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Discussion on Allergy Injection vs. HyDrOxazine Tx
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Monday, Jun 9, 2003 - 2:43 pm:
Hi Dr. O.
My mare has been on allergy injections for several years, yet this time of year, she is bothered by 'sweet itch', etc. She goes on hyDrOxazine to alleviate some of the itching. My question. Is it complicating the process by keeping her on the antigen shots, while on the antihistamine. Seems like one might conteract the other. Thanks for any and all help from anyone.
Shirley
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Jun 9, 2003 - 6:45 pm:
Shirley,
Though there have been some university experiments showing low dose antigen therapy ha helped some horses with sweet itch, or more specifically culicoides hypersensitivity. But these specially prepared antigens are not available commercially that I am aware of and there are no experiments showing that any of the commercial products are of any use in horses, in fact just the opposite for those tested so far. As to how their use may effect the results of antihistimine therapy is not known. Yes, you could speculate it might exacerbate your problem if it is stimulating the immune system.
DrO
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Monday, Jun 9, 2003 - 6:57 pm:
Thank You Dr. O !
I suspected as much. She had the allergy tests done through blood work at BioMedical labs and antigens made up accordingly. She, of course, is now on the stablized dosage which I give her once a month. Of course there is no antigen for gnats, but it has helped with other things she's allergic to. However I bet with the antigens going into her system, and the antihistamines trying to counter act it, it's a no win situation. She seemed to be more 'itchy' after her last injection one week ago. Thanks again for your thoughts. Shirl
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 10, 2003 - 6:13 am:
Shirley,
The blood tests have been shown to not be accurate in identifying allergies. It both identifies things as allergins that are not and does not identify things the horse is allergic to. You are treating a problem identified with a test that is neither sensitive nor specific with a cure that has no proof of efficacy.
If your sweet itch is seasonal: it worsens in the warm parts of the year, I strongly suggest you read our articles on this in the skin disease section.
DrO
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