Who Is a Good Candidate for Oral Immunotherapy?

Allergies occur when your immune system reacts to a substance that’s not actually harmful, such as pollen or pet dander. 

One of the most common types of allergies is food allergies. Allergic reactions to foods or substances in foods can range from mild to severe, and some of the most severe reactions can actually trigger a life-threatening condition known as anaphylaxis. 

Unfortunately, there’s no cure for food allergies, so creating an effective management strategy is vital to mitigate your risk of severe reactions and anaphylaxis. Some of the most common allergy treatments include avoiding your allergens and keeping epinephrine with you at all times in case of accidental exposure. But this is often not sustainable.  

At Allergy and Asthma Institute of Southeast Michigan in Farmington Hills, Michigan, our team, led by Chad W. Mayer, DO, FAAAAI, FAAP, offers a better solution to managing food allergies known as oral immunotherapy (OIT). 

In this month’s blog, we discuss how this innovative treatment works and if you’d be a good candidate for it. 

What is OIT?

OIT is a treatment for food allergies that works to desensitize your body to your food allergens. While OIT can’t cure your food allergies, it can lessen the severity of them if you’re accidentally exposed to allergens. 

During OIT, you ingest a very small amount of the substance you’re allergic to under our team’s close supervision. Over the course of several weeks, you come back for repeat doses that we steadily increase. Once you hit a “maintenance” dosage, you take that amount every single day. After a few weeks, this decreases to a few times a week. 

Once you’re taking this maintenance dose indefinitely, your body’s tolerance of the allergen is increased significantly. This means if you accidentally ingest the allergen elsewhere, your body’s reaction won’t be as severe, and anaphylaxis becomes less of a serious concern. 

Is OIT right for you?

Currently, OIT can address most food allergies. At Allergy and Asthma Institute of Southeast Michigan, our team uses OIT to manage many common food allergies, including peanuts, milk, wheat, eggs, tree nuts, soy, and sesame seeds. 

If you’ve experienced anaphylaxis before and it’s always a serious risk for you, our team highly encourages you to consider this treatment. OIT can lower your reaction severity and give you peace of mind regarding food consumption. 

OIT is still a developing treatment, but current studies show that treatment can decrease your sensitivity to allergens by more than 90%! 

You can also rest assured that you’re in expert hands when it comes to the administration of OIT at Allergy and Asthma Institute of Southeast Michigan, since Dr. Mayer was the first provider in the Midwest to offer it. He has been administering OIT for 14 years and is one of the leading doctors in this food allergy treatment. 

To learn more about how OIT can effectively manage your food allergies, schedule a consultation with our team by calling our office or using our online booking feature today.