Allergen immunotherapy is a form of treatment aimed at decreasing your sensitivity to substances called allergens. Immunotherapy works by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing your immune response to the offending allergens. These allergens are identified by allergy testing (scratch test or blood test), and are the substances that trigger your allergy symptoms when you are exposed to them.
There are two types of allergy immunotherapy available: sublingual drops which can be administered at home and traditional allergy injections administered either in your doctors’ office or at home depending on your particular allergy profile. Allergen immunotherapy involves increasing, over time, the amounts of an allergen to which the patient is allergic to. Immunotherapy has been shown to prevent the development of new allergies and, in children, prevent the progression of an allergic disease from allergic rhinitis to asthma. Allergen immunotherapy can lead to the long lasting relief of allergy symptoms after treatment has stopped.
Immunotherapy is recommended for people who are allergic to certain foods, animals and other unavoidable environmental irritants as well as those who take large amounts of medication to control symptoms but still have allergies. The decision to begin immunotherapy will be based on several factors including:
- Length of the allergy season and severity of symptoms.
- How well medications and/or environmental controls control allergy symptoms.
- Desire to avoid long-term medication use.
- Time: Both types of immunotherapy, allergy shots and allergy drops, can be done at home and will require a significant time commitment.
If immunotherapy is successful, maintenance treatment, with injections, is generally continued for 3-5 years while sub-lingual maintenance may only continue for 36 months. The decision to stop immunotherapy should be discussed with your physician after 3-5 years of treatment (injections) and after 3 years with sub-lingual treatment. Some individuals may experience lasting remission of their allergy symptoms but others may relapse after discontinuing immunotherapy. Therefore, the decision to stop immunotherapy must be individualized.
There are two types of adverse reactions that can occur with immunotherapy:
Local reactions:
Fairly common and present as redness and swelling at the injection site.
Systemic reactions:
Much less common than local reactions. Systemic reactions are usually mild and respond rapidly to medications. Symptoms can include increased allergy symptoms such as sneezing, nasal congestion, itchy eyes or hives. Rarely, a serious systemic reaction, called anaphylaxis, can develop after an immunotherapy injection. In addition to the symptoms associated with a mild systemic reaction, symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction can include swelling in the throat, wheezing or a sensation of tightness in the chest, nausea, and dizziness. Systemic reactions require immediate treatment. Most serious reactions develop within 30 minutes of the allergy injections and this is why it is recommended you wait in the office for 30 minutes after your allergy injections.
Yes. You will need to discuss this with your provider or allergy specialist but the transition could begin immediately.
While taking immunotherapy treatments you will follow-up with your allergy provider only once every 5 Months.
