Help from immuno therapy

If you glance at the list of links, it's hard to miss the fact that allergies and asthma go hand in hand. And I'm sure most of you have experienced this. Ragweed, a musty basement or vacuuming a wool rug (a breeding ground for dust mites, by the way) can bring on that all-too-familiar asthma cough and then you're reaching for your inhaler.

A referral to an allergy and asthma specialist could be the missing link in successfully managing your or your child's asthma. I have to admit that two years ago when my new pediatrician recommended we see an allergist, I thought it would be a waste of time. My son had been living with asthma for eight years and we believed that one mild asthma attack a day was as good as it gets.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

I trust my pediatrician, so I decided to humor him and I made the appointment. After the office visit, the allergist scheduled us for a skin test. You know, scrape up your arms with everything imaginable and see what happens. Reactions range from zero (none) to four (severe).

Within five minutes of the start of the test, my poor son reacted with threes and fours to just about everything. Ragweed. Dust mites. Mold. Tree pollen. Grass pollen. Goldenrod. Cats. Dogs. Feathers. You name it; he's allergic to it. Great. Maybe if he wore a mask, he'd be okay.

We were not encouraged and we were afraid that our beloved dog would have to go.

Fortunately, the allergist was kind, understanding and offered us options. First, he made suggestions about improving our home's environment. (See the September 4 article, "Improving your home's air quality." ) He said that if we lowered the amount of total allergens in the house, the dog could stay. Hurray! He also suggested immuno therapy. Allergy shots.

Shots. Injections. Needles. Not good.

Because of my son's multiple allergies to so many airborne allergens, the doctor believed this was the best course of treatment to improve his asthma and lower the doses on some of his medications. He explained to us that my son's asthma wasn't severe, but his allergies were.

Immuno therapy, allergy shots, can improve the quality of life for many allergy-induced asthmatics. Beginning in very small doses, patients receive injections of the very things they are allergic to. Slowly and gradually, the doctor increases the dose, thereby increasing a patient's tolerance to the allergen. The theory, which is working for my son, is that eventually the tolerance will be high enough to eliminate the need for constant medication.

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