Is Food Allergy Treatment Really Worth It?

My thoughts on food allergy treatment now that we’re almost done…

In case you’re new here, hey, I’m Kim, food allergy mom and health coach. My son was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies when he was about 10 months old. We lived in fear for over a year, constantly worrying about cross-contact with his allergens and him mistakenly eating one of his allergens. 

Six months after moving to LA from Miami, a friend (or saint in my book) told me about Southern California Allergy Institute. When I lived in Miami, I had never heard of or even thought about any sort of food allergy treatment. All of the sudden my world expanded to possibilities I had never imagined. And to think, the facility was located in Long Beach, just a short drive away. I’m not exaggerating when I say I cried tears of joy. The universe had a plan for us and who was I to ignore it.

I signed up online for the food allergy treatment wait list at SoCal. I was number 1,264. I was on the list for around a year when I got the email. It said we were up next. Mind blown. Heart racing. 

When we finally entered the program, our little guy was a few months shy of his third birthday. There was a good amount of paperwork, blood work and skin prick tests, all accompanied by anxiety and stress. Nevertheless, we got through it, focusing on one task at a time.

I’ll never forget that first blood draw. Our little guy had only had it done once before and had no memory of it. Not knowing what was going on, he watched the entire time as the phlebotomist took his blood (seriously?!). Looking back, I think he was just trying to figure out what was going on. We tried to distract him with the always tempting iPhone, but he was taking it all in. After the blood draw was finished, he was pale white and I was so worried he was going to faint. My heart still breaks as I type this.

Then the long journey of the Tolerance Induction Program (TIP) began. It is a form of oral immunization treatment that is specific to SoCal Allergy Institute. Based on our little guy’s results from his blood work and skin prick test as well as his medical and dietary history, Dr. Randhawa created his individualized treatment plan. (I’ll get into that in a future blog post). The result was a personalized protocol that consisted of us giving our little guy a certain dose of a specific allergen for a prescribed amount of time, until we treated all of his food allergens.

Typically, our course of treatment would look something like this…We would go to the office to introduce one food allergen. If the introduction of the allergen was tolerated in the office (it always was), we were sent home with very small amounts of the allergen to give daily as a treatment dose. We would be tasked with giving the dose of the treatment allergen every afternoon, while also giving a maintenance dose of allergens we had already treated each morning. Each week, a larger amount of the treatment allergen would be introduced at home until we reached a certain amount. At the end of the food introduction dosing protocol for the allergen we were treating (usually six to eight weeks), we would go back to the office for a food allergy challenge.

During a food allergy challenge, a larger dose of the allergen is given to the patient, the patient’s heart rate is purposely elevated through exercise, and then the patient is monitored for any type of allergic response. If the patient tolerates the allergen during the challenge, that food is moved to maintenance dosing. A new protocol is then started for the next allergen on the list.

I always found it very reassuring that the allergen was first introduced at the doctor’s office with medical professionals who were extremely well-equipped to deal with anaphylaxis. My logic was that I’d rather have our little guy come into contact with his allergens while at the doctor with nurses and doctors monitoring his response, than out with our family in a random situation without medical staff nearby. Although nerves would sometimes take over during these appointments, I always felt like I was in the best hands.

One year and seven months of food allergy treatment have passed. One more blood test, one more skin prick test, numerous doctor appointments, multiple food challenges and countless maintenance doses later, we are here. Our next appointment may very well be our last appointment before food allergy remission! Holy freakin’ moly. 

So, now that you know a little of the backstory, I’ll get to the reason you clicked on this post. After being in a food allergy treatment program for so long, would I do it again? The answer is a resounding “YES!”. There were some small hiccups along the way, plus the (major) commitment of keeping up with all of the treatment protocols and not mention the anxiety that comes with purposely feeding your kid a food that you’ve been told could put him in the hospital, but having food freedom is worth it.

As long as we keep up with maintenance doses during remission, I don’t have to worry about play dates, cross-contact with packaged foods or eating at a restaurant. Recently, we were even able to go for ice cream without worrying about issues of food allergen cross-contact! This treatment has been a real game-changer.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not all over and done with forever and ever, but life as we know it is much more relaxed and comfortable than what it was three years ago. I’m still committed to always carrying our Epi-pen with us, just in case, continuing food allergen maintenance dosing for years to come and annual food allergy testing, but hey, that’s life as a food allergy momma. We’ve got this.

Want more info on food allergy treatments and our treatment in particular? Want to know the nitty-gritty details of the ins-and-outs of carrying out OIT protocols on a daily basis? Let me know in the comment below, and I’ll make sure to get another post up for you soon!

**Also, have you joined our food allergy fam? Click here to get access to our free resource library, stocked with goodies to help you on your food allergy journey. I’m always adding to it, to check back often!