OIT & Me

Well, today was the last day at Freedom Allergy! It was sooooo hard saying goodbye to all of the staff and especially Dr Agrawal, Amanda and Jessica who have been AMAZING throughout. They have provided so much care, support, encouragement and advice throughout the whole process and they have looked after me so well. The standard of care I have received has been OUTSTANDING and they are truly one big family at Freedom Allergy. Dr A has created such a perfect team and they create such a brilliant atmosphere. I feel so lucky to have received treatment from them – they truly are leading the way and are world-class allergists! 🌟 Just WOW!

As we got to clinic, Dr A explained how today he’d be pushing me further as he wanted me to fully understand how much peanut my body could tolerate. He said he’d like to try a 4 gram dose of peanut in two doses – 2 gram and 2 gram.

10:40 – 2000mg of peanut – minor tingling

11:05 – 2000mg of peanut – itchy throat

SO, altogether a 4000mg dose which is equivalent to 4 large peanuts. Sorry, no peanut pics today as I was too nervous to do 4 peanuts so quickly ate them and tried not to look at them for too long.

I was really nervous after the 4 peanuts so I started to pace but Luke and Amanda calmed me by the art of distraction!

Thankfully, no reaction and minor symptoms – reflux.

We then gave our gifts and said our goodbyes 👋

As we came to the end of our appointment, Amanda noticed Luke’s arm swelling! So…I don’t think I included this in yesterday’s blog but when we were at the creek, we noticed that he had been bitten by something! Luke is a calm as a cucumber and plays everything down so was like aaah I’m fine!

Amanda said she didn’t like the look of it and then the rest of the team came to look at it. At one point, he had about 6 medical professionals all examining his bite. They believe it’s a spider bite so prescribed him two lots of antibiotics because of how quickly it had spread. Always a drama with us!!!!

We then ended our final day with a yummy burger and a wet walk around Peachtree Lake – one of our favourite places! The Tesla superchargers are also opened in Peachtree so of course, Luke had to get a cheeky charge in. But very useful to know if you’re coming to the area and hiring a Tesla.

Tomorrow is travel day so no dosing on Friday or Saturday and then I’ll do half dose on Sunday.

We are aiming for a peanut maintenance dose of 2000mg or 3000mg a day so I will begin working my way up to that over the next few weeks/months. I’m nervous about home dosing but I think I’ll be OK when I get into the swing of things. I’ll try and put some updates on here too as the hard work starts when I get home!

Anyway, Luke is staring at me waiting for me to help him with the packing so I better dash! Bye!!

Oh and meet Antoine, my beautiful peanut squishmallow from Amanda. Who’d ever thought I’d be cuddling a peanut soft toy?!?!?!?!!?

I had a little bit of tummy ache last night so I text Dr A to ask for advice he said to dose 1200mg and 500mg as a split dose instead of 1500mg and 700mg.

I dosed after breakfast whilst on video call to my mama! I’m not sure she enjoyed watching me eat 1700mg of peanuts but mixed it in with my yogurt today which I find better! It was useful for her to see how careful I have to be weighing them out and how I have a routine of : cracker, peanut, water, cracker! I think I might be going crackers at this point…

Also, new SLIT bottle was started yesterday. This is now my maintenance bottle with a 1:1 ratio. Instead of doing 3 sprays under the tongue twice a day, it is now 1 spray under the tongue twice a day. I definitely noticed a difference with this bottle. My tongue definitely tingles more with the higher concentration!

After all the doses, SLIT and vitamins, we headed to Sweetwater Creek to end the day. This was a gorgeous creek with lots of wildlife – we saw a snake, a turtle and a heron. Luke spotted the snake straight away and we instantly took a picture and sent it to Chaz – owner of one our favourite reptile shops Snakes N Adders in Sheffield. He replied straight away with the type of snake and to reassure it was not venomous. Phew! He was so cute and I did want to give him a cuddle.

Tonight, I’ve been writing cards and organising gifts for the amazing staff at Freedom Allergy. Tomorrow is my last day there. I’m going to miss those guys so much. I’ll try not to cry…

We headed to clinic and Dr A and Amanda discussed my latest blood results. I will try and explain!

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a type of protein in the body called an antibody. It plays a role in allergic reactions.

IgG represents a normal immunological response to food consumed in the diet and a reflection of foods one consumes – Dr A described these as protective antibodies.

Pre-OIT results: 3.81 – IGE Peanut / negative IGG

2 weeks after being on OIT: 3.8 – IGE Peanut / 4.1 IGG

3 weeks after being on OIT: 6.8 – IGE Peanut/ 3.8 IGG

On the 2 week blood test, they expect the IGE to double, triple and sometimes even quadruple!

