For approximately a year and a half now I have been receiving allergy shots on a weekly basis. When I was a child I received allergy shots weekly and the need to resume getting them resurfaced in the past couple of years.
Up until two weeks ago getting the allergy shots was uneventful and beneficial. Once a week I would go to my allergy/asthma doctor’s office and one of the staff members would inject me with two shots, one in each arm. Everything was working out well and I actually looked forward to receiving the shots. It didn’t hurt when I received the shots and the whole process usually took roughly five minutes.
Two weeks ago however, I experienced an allergic reaction to my weekly allergy shots and it was an unpleasant experience, but it was remedied fairly easily and quickly.
On the day that I experienced the allergic reaction I received my allergy shots like usual and went about my business. Later that evening, roughly five or six hours later I was typing an article and my right hand and arm began itching. After approximately half an hour I lifted up the right sleeve of the sweater I was wearing and was shocked to see that my right arm was swollen to almost double its normal size. The arm was also quite pink and was becoming increasingly more itchy.
All of a sudden I remembered the little manila envelopes that my allergy doctor gave to me when I began receiving allergy shots. He told me if I ever experienced an allergic reaction to the shots to ingest the pills that were enclosed in the envelope.
When I brought the two envelopes home I placed them in the medicine cabinet and forgot about them until that moment. Being thankful that they were still there I retrieved the envelopes from the medicine cabinet and proceeded to read the wording printed on the envelopes.
As it turns out each envelope contained 10 mg of Atarax and 5 mg of Prednisone. On each envelope it was printed that the enclosed pills should not be ingested unless instructed to do so by a physician.
Since it was almost 10:00 pm when the allergic reaction began it was too late to call my allergy doctor’s office. There were a couple of questions that I had regarding the pills and I felt I needed to know more before I ingested them. Remembering that a nearby CVS Pharmacy was open 24 hours a day I called there and asked to speak with the pharmacist.
The pharmacist was quite friendly and helpful and told me it was okay to take the pills even though they were fairly old. He also told me that they should be effective at alleviating the symptoms of the allergic reaction.
Within approximately 20 minutes of my ingesting the pills the itching lessened considerably and within an hour and a half the swelling of my right arm began to subside.
When I called the allergy doctor’s office the following day the receptionist told me that I would have to see the doctor before I could resume getting allergy shots again.
After seeing the doctor last week he said that a new serum for my allergy shots would have to be created and he needed to see me again this coming week before giving the okay for the shots to resume..
Ironically, I remember when the doctor gave me the pills for an allergic reaction I put them in the medicine cabinet thinking that I probably wouldn’t use them. How wrong I was.
Two things I learned in regard to the allergic reaction are to listen to the doctor when he says to save something in case of adverse reaction or emergency and to be thankful for the helpful pharmacists at CVS Pharmacy.
Sources :
Personal experience with having an allergic reaction to allergy shots
