As I mentioned in my blog post “Seeking a cure” my kids started oral immunotherapy in mid February.  We travel for an hour each way once every two weeks for the in office up-dose of the allergen being treated.  We will return to the allergist this week.

They each have multiple allergies so over time they will have have to do OIT for many allergens.  Jaya is being treated for her dairy allergy.  Jaya has reacted to milk and to items which said “may contain milk” multiple times including developing hives and wheezing when I was cooking mac and cheese on the stove and she was nearby.  She developed hives and became very congested when we were on a plane and hot cheese pizza was served to passengers behind us.  (That was in 2012 and it was the last time we were on a plane!) Her IgE levels for milk, casein and whey are all over 100.  Since we started Milk OIT, Jaya has been on the first/lowest dose for an extended time because she was sick and stopped dosing for most of the first 2 weeks.  Since she restarted the first dose on Mar 2 she has been doing well.  She just complains of a stinging sensation in her mouth where I place the dose. The stinging lasts about a minute.

Sahil is being treated for his peanut allergy.  When Sahil was 2 years old he reacted to peanut butter residue left on a knife used to prepare his jam sandwich.  His in office skin test resulted in a hugely swollen and achy arm and his IgE levels for peanut are over 100. Sahil is still on the reduced dose which is half of the first/lowest dose he had started with on Feb 16.  This is because he has been sick with an upper respiratory virus for over two weeks.  I am not sure if he will be able to progress to the next dose or if he will have to go back to the first/lowest dose (about 1/1000 of a peanut).

It is early days of the treatment.  I am full of hope.