Will Allergy Shots Help with Eczema?

Post date: 2021-06-18 06:43:09

At the age of 50 I have been diagnosed with eczema. It's new, not a lifelong issue or a childhood problem that is now suddenly recurring. I've had skin tests for allergies and recent tests didn't turn up anything new. My primary allergens are dust mite proteins and cat dander. Would allergy shots help me enough to be worth the inconvenience of crossing town to get them?

I've had skin tests for food allergies and a followup blood test to rule out gluten sensitivity. This was not my first time doing allergy tests, and this time around they also tested for chemical allergies and didn't find anything. My pollen sensitivity is minimal (a couple tree pollens that don't seem to be common sources of oral allergy syndrome for related foods, and grasses at an even lower level than those). There were no new soaps or lotions, no dietary changes, no new sources of stress. I have no new prescriptions or new drug allergies, and nobody thinks my existing prescriptions have suddenly started triggering my previously known drug allergies. Starting in February, this just* happened.

* I had the first of two shots of Shingrix a full month before my symptoms started, but nobody thinks it's connected. I also had a clinical diagnosis of covid-19 in March 2020, but it was accompanied by a negative test result, and I tested negative for antibodies in September 2020. None of those test results really mean I didn't have covid-19, but none of my doctors have treated this as a post-covid problem (which is not to say it's not, just that nobody has pursued that as a line of thought). There is no smoking gun. Eczema gonna eczema.

I'm seeing multiple doctors and they're not contradicting each other. I'm taking two different antihistamines and I have a variety of topical steroids and instructions on when and how to use them and how not to overuse them. My allergist also prescribed Tacrolimus for the places the rash has been worst, and that seems to be helping (which is good, because it's shockingly expensive). I'm also under instructions to use Flonase and ketitofen (Zaditor or Alaway) eye drops when needed.

I have a big rash on one leg that's mostly faded but still flares up occasionally. I have a smaller rash on the other that has its own minor flares. There are places on my arms and torso that hives will appear and disappear mostly on their own, but often in basically the same spots. Minor flares aren't much of a quality of life issue, but every couple weeks it seems like I get multiple flares at once. Aside from some subtle redness I don't get the stereotypical butterfly rash associated with eczema, but I have gotten some hives around my beard line. They seem rare compared to the other locations I get flares.

The allergist suggested that shots might help. The allergist's office is nearly an hour from our house via transit, a ~25 minute bike ride or just over an hour's walk (at my brisk walking pace) one way, and we don't own a car, nor is parking convenient if I can borrow one. Getting to that office once a week for six months and every other week for 8-9 months after that is a very large logistical challenge. (He also said drops work almost as well as shots and can be done at home, but drops are not covered by my insurance and I can't cover the expense right now).

YANMD. Assume I know how to minimize allergens in the bedroom and am doing all those things, and that I take everything prescribed. If you've dealt with eczema as an adult, did shots help you?

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