candidate for allergy shots:

• If the medications to control your symptoms don’t work/stop working
• If the medication used to control your symptoms produces too many side effects
• If complications develop
• If you have asthma triggered by allergies
• If you are at risk of developing anaphylaxis
• If symptoms flare back up every time you try to reduce your medications
• If you can’t effectively avoid things that trigger your allergies
• If you would rather take a series of allergy shots than daily medications
• If you would rather treat the problem instead of control symptoms
• If the cost of the medications is a burden

Allergy shots in Nashville increase your tolerance to bothersome allergens. By injecting gradually increasing doses of the offending allergen extract, the immune system builds up a tolerance to that allergen. Allergy shots slow down and reduce the production of the IgE antibody. You can think of each shot as adding a brick to the “wall of protection” against things that trigger your allergies.

Allergy immunotherapy has two phases, the build-up phase and the maintenance phase. Initially, patients are started at a low dose and gradually built up, receiving increasing amounts of the allergens. Once this phase is complete, patients have reached an effective dosage; this is called maintenance. At maintenance, most patients begin to feel the effects and find relief; during this phase, the number of times a patient receives an injection is reduced.

It varies depending on the build-up schedule the patient chooses to reach their maintenance dosage. After reaching maintenance, patients typically get shots once a week, then every 2 weeks after 12 months, then every 3-4 weeks after 18 to 24 months.

After a patient has been allergy-tested and diagnosed, the physicians at Skin & Allergy Center use a three-tier approach for treatment: avoidance, medication, and immunotherapy. Allergy Immunotherapy, also called allergy shots in Nashville, is proven effective against inhalant allergies and stinging insect allergies and may be recommended if the patient’s allergies are not under control.

Patients who can avoid the trigger of their allergies or if the usual doses of allergy medications can control their symptoms may not need allergy immunotherapy.

Anaphylaxis is when your immune system responds to an allergen by releasing a flood of chemicals that cause you to go into shock. Symptoms of anaphylaxis include:

• Low blood pressure
• Dizziness or fainting
• Nausea and vomiting
• Weak pulse
• Swelling of the tongue and constriction of the airways, making it hard to breathe

Anaphylaxis can occur within minutes or seconds of exposure to an allergen, and it can be fatal without treatment. People who are at risk for anaphylaxis should always carry an epinephrine injector with them.

No, unfortunately, allergy immunotherapy in Nashville can’t help mitigate existing food allergies. This is because food allergies prompt too high a risk of anaphylaxis to make allergy immunotherapy a safe long-term solution.  We do, however, offer food allergy testing and counseling to deal with food allergies.