WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS OF ALLERGY SHOTS?
A. The most common side effect of allergy injections is mild soreness, redness, swelling, local heat and tenderness at the site of the injections. Typically this is greatest 2 or 3 hours after the injection and is gone by the next morning. If such local reaction lasts over 24 hours, the dosage should be held steady and not increased until the excessive degree of local reaction is no longer occurring. Nearly all patients receiving allergy injections have some local reaction – it is a sign that the body is making immunity, the local reactions usually become less of a problem, and the dosage can continue to be increased. A potentially much more serious effect of allergy injections is a systemic reaction. Only a small minority of patients have this type of reaction. Q.
