Find a board-certified OIT Allergist
START HERE: Research & Learn about OIT
Review >250+ journal articles, plus >100 national & local media articles at the only comprehensive OIT site on the web!
Real Families, Real Stories, Real Success
I never had any idea what life with food allergies was like – until I did. We found out with a tiny bite of a walnut at our kitchen table when our second child was ~18 months old. His face turned bright red, his eyes swelled, within minutes his voice went hoarse, his chest was welting up. We had called the peds after hours number and a neighbor with a son allergic to antiobiotics. We gave Benadryl and it did nothing to help while we were on the phone. The moment his voice changed we raced out the door to the local ER / Urgent care. That was the longest mile drive of my life at the time. Then came the epi-pens, strict avoidance, endless label reading, endless fear every time the phone would ring when he was out of our care. I became the hovering mom, the endless re-checker, the list maker, the epi pens everywhere, can’t have a babysitter, terrorized, running out of meetings to take a local phone call, stressed out allergy parent. People didn’t get it. We limited where we ate out, reviewed restaurants on allergy eats, called ahead, often brought our own food, grilled the waitstaff, grilled our family and friends.
And then one day when he was two and a half, it wasn’t enou… Read more
Come join our Facebook OIT support groups where all the Success Stories come from and see OIT in action, 24/7! Seeing is believing. Ask questions and watch families go through treatment. You'll see the real life successes and well as the challenges that come with medical treatments. It's not perfect, but #OITworks! Read all the OIT Success Stories here, and dispel all the misinformation and myths about OIT at Top 10 OIT Myths. Learn the basics of OIT at FAQS / Q&A. Follow OIT’s journey with 40+ family-written blogs. Read over 400 news stories, media coverage and medical journal articles in our Research & Learn Library!
My son, Logan was diagnosed with a peanut allergy when he was less than 2 years old. We managed for the most part ok but around age 8 he became more or more nervous. One week he came home from church with an activity they did about worry—-and his top worry was: dying. This hit us hard. The more we talked about it the more it became clear that he truly was worried about this….all the time.
Then we decided based on testing to start OIT. Logan was excited. I was excited and scared. We have had a ve… 
My daughter was diagnosed just before she turned 2 years old with a severe life threatening peanut allergy. To learn that your child could die at any moment from even trace amounts of peanut, changes your word completely. I began to immediately research what a peanut allergy meant for my child and how to keep her safe. She grew up knowing she could NOT eat many foods that we all ate, and she became fearful of food, peanuts, and reactions. She was upset at parties, she wanted to be like everyone else. She went to special peanut free preschool and private kindergarten to keep her safe.
Fathers Day 2010: The day started pretty simply, I had made my husband two pb&j sandwiches for lunch. As he was eating and watching sports, I was playing “tea party” in the other room with our 18 month old daughter, Emersyn “Em”. As Em and I played she would bring “tea” out to her Dad to share. At one point Em reached for his sandwich and he pulled off a tiny piece of the crust and gave it to her. As soon as she ate it she started to cry hysterically. I went to her and she was pulling at her tongue and it looked as if she had been scratched from her cheeks to her lips. At that point we headed to the ER and put a call into her pcp. The on call Dr responded and asked if she was having a difficult time breathing. “No” was my answer. She had calmed and the streaks had lightened. We were advised not go to the ER, but to give her Benadryl, and watch her. Thankfully she did not have further symptoms that day.
My son Nicolas is 14, diagnosed with peanut allergy at 20 months (post reaction) and we were living in San Diego. Our world changed and my learning curve was huge, I was just told to avoid peanuts. We didn’t have social media back then and found that people didn’t understand. We were strict avoidance but he still had reactions. His last one was major (to a “safe” food) and his Epipen fell apart in my hand. When medics arrived the Benadryl had kicked in and he had thrown up, they took us to the hospital for prednisone and observation. He still talks about how scary it was to not be able to breathe and I still (8 years later) can’t write this without tears, I was terrified beyond words.
We used to eat “may contain” products for several years, then I joined several Facebook food allergy groups and realized that I was in the minority.
At the age of 16 months, I fed my son half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Within 20 minutes he was experiencing a full blown anaphylactic reaction. I did not know it at the time. Luckily, I took him to the emergency room at the hospital where they recognized right away from the massive facial swelling and the breathing difficulties what was happening. THREE doses of epinephrine and a few hours later, along with some other steroids, he lived. He had an overnight stay in the hospital so they could monitor him. It was determined that he had experienced a severe allergic reaction to peanuts. Our local allergist confirmed that diagnosis through both skin tests and blood tests. We were given a prescription for EpiPen Jr. (.15 mg) and told to have him avoid peanuts.
Tuck began peanut OIT with 
We have laughed together, cried together, been scared together, but key word is TOGETHER. It was s… 
Kaitlyn has a life-threatening peanut allergy that truly dictates every aspect of her daily life. Her allergy is so severe, that she will go into anaphylactic shock if she ingests even the smallest particle of a peanut. This includes ingesting any product that has been produced at a facility that also produces peanut products, being touched by someone who has recently eaten a peanut, and even airborne particles such as those recirculated in a commercial airplane. Daily life is hard, and arguably harder on a such a young girl of 11.FROM OUR OIT NEWS BLOG
National Institute of Health: “Oral Immunotherapy Is Safe, Effective Treatment for Peanut-Allergic Preschoolers”
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016 Oral Immunotherapy Is Safe, Effective Treatment for Peanut-Allergic Preschoolers, Study Suggests WHAT: Nearly 80 percent of peanut-allergic preschool children successfully incorporated peanut-containing foods into their diets after receiving peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT), a clinical trial has … [Read More Here]
START HERE: Research & Learn
Over 400 published media articles, videos and medical journals about OIT
