allergy drops: unexpected benefits

back in the fall, after that hilariously terrible appointment to get allergy tested, i opted to try allergy drops. these are made with the same serum used in the allergy shots that most people are familiar with, but reformatted to be taken daily, rather than weekly, and under your tongue instead of injected.

the benefits to doing this are huge - the dosage is much smaller (since it's daily, rather than weekly) which means the chance of having a reaction is also much smaller. and due to the hyper-low risk of anaphylactic shock, you can take these in the comfort of your own home rather than having to go to the doctor once a week for the shot, then waiting around for 30 mins (to make sure you don't have an anaphylactic reacion).

however.... they're TECCCCHHHHHNICALLY not exactly approved by the FDA. the shots are, and the serum i get in the drops is identical to what they'd formulate for me for shots. but in sublingual form, they're not approved... which means they're not covered by insurance.

additional-however, this is actually a BENEFIT for me. if i had gone with the shots, i'd have to pay a specialist co-pay once a week ($30) and miss at least an hour of work once a week (my allergist is only open during hours i also have to be at work). instead i just pay them directly for the meds, which, hilariously, is less than what i would pay for a weekly co-pay. sort of ridiculous, but there it is.

however, the most surprising beneficiary of the allergy drops so far has been, oddly, my skin. i, uh, do not take excellent care of my skin. i mean, i wash it, and i put sunscreen on it, and i moisturize it (mostly), but... that's about it. i buy spendy face products every once in a while in an attempt to guilt myself into doing a better job, but when it comes down to it i'm lazy. i stay in bed too long in the mornings and don't have time for luxurious face treatments before i have to run out the door. i put off getting ready for bed in the evening until i'm overtired and just want to go to beeedddd.

but the drops require me to hold them under my tongue for about 2 minutes, each and every morning. know what that's a great time for? actually applying the Perricone MD eye products that have been collecting dust on my counter!

this stuff is pretty great. now that i'm *cough*inmythirties*cough* i feel the need for some, ah, HELP in the general wrinkly eye area. this is not a cheap solution by any means, but it seems to be working fantastically, and these tiny bottles last forEVER.

oh, and as for the allergy drops... it remains to be seen whether those are working, since it takes like 6 months to ramp up to the effective levels. and also it's winter, which - while i am allergic to everything on earth, yes - is my least-allergic season. check back in with me when all of virginia is pollinating in the spring.