Written by Abby.
Oral immunotherapy is a new treatment plan for individuals with food allergies. It involves giving a person with food allergies a very tiny amount of the food they are allergic to, small enough so the allergen does not trigger an allergic reaction. This amount is gradually increased over a period of several months or years, with the goal of raising the amount of the allergen needed to trigger a reaction, desensitizing the individual to the allergen, and protecting them from having a serious reaction if the allergen is ever accidentally ingested in a greater amount. Positives that come along with OIT include people being able to tolerate things they are allergic to; since this process desensitizes the body to the allergen, it lessens the threat of a serious reaction occurring and therefore lessens many people’s anxiety and increases their quality of life. However, OIT does not work for all patients, and some people have to stop this treatment before they can reach their full maintenance dosage if they are experiencing problems. Typical negative side effects include stomach pain, cramping, and vomiting; itching of the mouth and the throat is also common, and OIT updoses can cause some people to have serious reactions. . I started OIT for my dairy allergy in February of 2020, and my updose appointments have resulted in me having to miss school every other Wednesday morning. Dosing at home has been a bit of a nuisance, especially if I want to exercise or take a dance class early in the morning; this is because I have to dose after I eat breakfast, and I must wait at least two hours after dosing to start exercising. Updose ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY 7 appointments are nerve-racking, and the fear of potentially having a reaction has made me extremely anxious during those appointments. The doses of milk I am taking every day have also been causing my stomach to get upset a lot recently, so I had to start taking a reflux pill twice a day to try to prevent this from getting worse. Despite the negative side effects and lifestyle changes that come along with the OIT process, it has truly been life-changing for the patients the treatment has worked for. My own experience has shown that this treatment really can work; last February, I was only able to tolerate around 0.3 milliliters of milk, but now I am able to tolerate 45 milliliters. I’m going to have to stop updosing once I get to 60 milliliters due to the stomach problems I’ve been having, but I will be able to tolerate dairy in ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY 8 baked goods such as cookies or muffins, which is much better than not being able to tolerate it at all. If I had accidentally ingested something with milk in it prior to undergoing this treatment, I would have had an anaphylactic reaction; however, if I were to accidentally ingest something with milk in it now, I would most likely be fine due to OIT and the desensitization process. A great deal of progress has been made, but there are still many unknowns when it comes to Oral Immunotherapy. Hopefully, scientific discoveries made in the near future will allow OIT to work for even more people; everyone with food allergies deserves to experience what it feels like to live with a little more freedom and much less worry.