Can You Start Allergy Shots During Allergy Season?

The question of whether you can start allergy shots during allergy season almost always arrives at the worst possible moment. It is the middle of cedar season or the peak of ragweed, you have not slept properly in a fortnight, and the antihistamine that used to get you through a workday is barely touching it. You are cancelling plans, running on four hours a night and short with everyone. Being told to come back in six months, when the trigger has passed and you feel fine again, is a hard thing to hear when you are this miserable right now.

By this stage most people have exhausted the shelf. Two antihistamines, a steroid nasal spray, eye drops, saline rinses, an air purifier, windows kept shut through a Texas spring. Those help, but they only manage symptoms while you keep using them, and each season seems to demand a little more. Symptoms keep escalating because nothing in that routine changes the immune sensitivity underneath. That is the point where patients start asking about immunotherapy, and understandably want to start immediately rather than wait for a quieter month.

Cure Allergy Clinic answers that question individually rather than with a blanket rule. Dr. M. Waseem Imam, DO is board certified in adult and pediatric Allergy and Immunology, and Dr. Baraa Osman is a Fellow of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, so dosing decisions are made by specialists who adjust protocols to the patient in front of them. Testing is performed on site, treatment is customised to your individual sensitivity levels, and with twelve Dallas–Fort Worth locations and published pricing, starting is usually far more practical than people expect.

There is no rule preventing immunotherapy from beginning during peak pollen. Allergists routinely start patients in season, and for many people it is the right decision, because the alternative is another six months of symptoms and a delayed benefit.

The caution behind the question is real but manageable. During peak exposure your immune system is already heavily stimulated, so adding allergen by injection raises the total load and slightly increases the chance of a strong reaction during build-up. Allergists handle this by changing the pace and the dose rather than refusing to start, and the decision comes down to symptom severity, asthma control and which allergens are involved.

In some parts of the country waiting for a quiet window makes sense. In the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex it largely does not, because the calendar leaves very little gap.

Add year-round dust mites and indoor mould, and waiting for a clear window can mean waiting indefinitely. For most North Texas patients, the practical choice is starting carefully now rather than starting perfectly later.

Starting during peak season is a matter of technique. The build-up phase involves gradually increasing doses, typically one or two injections weekly over three to six months, until a maintenance dose is reached. Several adjustments make that safe during high exposure.

Expectations matter, because immunotherapy is a slow treatment that rewards persistence. Through the build-up phase you continue your usual symptom medication and most patients notice little change at first. Once maintenance is reached, injections space out to every two to four weeks.

Meaningful improvement typically appears within the first year, with continued gains through years two and three, and a full course usually runs three to five years. Benefit often persists long after treatment ends, which is what separates immunotherapy from symptom control. Our article on how long allergy shots take to work covers the timeline in more depth, and full details sit on our allergy shots page.

There are situations in which delaying is the safer call. Poorly controlled asthma is the most important, because it raises the risk of a serious reaction, so asthma is stabilised first. Certain medications, particularly beta blockers, complicate the treatment of a reaction and need review beforehand. Immunotherapy is generally not initiated during pregnancy, although patients already on a stable maintenance dose usually continue. These are individual clinical decisions rather than reasons to assume you are unsuitable.

Frequency, rather than season, is what stops most people starting. Weekly clinic trips through the build-up phase are difficult with a full-time job or young children. Sublingual allergy drops offer an alternative: taken at home, needle-free, customised to your individual test sensitivity, and requiring far fewer clinic visits, although they are self-pay rather than insurance billed. Our comparison of allergy shots and allergy drops sets out the trade-offs so you can weigh them properly.

Peak season is not a barrier to starting immunotherapy for most patients, it is simply a reason to build up more carefully. Given how continuous the North Texas allergen calendar is, waiting for an ideal window usually just costs you another year of symptoms and delays the relief by the same margin. What genuinely matters is a specialist assessment of your triggers, your asthma control and your medication before the first dose. If this season has been the worst yet, that is a reason to be evaluated now rather than a reason to wait.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice. Immunotherapy must be prescribed and supervised by a qualified healthcare professional, and recommendations vary by individual.