A Food Allergy Awareness Week PSA: Get an OIT Consult

I see the same comments made over and over again in the online allergy community, "My allergist doesn't think Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) is a good idea.  He says that our numbers are too high to even think about treatment."

My advice to them (after telling them their allergist is spreading LIES-- High numbers don't mean your child can't do OIT.): GET AN OIT CONSULT.

This post may be a borderline rant/vent, but it needs to be said:

You are not married to your allergist.  You are not cheating on him by visiting another board certified allergist.  You would not ask your GI doctor about surgery on your big toe.  Why are you asking your regular allergist about OIT?  Your regular allergist sees lots of types of allergy-- environmental and seasonal allergies probably make up the bulk of his "business."  While he may have a good understanding of food allergy, he only has a cursory understanding of OIT.  Only an allergist who is well-versed in OIT can explain the process accurately to you.

Likewise, a consult does not marry you to the idea of OIT.  It is just an appointment where you hear what the OIT doctor has to say.  Don't like it?!  Then don't do OIT.  But PLEASE, for the love, if you are at all interested in the idea of OIT; if you are sick of visiting your allergist once a year for an Epi refill and being sent on your miserable way; if you are OVER the exclusion, the bullying, the nightmare that is strict avoidance; if you are DONE with mystery hives on the playground, and reading labels, and speaking with chefs at restaurants; just go have a consult with an OIT allergist.

I promise, they won't feed your kid peanuts while you are not looking.  They will simply look at your test results, take a reaction history, and make a recommendation.

And here's what I'm going to tell you about your visit:  Visiting an OIT allergist will be like walking from a black and white world into a colored one.  Everyone in the office will be food allergy aware.  The doctor will have seen 10 kids just like yours that day.  The other people in the waiting room will be food allergy parents.  Instead of handing you an Epi script and sending you on your way, the doctor will spend time with you.  He will listen to every detail of your reaction history.  He will look carefully at your testing and order more if what you've had done was insufficient.

And then, here's the miracle of the whole thing:  He will come up with a PLAN.  That's right, he'll have a plan to tackle your food allergies.  That plan will probably involve food challenges-- to foods your old allergist wasn't willing to come near with a 10 foot pole.  That plan may involve getting your child's environmental allergies under control through allergy shots or SLIT.  It will also include a way to keep your child's asthma under control 100% of the time.  And yes, that plan may include OIT.
While every OIT plan is different for every child, they all have one common thread: HOPE.
You will leave the consult with HOPE.  When's the last time you left your allergist's office hopeful?  Yeah.  I thought so.

So PLEASE, just go have a consult with an OIT allergist.  After the consult, research, study, and decide what's best for your family.  That may not be OIT right now, but I'm willing to lay money that even if you don't choose OIT, you're not going to want to give up your OIT allergist.  OIT allergists are some of the most caring, knowledgeable, compassionate doctors I have ever met.  And they give us HOPE, a commodity that's hard to come by in the food allergy world.