SLIT for Allergies-Tell me about it

[sadlebred]

As ya'll know, I've been suffering from terrible sinus infections since Dec. I fired my old ENT and have been going to a new one. We've been trying to get to the root cause of the sinus infections. I had allergy testing, and I am allergic to a lot of things. Summer grasses are particularly bad according to the test.

Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) has been recommended to me for my allergies. Has anyone done it? Did you have any problems? How much was it or did your insurance pay cover it? How long did you have to do it for (I know this is a several year process)? Any other advice?

SLIT seemed like a better alternative than shots every week. I have the appointment to get set up to start in a few weeks. 

[runblondie26]

I'd be interested hear in how this works out for you. Is SLIT something you can do at home?

I did a 2x a month allergy shots though my senior year of high school and freshman year of college. I think they helped, but were really inconvenient to get. My allergies are pretty bad again, so I'd like to do another round now. But ain't nobody got time for that.

[spunkypenguin]

I did it when I was living in RI. I do not do needles, nor did I have time to go to the allergist weekly, so I opted to do the SLIT. I had HORRENDOUS allergies - like on breathing treatments every Spring because I couldn't breathe BAD. I did it for about two years up there (it's a 2-5yr process from what I recall). It was $250 every 3 months ($1000/yr). As VTcupcake said, it's not FDA approved, so my insurance wouldn't cover any portion of that. I was able to use my FSA for it, though. After two years, we moved to West Virginia and there is not a SLIT doctor within a 2hr radius, so I had to stop. My allergies improved tremendously even with just the two years - I probably would have needed close to the full 5 because they were so bad. Before I did SLIT, I had tried every allergy med under the sun and nothing even touched my symptoms - the only thing helpful was Benadryl...probably because I passed out. I still get some seasonal allergies (My test revealed that I'm allergic to pretty much everything green), but I take a regular Claritin and you'd never know I had issues with allergies. Sometimes on really bad days, I'll take a second Claritin.

I wish I'd been able to continue. I may go back on it when we move back up North or if one of the local Dr's starts offering it as an option. I definitely thought it was worth the money.

I had a little pouch to carry it in and I did it three times a day - it was sometimes hard to remember on busy days. The first couple weeks, it kinda made under my tongue feel weird, but no real adverse effects.

[sadlebred]

For me it's mostly about the hassle--having to take an hour off of work to go every week. Plus, it's several miles from work or home. Then you have to pay for parking. $3-5 per time adds up. Hassle is the reason I am looking for SLIT. We'll reevaluate in 6 months to see if it's working. I know it's not FDA approved, but it's been used in Europe with a lot of success for 30 years. This practice is one of the big ones in the area that has used SLIT for a decade. I am confident in them. Plus, the doctor is a cyclist. That alone is reason enough to trust her! She really gets all of my concerns.

Insurance covers it, so my out of pocket expense won't be terrible for a few months since I've met my deductible this year.