Immunotherapy Experience..so far

[catsliva]

Hell my name is Catherine. I am an 18 year old living with peanut allergies. I have been living with peanut allergies my entire life and as I continued to grow old my allergies continued to worsen. I live in El Paso and I am currently going to an immunology center to desensitize my peanut allergies. I was disqualified from enlisting in the military because of the severity of my peanut allergies, and this therapy is my only hope for every trying to re-enlist. I am curious to talk to other people that have gone through the therapy, how effective it has been for you or anyone currently in the process of doing so. And I am more than happy to share my experience so far with the my treatment.

[rebekahc]

I'm not sure we have any adults here going through the desensitization process, but if you look down in the Peanut section and maybe also in Main, you'll find some threads about people going desensitization.

[Macabre]

I raised one in Main. Please check it out.  I believe Wasserman worked with your allergist's group to develop his protocol. 

Desensitization Programs in the US -- OIT

[hedgehog]

My DS recently went through desensitization.  He is doing great now!  He still sometimes feels the need to ask if food is OK for him--old habits die hard.  But it probably the best thing we have ever done for him.  Here is the thread on his experience:  Re: PA treatment study

If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.

[CMdeux]

I'm curious to know whether or not the US military will consider having a food challenge to be sufficient evidence of being fit to serve-- has anyone determined this specifically?

I do know of at least one case where a person was able to pass a food challenge and enlist-- but that was, in all liklihood, someone who had no clinical history of anaphylaxis.

I'm not sure that someone who HAS that kind of clinical history can be cleared for active duty.  Does anyone know?

[catsliva]

Actually if I can prove that I can pass a food challenge my disqualification can be dropped and I will be considered fit to serve in the military. It is the reason I am going through this entire treatment. My old recruiter told me aside from how severe my allergies were, the reason a branch wouldn't consider taking me is for the prescribed epipen. I have never experienced anaphylaxsis, but I have been sent to the emergency room on a few occasions due to an allergic reaction. My recruiter told me if the treatment goes as planned I should be able to try to re-enlist, but as common as peanut allergies may be, many people are not aware of them, so no recruiter that I have talked to has ever tried to re-enlist someone that has been medically disqualified and gone through the entire process of getting treatment. My fingers are crossed that in a year I'll be able to enlist again.

[YouKnowWho]

I don't want to bust your bubble because I think desensitization will open up ALOT more than just the military.  But I do want you to keep in mind that recruiters often don't know the realities of what will get you qualified and what will not.  (Says the lady who had friends DQ'ed for common medical issues that the recruiters said were not an issue, their goal is to convince you to join whether you are qualified or not).

You may need to go above his head to find out from the medical board if desensitization will be enough.  And it's my understanding that to continue with it into the future you must ingest nuts daily.  If you are the front, there is no guarantee that they can fulfill that need.

[CMdeux]

but I have been sent to the emergency room on a few occasions due to an allergic reaction

I'm going to add a specific note about this statement, here.

If you have sought emergency treatment, then that probably WAS anaphylaxis.  The fact that this has happened on more than one occasion strongly suggests that you have EXACTLY the kind of history that will raise red flags for military medical clearance.

Do you have treatment records from emergency room visits?  If so, look at them carefully and see if you can determine how, exactly, those were coded.  That may well have bearing on your potential future with the military.

Also-- if you haven't seen an anaphylaxis grading chart, you might check the welcome board's resources.    Basically any allergic reaction which involves symptoms which are removed from the site of the exposure (swelling on your hands if you ingested an allergen, hives, or breathing impairment, no matter how minor), that is considered "systemic" and places you at risk of more severe anaphylaxis.

There are also specific regulations regarding the time-frame during which specific medical issues can be 'cleared' or considered 'resolved/in remission.'

For example, previous use of rescue inhalers is permitted in some applicants... but NOT if they were used/prescribed after a certain age.  I think (not sure, since this is obviously an area where my family is never going to be able to participate) that age is 13.  ANY medical treatment for asthma whatsoever after that point in the recruit's lifetime is grounds for a medial DQ.  No exceptions-- and that is military regulation.

The problem is that it's a system designed for high throughput, and so 'exceptions' aren't really handled very well, from what I can tell.  The default response seems to be 'when in doubt = "NO"' instead. 

I don't mean to sound discouraging.  I just know several people who have been reassured (even repeatedly) by recruiters that it will be "fine" only to find out that, well, NO, it won't.  End of story.