Are allergy drops safe?

Allergy drops have been used around the world for more than 70 years, and numerous studies validate both the safety and effectiveness. In fact, the World Health Organization has endorsed sublingual immunotherapy as a viable alternative to injection therapy. The Cochrane Collaboration, the world’s most-trusted international organization dedicated to reviewing healthcare treatments, recently concluded allergy drop immunotherapy significantly reduced allergy symptoms and use of allergy medications.

The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approves the injection of antigens into sensitive patients for the purpose of reducing allergy sensitivities. The acknowledged potential risk to the patient includes anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is an emergency allergy condition that includes swelling of the lips, tongue and throat, wheezing and shortness of breath, as well as rapid drop in blood pressure. Intervention must be immediate to reverse these symptoms, which is why allergy shots are administered in a physician's office and under physician supervision.

Allergy drops use the same FDA-approved antigens that are placed under the tongue. The FDA has approved sublingual immunotherapy in a tablet form and is no longer considered "off label".

To promote safety, the starting concentration of allergens is based upon each patient's individual allergy test results. Over time, the concentration of allergen increases to the same maintenance concentration as we use in allergy shots.

Because many patients find weekly allergy shots interrupting to their schedule, by common convention, most allergists reduce the maintenance injections to every other week and ultimately monthly. On the other hand, once maintenance concentration is attained with allergy drops, patients continue using the drops three times per day. Thus, at maintenance, patients on allergy drops have 100 times the exposure to full concentrate antigen compared to patients on monthly allergy shots and they still do not get reactions.

To see original medical papers on the topic, go to our website, www.entallergymd.com, click on "Medical Articles and Links", and then click on "Allergy".