New Custom Allergy Treatment Works, Patients Say

Michael Gibson said he used to get intense headaches brought on by severe allergies.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rank them as 11, 12, 13," Gibson said. "Above the tip of the scale."

He said they were so severe that he couldn't work or sleep.
I started seeing a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins," he said. "I went as far as trying to see if we could get all the nerves on the left side of my head, that's how bad they were, killed so I wouldn't suffer anymore."

However, Gibson didn't need brain surgery. The cure for the excruciating headaches came from a drop of allergy medicine.

"This is a fairly new technique that has been brought to the U.S. from Europe," Dr. Suzette Mikula of Georgetown University Hospital said. "It is available to all patients who have allergies to pollens and foods."

Mikula said she sees a lot of people with severe allergies.

She said she has found that patients like Gibson are responding well to this relatively new treatment.

During the treatment, a blood test determines what a patient is allergic to. Then, a lab produces a serum tailor-made to each person. Patients put a drop under their tongue three times a day. They use less and less as time goes on.

"It's especially helpful to patients who can't make it to the allergy doctors for weekly allergy shots," Mikula said.

Patients said skipping these doctor visits is a big advantage.

However, there are some potential drawbacks to the treatment. Most insurance plans don't cover the drops and they can cost about $150 for a three-month supply.

Also, the medicine must be kept cold.

"I stopped using them because I was traveling, and you had to keep them refrigerated," patient Scott Stroud said. "So I wasn't very successful with them."

Stroud, a chronic allergy sufferer, did not stay on the drops long enough for them to make a difference. But after three sinus surgeries and a rough start to this year's allergy season, he said he is ready to try them again.

"I'm actually scheduled to start them up again in about a week," Stroud said.

Gibson said he thinks it is a good idea for Stroud to get back on the treatment. Gibson said the allergy drops are lifesavers.

"I'm better," Gibson said. "I feel better. And I'm going to do things this year I haven't done in a long, long time."

source:www.nbc4.com