All these drugs... no one considering immunotherapy?

desensitising therapie? I personally would consider it only if my symptoms get worse....

So what are the pros and cons of this desensitising therapy? I do not suffer but my kids have been miserable the last days.. the worst season for them ever. They are 15 and 11. They suffer mostly from grass allergies. They presently take claritin daily and use opticrom eye drops. There have been other drugs noted above that may be more effective for them. I will try them...but i am also curious about this desensitizing therapy that was mentioned.

I'm currently taking immunotherapy for my cat allergies. It's a very old way of treating allergies. What it does is to introduce the allergens into your body in a controlled way and have your body learn to cope. It works pretty well for hay fever but first you'll need to get tested to see what exactly you're allergic to. These days, they can treat a few allergens at a time.

So the treatment is a series of injections where they inject the allergen into you. It involves 3 months of weekly shots to get you up to the maintenance (max) level and then monthly shots to maintain this level. Depending on your reaction, it could take more than 3 months to get up to the intended level. How long the maintenance shots last depends on you but most people usually take it for 2 years but this is a very generalised rule of thumb.

After every shot, you have to wait 1/2 hr at the doctor's just in case there's a severe reaction.

And that's it. There's plenty of info on the web for this.

I have mine done at this place:
http://www.allergieasthma.ch/

The allergist is actually a paediatrician. The weekly shots are done at his klinik in Kilchberg Sanitas (as a precaution in case there's a severe reaction) but the monthly shots are based in Loewenstrasse, Zurich.

But there are many other allergists around, including at the Unispital. He has told me though that this year is expected to be a bad year for allergy-sufferers.


Cheers,
Nanda.
P/s: Yes, it is working for me. I started my therapy in May, and the monsters arrived in August. I've never had to take any anti-histemines.

I'm suffering from hay fever very badly recently ( I took Telfast but it does not improve. I might have to go to the Apothek to buy Claritine like you guys suggested.

I heard that you can get injection which can cope with the hay fever for a season, any idea about that ? It might be the immunotherapy like Nanda suggested above ? Any idea how much does it cost ?

The one I take (which is for cats) is about CHF75 per doctor's visit and about CHF 300 per vial. I think a bottle gives about 4-6 maintenance shots. This is covered by your insurance, depending on your excess.

Best would be to make an appointment to talk to an allergist. You would also need to be tested first, so they know what to inject.

As far as I know, this is the only way to desensitize someone against allergies in a traditional clinical sense. There's plenty of stuff like magnetic resonance therapy which claims to be also able to do it.

~ Nanda.

Hmm, I heard that there 's kind of injection that you take only one shot for the whole season. Your treatment is more like a vaccination. Do you know anything about this ?

I will try to take some antihistamine first. If it does not improve, have to go to an allergist

No, sorry. I went to an allergist to be able to keep cats, and got prescribed this.

Maybe you should do a bit of research if you do end up seeing an allergist, just to be able to ask the right questions. If it's a new thing, they may not be aware. Not all doctors keep up with current research


~ Nanda.

To be honest I suffered really badly with it too, so bad that at night I battled to breathe and could'nt sleep, due to my lungs closing up...

I went to the doc and he gave me Zyrtec and a nasal spray, they work like a charm...... Claratine is ok but it only works for a while. If you have it really bad (the hey fever) then I suggest you go and get the above mentioned.

You will need a prescription for Zyrtec, but it's worth the effort.

Anyone know when does this pollen season usually end ?

Actually the description that nanda gave is correct. Immunotherapy is a series of injection given 1-2X weekly for 3-6 months depending on the severity of symptoms then the interval are gradually prolonged. The maintenance therapy could last till 3-5 years. Usually the benefit can be seen 1 season after the initial treatment, which means, If I were to have this shots against my hay fever, I would have reduced symptoms next year. Of course there are exceptions to the rule who benefits immediately as I've said this is case to case. This treatment is like a "vaccination" except that its not meant to boost your immune system. Its the opposite. By introducing small amount of allergens (the stuff that causes your allergy), the body becomes used to it ( thats the theory behind this therapy). The problem with this therapy is the side effect. The first few shots are usually the critical ones because one can have serious side effects like anaphylaxis ( although rare). Another is that the results differ from patient to patients and it doesn't work for food allergy or allergy to certain medication.

As I've said my hay fever can be bad but I can control the symptoms with my medication without problems ie side effects. So I'm not considering this form of treatment just yet.

Depends strongly on the kind of pollen that bug you. Here's a calendar for Switzerland.

The pollen season starts from end of march to end of august. You see plants bloom at different seasons. for example birch blooms early in spring so people who are allergic to it would suffer the most during this time. Grass etc blooms around may till august ( diff. species) so people like me who suffers from grass pollen will tend to suffer more during summer than springtime.....

Last year was terrible because winter was sooooo long that the plants bloomed all at the same time. This year is equally bad because the weather was sooooo warm that the plants bloomed all at the same time.

I want to Apotheke yesterday. Got Claritine and Otrin (the nasal spray). They work very well.

By the way, Zyrtec doesn't need a prescription to buy. Yesterday, the girl at the Apotheke told me to choose between Zyrtec & Claritine, she said the effectiveness is roughly the same but Zyrtec makes people a bit tired.

If you know what you're allergic to you can sign up for the "pollen alarm" - an e-mail sent to you every wednesday during the season states levels in your area. German language link.

If you have a runny nose combined with difficulty breathing thru nose, ask a doctor about nasal spray with cortisone , e.g. Nasonex - only available on prescription.

Is this available over the counter?

Seriously, hay fever hadn't bothered me at all while this thread started and I was feeling pretty smug about living on a mountain with clean air (normally get it for a week or so each spring in the UK) up until about 3 weeks ago when we had a mini heatwave and all the farmers started mowing hay. I got it really bad, went back to the UK last week and it cleared up but I stocked up on my Boots antihistamines and thought I'd be OK on my return.

What's really annoyed me today is that the last 3 days we've had almost constant rain and even a little snow last night and I woke this morning with hay-fever symptons. Is everyone else clear? If so, it must be something else (eg we got a delivery of new kittens 3 weeks ago, cat's have never given me problems before though)

Can highly recommend getting a allergy test done. I found out that I am allergic to wheat (Weizen), rye (Roggen) and grasses (Gräser), which all come into bloom at different times, assuring that my hayfever lasts....

Could also be pollen settling in curtains, carpets, furnishings while you were away in the UK - time to dust?

Thanks - we're coming to the same conclusion (about the allergy test) and I'll get the curtains cleaned - I seem to get it worse in the morning

do you have carpets at home? cat/dog hair or fur can also cause allergies. But you should also consider dustmite. They also cause allergies and its usually year round. Risk factors are poor ventilation ( especially in winter).

Anyone have any natural remedies?

Drinking lots of clean water seems to help.
Honey is also.

Others?