Congratulations on starting your allergy treatment journey! Immunotherapy is a rewarding treatment that helps you get back to doing the things you love without sneezing or other annoying allergy symptoms. Your first year with immunotherapy will involve a build-up phase and a maintenance phase, and at the end of twelve months, you should already notice a significant difference in the frequency and severity of your allergic reactions.
Allergy Testing
Allergy treatment starts with the allergy test. These results will confirm the specific allergens causing your reactions and inform your allergist on how to build your immunotherapy doses, be they shots or drops. With a skin prick allergy test, you’ll have results the same day of your test; with a blood test, you’ll need to wait a week or two for results to come back.
If You Are Getting Allergy Shots
Allergy shots require regular injections, and these must be performed at the allergist’s clinic. Allergy shots require two phases: the build-up phase and the maintenance phase.
The Build-Up Phase
The build-up phase typically lasts three to six months, but can take as long as eight months. During the build-up phase, you’ll come to the clinic and receive your shot once a week, with each injection containing a slightly higher dosage of allergen than the last. These appointments will last about 45 minutes.
During the build-up phase, you will still, in all likelihood, experience allergy symptoms if you come into contact with your allergic triggers. You may even have a mild reaction after your shots. However, after a few weeks, you’ll probably start to notice that the severity of your symptoms is starting to go down.
The Maintenance Phase
The build-up phase concludes when you reach the full concentration of allergen per shot, and then you begin the maintenance phase. The maintenance phase will last around three years, meaning it’ll still be going on when you reach your immunotherapy “anniversary.” Visit frequency drops dramatically in the maintenance phase; you’ll only need to come in once a month for your shots.
At the end of your first twelve months of allergy shots, you’ll see a marked difference in your allergy symptoms. While your treatment is not over and you are not “cured” after one year, you will see a significant drop in allergy severity and frequency.
If You Are Taking Allergy Drops
With allergy drops, you do not have to come into the clinic for your doses. Instead, your allergist will blend your allergy drops, and then you take them home to self-administer. Allergy drops also include a build-up phase and a maintenance phase, but the build-up phase for allergy drops is much shorter than that of allergy shots.
The Build-Up Phase
The first dose of allergy drops will be administered at the allergist’s clinic. After that, you can take them at home. During the build-up phase, which typically lasts about ten days, you will gradually increase the dose you take.
The Maintenance Phase
Just like allergy shots, the maintenance phase begins once you reach the full dose, and it lasts about three to five years. Some patients begin seeing significant improvements to their allergic reactions at about the two-week mark.
Beyond The First Year
You will see some very encouraging and exciting progress in your allergy symptoms by the end of your first year of immunotherapy! It’s critical to keep going with your treatment beyond that first year for long-lasting benefits; some patients enter full allergy remission if they are diligent with their doses.
If you’re ready to begin immunotherapy, or if you have any other questions about what to expect during your first year of treatment, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Willamette ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery.
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