Environmental allergies are curable? (Sublingual immunotherapy)

I used to have severe environmental allergies to cats, dogs, and the outdoors. As I kid, I woke up crying most mornings because of my allergies, and I would occasionally wake up with croup and difficulty breathing. I even had to be taken the hospital once.

Anyways, I cried enough that my mother found and enrolled me in a study for an experimental treatment called sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). For the next two years I took under-the-tongue drops, and I presume the drops were formulated with small amounts of the allergens I was reactive to.

My allergies have been nearly non-existent since then.

I’m sharing this post because I keep telling people about sublingual immunotherapy and they’re very surprised. No one seems to know about this treatment! I’m mad about this.

Maybe my improvement was unusual? I don’t know. A few random studies. Please share additional information in the comments here.

To be clear, I still have a few mild symptoms:

• If I pet a dog and then rub my eyes, my eyes get slightly itchy.

• If a dog licks me, I get mild hives in that area.

But that’s all! (And I haven’t observed any side effects, either.)

FWIW, I might also go back on sublingual immunotherapy at some point so I can pet dogs without worry. (Because maybe my treatment was stopped too soon?)

Other details:

• My mother says the particular drops I took costed $25 a week. They weren’t FDA approved, but they were still available for purchase.

• From a quick brief search, I found a few that sell sublingual immunotherapy in the US: Wyndly, Curex, and Quello. I looked a few months ago and I couldn’t find any significant reason to prefer one brand over the others. Please comment you have a recommendation.

  • Note: SLIT has been available for longer in Europe than in the US, so the European brands might be better if you have access to them.