Starting OIT (oral immunotherapy)
Where has the time gone? Summer is fully here, with some very hot, sweltering weather already. I hope you’re taking some time off to be with family and loved ones, and out there doing things that bring you joy and vitality. I think summer in Toronto is pretty great!
That being said, it’s quite a busy time in my household, as my son just start oral immune therapy for his tree nut allergy. It’s not covered by OHIP yet, but now really is the best time. As there are more risks involved the older a child gets in terms of reactions and effectiveness of OIT in an older child. He’s seven, and we found only 1 doctor who is willing to treat kids up to 8 years old. So yeah, I was pretty gung-ho to get him started the minute I learned about the treatment late last year.
What is OIT you might ask? Oral immunotherapy is a desensitization program to help kids with severe food allergies by giving them small quantities of the food allergen to ingest daily and gradually building up the body’s resistance or tolerance to the food.
On day 1 of OIT for my son, I was so anxious as we’ve tried to avoid tree nuts his whole life, and now he’s supposed to take a little of it everyday?! It was hard to wrap my head around, but thankfully he was calm and wasn’t nervous like me. He did great, and the initial dose is very small and he’s not had any reaction to it so far (whew!). He’s getting 0.05ml (basically 1 drop) of an oral solution of what appears to be sugar water with fine nut powder (which the % of nuts is also low). Now that we’re getting into the swing of things, the hard part is keeping him calm for 2 hrs post-OIT, so not to work up and overheat his body into thinking it is having an allergic reaction. We’ve been watching a ton of family movies. I will continue to update on my son’s OIT journey quarterly, but I’m very hopeful for a future with less ER visits and less Epipens!
If you have a child with severe food allergy, speak with a pediatric allergist or your family doctor to see if your child is a good candidate for OIT. Sickkids is also running OIT research that is OHIP covered. However, my son’s age did not fit the criteria. I believe OIT can be life-saving for kids with severe food allergies. OIT may not be curative of the food allergy altogether, but with desensitization over time, the goal is for allergic reactions to becoming milder, less severe and less scary.
