I ended up doing a second round of allergy shots about 20 years after I finished the first course. (though it's possible that I just quit going the first time, since I was busy with young kids at the time)

I think that you can develop different allergies than the ones that you were originally treated for, especially if you move to a different region.

I'm one of the lucky ducks who never got any relief from allergy shots. I went on schedule, never missed a week, and they never did squat for me.

I get horrible nasal inflammation - so bad I can't even breathe through my nose sometimes. I've tried everything under the sun. Azelestine with fluticasone is the only thing which works for me anymore. I really am worried that will stop working...in which case there is nothing else that even comes close to giving me enough relief that I can get a decent night's sleep.

Allergies are the pits. So happy the shots worked for you Faron!!

Hmm, ths for posting Faron, my son had allergies and they are pretty annoying. I have been wondering about shots for him. Anyone with more recent experience as well?

I used to have somewhat significant seasonal and cat allergies. Almost 10 years ago I started allergy shots and did them weekly for 3 years. (The plan was to get them for a while longer but we moved and I didn't restart them.) They worked great for me and my allergies are non-existent to very, very minimal.

Oh my, weekly?

Many drs. start you out twice weekly. I took shots for years (started as a teen). Three shots. You go from twice a week up to once every 4 weeks. I did good for several years then started having problems again. I have a bad mold allergy and mold is one that is hard to be desentized to. I am currently on the 4-week regime but my allergist and I have found what works best for me is to do the shots every 2 weeks during mold season. I also use Azelestine seasonally and a steroid wash during my worst time. You have to work up to the maintenance dose. I would highly recommend as they have worked well for me. I also had sinus surgery about 10 years ago, which I fought, but now wish I had done it sooner. One thing I would caution is that some drs. will recommend allergy drops and I have had several physician's opinions and there are not many that approve that route.

The shots start out weekly but soon fade to bi weekly then monthly, etc.

I had mixed results with shots but have some complex respiratory issues. My nasal inflammation and asthma is basically cured with an injected biologic medicine (v. expensive). Patrice, maybe ask you dr about Dupixent...it really treats the inflammation at the source. Not sure if approved for just sinus/nasal symptoms.

Looks like FDA just approved Azelestine for OTC?

Interesting, thank you jmck. I will.

I can tell you Singulair worked really well for me, but I couldn't tolerate the super bad, very vivid dreams it gave me. I tried a few different things hoping I could get past the dreams, but no matter what we tried it had no impact. Almost every night was a horror show.

Weirdest thing, to not be able to tolerate a medicine due to the dreams - but it was truly that bad. Incredibly disturbing. It started creeping into my emotions during the day, and I was done at that point. Black box warning is well-deserved, IMO.

I had terrible headaches with Singulair. They kept trying to get me to take it again, but NO WAY!

Oh my! SINGULAIR DREAMS!!! Singulair is also sometimes used for mold allergies. I took it for a while, and I also had the very vivid dreams. I can't say I had "bad" dreams, more like wild, crazy and yes, very vivid dreams. Sometimes they would wake me up. Singulair didn't really help me, so I was happy to quit taking it!

I just had Azelestine filled last week. Interesting that it's gone OTC. It's cheap now, and sometimes the OTC is more expensive. We'll see! I do like it and do not take any kind of oral antihistamine.

The year before my Allergy-Shots in 78/79.....The Dr Rx'd Naldecon tablets (??) & Beconase, a quick/pressurized nasal-spray.

These helped decently.....but .....those damn tablets made me SO TIRED!

I maybe described the 4 or 5 vials of the Serum? Yes.,....1 shot every Wed am b4 school. The "starter" vial was clear, like water. The last one looked pretty dark.....like Coca-Cola! The first few shots raised a big welt on my arm. By the 4th vial.....only a mosquito-bite sized lump!

Shots worked well for me initially and for many years -- even after moving from TX to CA and back to TX. Somewhere in that 7-10 years where they say things change, we had moved to our current home and started a kitchen reno -- kicking up lots of dust at the same time ragweed and other lovelies were filling the air. I blame that experience for the restart of my allergies -- it was just too much. LOL I have managed with OTC meds, but in the last year or two, I feel like my allergies are becoming more of an issue. I've thought of trying shots again, but my experience with testing when I didn't think I had bad allergies was so much fun I'm a little afraid of what it would be like now. But shots did work for me once. I wonder if that means they should work again. Or did I get my one chance?

I have bad allergies that were untreated until middle age when I developed asthma. I tried shots weekly for many years. The allergies would get a little better, then worse. Sometimes I had a bad reaction to the shots and had to go down in strength. My understanding is everyone responds differently and weekly for several years is common. I take Singular, and Zyrtec everyday. In addition I use Flonase and when they are very bad Allegra D in the AM and Zyrtec at night. I would consider shots, but if you don't see results within a few months give it up. I tried for years and am now not doing shots and am about the same as when doing the shots.

On the other hand I did not know that Singular causes bad dreams. I used to suffer from nightmares when under great stress. Now I have been having them regularly. It is so bad that I am sometimes afraid to go to sleep. I am supposed to see a sleep specialist in several week. No medical person has suggested I stop the Singular. I will see my doctor soon and see what else I can take to see if that is causing my severe nightmares. Thank you for the information.

I did allergy shots years and years ago. Was a very good decision. I have an occasional sneezing fit but nothing like before the shots.

Great to hear success stories. Nice overview article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK447100/