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| - Four and a half years of shots
About 70 office visits, not including annual check ups.
Fifty hours of sitting in the waiting room with the TV blaring Sponge Bob or Disney and kids running around.
At least $1,000.00 in co pays and more $$ for serums.
It is spring time again and my allergies are as bad as they have always been.
The staff and doctors are very friendly, empathetic and helpful whether it is a billing issue with insurance, getting prescriptions filled, giving away free samples of sprays, drops, whatever. That being said, I cannot recommend anyone embark on an immunotherapy program with Arizona Allergy Associates. I do however highly recommend using them to access prescriptions during the allergy season.
The hours of operation are very inconvenient if you hold a 9 to 5 job. They are not open during lunch hours or weekends. The amount of stress in that four and a half year period of having to leave a very busy desk in the afternoon to get to the clinic is immeasurable. I rationalized this by telling myself that in the end I would finally be rid of my allergies for good.
As an immunotherapy patient, you MUST stick to a very rigid schedule. You MUST get your shots every four or so weeks. I tried to go every three and a half weeks to allow for some wiggle room in case the office was closed, which often was the case. The shots are unpleasant, and this is not a critique of the clinic, it is just the facts. One nurse out of about four was usually able to administer the shots so that there was a minimum amount of swelling and pain. Often, it would take up to three days following the shots for the swelling in both my arms to subside. The shots always produced hard knots in both my triceps, and like I said, they were painful and often felt very hot. Aside from the local pain in the arms, the systemic effect of serum was not pleasant, the serum caused drowsiness and irritability for a day or two.
After each shot, the patient is required to sit in the waiting room for no less than a half hour in order to make sure that medical care is immediately available should the patient have a systemic reaction. I had two serious systemic reactions at another clinic in Colorado and they were frightening. One time I literally was unable to breathe. I stood at the counter with tears pouring, holding my throat unable to even say the word "help". Again, this did not happen at Arizona Allergy, but anyone who get shots has to know that they cannot just get the shot and head back to work or school. The half hour wait (often longer if they are busy) is a BIG pain in the ass, but it is mandatory.
I won't give the details of how my four and a half year treatment failed, but a simple annual test would have revealed that I was developing new sensitivities, and the serum could have been adjusted accordingly. As I was nearing the end of my program, the doctor realized I had twice as many sensitivities as I did when I started. My option was to start all over again or just quit. This was an easy choice to make. You have to understand that the doctor cannot guarantee an outcome, and they will not be held responsible for failure. This was a big waste of time, money and energy for me, I might as well have tried homeopathy and acupuncture.
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