Has anyone heard of this? A friend was telling me today about a series of injections he had as a kid to 'cure' his hayfever. He had allergy testing, and once they knew what he was allergic to, they injected him with small amounts of the allergens. He said it stopped his hayfever for years!

I've never even heard of this, but am keen to try anything to help my daughter who is suffering dreadfully atm. Can anyone enlighten me?

Hmm, I found this info:

http://www.allergyclinic.co.nz/guides/10.html

It sounds very do-able. I think my dd would be mature enough to understand the need for all the injections. Still interested to hear from anyone who has experience with this.

I understand it's expensive - I often joke that we aren't saving for braces for DS3 but for his desensitization injections.

You could ask on the Allergy NZ facebook page as I'm fairly certain it's been discussed there in the last few months (more allergy peeps there).

Thanks 3boys - if there is any way we can manage it (and if she is a candidate) we will. This is what she looked like after 10min outside on Thursday

I'll go and check out the allergy nz page

Wow! Those are some wicked allergic shiners Your poor DD! Yeah Desensitisation has been discussed alot on the FB page, I think one lady in particular has just begun them with her 4yr old DD, Karen is her name.
I would say it would be well worth your while to give it a go if your DD is reacting like that just from being outside for a short time

Yes, we're thinking of doing it next year for myself and my DS and i know another person in this forum is starting it in the new year and we have a friend who has done nearly a year of it with fantastic results for her son.
Maybe you should contact Dr Ameratunga to provide you with the information - thats' where we learnt about it all.

Hi MrsP. Yes its me who is starting it for my DS in the new year. He'll be having injection immunotherapy for three things at once: dust mites, cats & plaintain grass. We're with Rohan Ameratunga and fortunately have health insurance which will cover the bulk of the cost (although it will still cost about $800 for the first 3 months and maybe a few hundred a year after that - and its a five year committment!).

You would need to see an allergy specialist and get skin prick/RAST testing done to find out exactly what she is reacting to as the first step.

The link someone posted above has some good info. Its not a 'cure' but benefits are usually seen for 10-15 years I understand.

Thanks for the info, ladies. She's had allergy testing already and it was rye grass and 'mixed grasses' that she's allergic to.

We have medical insurance albeit with a high excess, but I imagine it would be the travel that we'd struggle with - it looks like Auckland is the only place to have this done?

Is the Facebook page open for anyone, or do you have to be a member?

No don't think you have to be a member to join.

Hi MrsP. I guess any allergy specialist would be able to do it - not sure if a general Paed would? How far away are you? For Rohan, once you have done the intensive stage (about 12 weeks) you can then buy the medicine from the specialist and have it done by your GP's practice nurse (as long as they are happy to do that) so that makes it easier.

We're in Palmerston North twps. So we'd be looking at at least $240 for flights each time. I'm planning on making some phone calls this week and finding out what options we have....

I'm really shocked at how few allergy specialists there are in NZ!

Crikey - you don't want that! Good luck with finding someone to do it locally. Let us know how you get on. Have you seen this?:
http://www.allergy.org.nz/allergy+help/allergy+specialists+and+other+useful+contacts.html
None in PN of course though...

We looked into this to for my DS, but the Dr or paed wouldnt contimpalte it till he was 7 so we have another couple of years before that happens.

But, when we did broach the subject, the injections would have been sent down from Akl to Ingill (where we live) and be administered by the outreach service at the hospital. GP didnt want it done in his clinic. I was of the understanding that it was funded through the hospital ??? But I could be entirely wrong and I really didnt delve to far into that side of thigs as I knew it was a while away and things could change before then.

DS would be looking at dustmite, cats and grasses desensitisation therapy.

Please let me know how you get on - am really interested in the process, cost and results

Hi Monkeymoo. Yes 7 is the usual age to start and my DS will be 7 in May so he's starting at 3 months short of aged 7. I do know a patient of Rohan's though who started at aged 4, but he was considered a pretty desperate case as had terrible eczema caused by environmental allergies - it has been pretty successful and his eczema is heaps better/manageable.

Its possible the GP didn't want it done at his clinic because there is the risk of having a serious allergic reaction to the injections - including anaphylaxis, although that is v v rare. With the protocol that Rohan does I think that he's happy for people to transfer to their GP after the intensive phase because by then you are much less likely to have a bad reaction.

Wow Mrs P. That really sucks for your poor daughter.

TWPS or anyone who knows - do you know how much it is without insurance? All up? Even a very rough clue will increase my knowledge.

Hi Covergirl. From memory (I can't find the piece of paper sorry) we will be charged a normal follow up appt charge for each 12 visits (approx $130?) bumped up to $160 I think because we are doing 3 things at once (dust mites, cats, plantain). After that we will buy the medicine - I think $100-150 each, which will last 6-12 months for each one, and then pay a nurse charge ($20) at our local GP practice to do in injections once they go monthly.
Hope that helps.

Thanks heaps twps. So just to clarify -

12 visits x $160. (So about 2 grand.) Is that how it goes?
Then $150 per visit for a sort of indefinite number of monthly visits.

So it's thousands but not TENS of thousands? Spread over a year or more. I could assume that over a year I might spend less than say $4,000?

Sorry that wasn't clear. Yep approx $160 for 12 visits, BUT then its approx $150-300 per year per medicine, plus approx $20 per month for the nurse fee (assuming you do the thing of starting out with the specialist then transferring to the nurse at your local GP practice for the maintenance injections - which are 3-5 years worth I think).

Make sense?

Yes. Thanks very much. Just wanting to know roughly what I'm looking at $ wise.

TBH, I am currently in the grip of allergy hell and this information is like an oasis in the desert to aim for!

Thanks!

Poor you Covergirl. Let us know if you go down this route - its good to get feedback on how people get on with it.