Q&A
After taking OIT for a while, it became a normal part of my day to day life. Because I had to take it on a full stomach, I took it every night after dinner. There were small things I had to plan around it such as taking a shower before and having forced down time after.
OIT can conflict with athletics because you are advised to not participate in any physical activity around 1-2 hours after dosing. Exertion can increase the risk of reaction. Due to this, I took my dose after my game or practice at night when I was done with my activity for the day.
Common side effects may include itchy throat, stomach discomfort, or sight swelling. In rare cases, more serious reactions like anaphylaxis can occur, which is why supervision and precautions are important. Most side effects lessen as the body adjusts over time.
For me, I have found OIT to be extremely helpful as it reduces the risk of severe reactions from accidental exposure or cross contamination. It provided a peace of mind as I felt more comfortable eating foods from restaurants and bakeries that might contain my allergy. For some, it might not be worth it as their goals for their food allergy might differ, or their schedule might not align. Overall, OIT significantly affects the tolerance of the allergen.
The hardest part about taking OIT was eating my dose every night. Studies do show that typically we do not enjoy eating foods that we are allergic to, therefore my dose was not the most appetizing meal of my day. It took some time to get used to, but overtime your pallet gets used to it. For people who are more severely allergic to their allergen, the risk of reaction may be difficult to accommodate in their life style. In this case, you should discuss OIT with your care provider.
The best result that I found was increased tolerance to the allergen. Small and accidental exposure were less likely to cause severe allergic reactions. This heavily decreased my stress during meal times and I felt more confident eating out and different places and trying new foods.
Personally, a specific example for me was eating at a multitude of restaurants I could not eat at before. I have a nut allergy, so eating at different asian restaurants was difficult. However, after taking my dose for a while, I was able to go to these restaurants and eat without feeling worried, as my tolerance of my allergy had increased.
