I have been getting allergy shots (immunology injections) since April 2010. My fiancé said to me just the other day that he thinks my allergies have gotten worse since I started them. Truthfully, I'm not sure. Sometimes I think they're better, other times I don't know. I have not had an anaphylaxis reaction ever- its always a concern with allergy injections but more so if you have food allergies, which I do not.
However, I will say that I have been in an almost constant flare, with the exception of my time on prednisone for about the last four years. I don't know if the allergy injections make the crohns worse... My GI gave me permission to do them as I have horrendous allergies. They may very well be exacerbating the crohns. I'm sure they don't help it, I just am trying to look toward the future and having tolerable allergies (I have issues year round and am allergic to everything they test for). I have not reached 'concentrate' for all of my allergens yet either- largely because they don't give you the injection if you're not feeling well, which for me is more often than not. When you do reach concentrate for all of the allergens they are treating, they keep you at maintainence doses for about 3 years. It's quite a process.
I have panic disorder. When I started the injections, I would bring my epi pen (never had one before the injections but you're required to as part of the therapy) to the appointment and keep it with me for the rest of the day. About a year ago, it really started piquing my anxiety. I now carry it everywhere. I always tried not taking Xanax for the appointment, then one time my throat felt like it was closing (an anaphylaxis symptom, but also a panic symptom). I tried calming myself and took a half of a Xanax...I could feel it on all sides of my throat when I swallowed it. If you know how small a whole Xanax is, you can imagine the scariness of that sensation on swallowing just a half.
I now take one before every injection. Anyway, I don't know if I would recommend the injections or not. Particularly if going into it you are having concerns about the anxiety of the situation. Which doctor of yours recommended it and why? Does any one else have any feedback about doing allergy shots and the effect they may have on crohns? I'm not against them by any means, which is why I'm still getting them. But I do question how much they are working. I can say that my dog allergies are almost nothing...one of the most important ones to get rid of because I love dogs. I think they must be working to a degree but at what cost to the rest of my health issues? I dont really know. Nogutsnoglory, I really feel for your situation.
