Evaluating results, revising plan

October 23, 2002

The three primary defenses against allergies are:

1. Avoid what you are allergic to
2. Take medications to help control the symptoms
3. Take allergy injections to build immunity toward the allergens.

Avoidance may be easier in some situations than in others. For example, if your son is allergic to shellfish, don't allow him to eat shellfish. It becomes more complicated when you eat out. If your family eats chicken cooked in oil previously used to cook shellfish, your son could have an allergic response.

Partial avoidance is usually possible for environmental items such as dust mites. For example, you can purchase covers for your son's mattresses, eliminate dust from blinds and furniture in his bedroom and the rest of the house, keep floors properly cleaned, and purchase a dehumidifier. You can greatly decrease the dust mite population in your home, but your son cannot avoid dust mites all together.

Pollen avoidance is almost impossible unless you keep your son in your home with the doors and windows barred throughout the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Once he walks outside, he is exposed to pollen.

Antihistamines and nasal steroids are an important adjunct to treatment. But without adequate avoidance measures and immunotherapy, medications alone are usually not sufficient for severe allergies.

The purpose of allergy injections is to build up immunity to the offending allergens. In order to do this, it is important to follow your physician's schedule of regular injections rather than hit-or-miss. If, after a year and a half of regular allergy injections, your son is getting better, the injections are probably slowly working. But if he continues to have symptoms as bad as when he started, it would seem that the shots are not helping.

Evaluate

1. Have you eliminated or used proper avoidance measures to those things your son is allergic to?
2. Have you removed any indoor mold from your home, and eliminated any sources of mold growth?
3. Is your son taking the allergy medications as prescribed?
4. Is your son getting his injections regularly, and not on a hit-or-miss basis?
5. Have you asked your school officials to help make sure your son is not exposed to allergens unnecessarily at school?

Plan

1. If you answered no to any of the above items, make it a priority to do these things. Here are some helps from AllergyNursing.com
   • Dust mite control
   • Mold problems
   • Importance of regular injections
   • or Search for your need in the top left corner of
     AllergyNursing.com

2. Discuss these problems and concerns with your allergist.

   Your allergist may be able to suggest avoidance measures you've not considered. Medications may need to be adjusted. The physician may consider changing the formula of your son's injections to provide better benefit. A sinus CT (cat scan) may be ordered to evaluate other possible causes of the infections such as structural damage to nasal passages.

You are right to be concerned about your son's health. You and your allergist together can devise a plan to best meet your son's allergy needs.

[See our Advertising Policy]