Have any of you gotten allergy shots with Lyme or even prior to knowing you had Lyme? If so, what was your experience?
I have been getting allergy shots for almost three years but given everything that's going on, I think it's about
time I stop them. I'm allergic to cats, dogs, dust mites, and tree pollen. I did not do any food allergen testing.
Here's some background info. After the first few shots, the doctor ordered me to switch from one shot to a half a dose in each arm due to the extreme swelling. My welts would cover the whole upper arm and require me to take Prednisone to reduce the swelling. I also would ice them and take Ibuprofen & Benadryl before bed. After the shots, I get fatigued and have swollen/tender lymph nodes for at least the rest of the day. The nurses said this isn't normal but didn't look into it and said maybe it's just normal for me.
Originally I started out going once a week but progressed to every other week. Most patients reach the maintenance dose and are able to progress to monthly visits. I have not been able to stay at a maintenance dose consistently due to my continued large scale local reactions. The dose is either reduced or repeated after a reaction, instead of increasing like usual.
My practitioner who diagnosed the lyme told me she cannot comment on whether or not to stop the allergy shots because she did not prescribe them, although she does recommend I not take Prednisone. I also have active EBV, mold illness, and possible autoimmunity. I also wonder if I have some mast cell activation going on.
On the other hand, my allergist recommended I continue the shots so my allergies do not worsen. I am concerned about
continuing the shots given the fragile state of my immune system and my continued local reactions.
To add to the mix, I've recently been diagnosed with a heart condition (mitral valve prolapse and arythmias) so I've just started taking a beta blocker. I was not forewarned and had an unfavorable reaction after taking benadryl with the beta blocker. I consulted my cardiologist who informed me that I should not take Benadryl at the same time as they work against each other and both slow down the heart. He also indicated that my allergist will likely not let me continue with the shots without a note from him since there's an increased risk of anaphylaxis and betablockers reduce the effectiveness of an EpiPen/epinephrine.
I think I have made my decision to discontinue the shots but will consult my doctors. I am interested in hearing if any others have a similar experience.
Post Edited (1Sunshine7) : 1/1/2020 10:19:32 AM (GMT-7)