When mine didn’t, Dr A explained that my body wasn’t registering the peanut as an allergen – it was able to tolerate the low dose of 70mg. That’s why he wanted to repeat the blood test in week 3 to see whether it would increase this time. This also meant that we could move faster after the week 2 labs.

For the week 3 blood test, I was taking much more peanut (1 gram) and sure enough, my IGE shot up to 6.84. He said this wasn’t a huge increase but indicated that it had taken a lot more peanut for it to register it as an allergen. My IGG has also increased which means that my body is starting to produce protective antibodies although he stated that this number isn’t very high and it can typically be a lot higher to show that the body needs more protection.

SO, IN CONCLUSION… I AM PRETTY CONFUSING!

Dr A is happy with my results and symptoms so far so we continued to push forwards today.

I dosed 1500mg (1.5 grams) – minor tingling.

He then added another 700mg dose after 40 minutes

Nurse Amanda then did a great job at chatting to us so that I’m distracted and not thinking of reactions that could happen!

After clinic, we went to a lovely pizza restaurant but I could only manage half – I am definitely getting ready for some British food!

Tomorrow, Dr A wants me to dose the same as I did in clinic today: 1500mg wait then 700mg.

Thursday will be my LAST DAY in clinic!!!!!!!

This morning, we had a quick breakfast and headed to clinic for the start of Week 4!!!! I can’t believe we’re at this point already. Time has certainly flown and we’ve settled well into our little Peachtree life 🍑 We will most definitely miss this place!

When we arrived at clinic, they said they’d start with my hazelnut challenge. If you haven’t read the previous blogs, I’ll give you a quick update. So, my hazelnut component results (bloods) showed that I was allergic to the cross reactive PR 10 protein which is another word for pollen allergy syndrome. Dr A wanted to challenge this on Day 2 and I got quite far but then had a reaction to the 750mg dose: significant tingling and itchiness. This meant that Dr A stopped the challenge and I failed. 😪

A week later, they started me on SLIT drops which are taken under the tongue and contain the environmental allergens including cats, dogs, pollen etc. I also take a multivitamin and a digestive enzyme to support these in being absorbed into my system. Today, Dr A wanted to challenge hazelnut again to see whether the SLIT had started to work.

Amanda knows me well by now and knew that I wouldn’t want to start at the dose I previously reacted at so she started at 100mg so I could build my confidence.

I am pleased to say that I passed the hazelnut challenge and had zero symptoms showing that the SLIT has already started doing its job! I couldn’t believe the result considering I’ve only been taking the SLIT for 2 weeks!! Yay 😆

I then waited for 30-40 minutes and then dosed my peanut. Today, they put me back onto 1200mg as one single dose. Thankfully this went well with minor tingling and some heartburn/’frog in the throat’ feeling. Annoyingly, my most recent blood work still hasn’t come back (done on Friday) but it has been the weekend and today is actually President’s Day so could explain the hold up.

Weirdly, this throat feeling stopped after I had my lunch. It seems to be that my stomach doesn’t like to get hungry / empty and I did have lunch late today so maybe explains why it lingered. After my sandwich, it disappeared completely which was nice as it isn’t a painful symptom but more annoying. I’m finding that this process is about finding out more about how your body works and what is good for it and what isn’t. I know that high fat foods, fizzy drinks and dosing at night is not liked by my body!

We then went to Lake Kedron after clinic. The ducks were so tame and tried to bite my shoe! This evening was spent doing washing so we haven’t got lots to bring home – boring, I know!

This morning, I tried dippy eggs and soldiers. This was lovely and something I’ve missed not being able to eat eggs for so long!

We didn’t have egg cups but weirdly the peanut weighing cups were the perfect size!

I then took my 1000mg dose in yogurt. I’m trying to find different ways to take it as they are quite disgusting! This wasn’t too bad but because I hadn’t filled my teeth with crackers first, I ended up with lots of peanut pieces stuck in my teeth! So, the peanut taste lingered for a while!

We then headed to the Delta Flight Museum for the afternoon. This was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and very reasonable at $15 per adult! No food or drink allowed inside though.

Can’t believe that week 4 in clinic starts tomorrow!!!!! So not ready to leave the team at Freedom Allergy…

For breakfast today, Luke made me scrambled eggs on toast! This was the first time I’ve eaten egg at home since my egg challenge. Excuse the cringe picture!

The taste of peanut wasn’t too bad at first but I’m starting to find it quite blergh so today I tried hiding it in my scrambled eggs. This wasn’t too bad but Luke did say it was like hiding a dog’s tablet in a piece of cheese!!

I dosed the 1000mg as a split dose:

• 700mg – tingling symptoms
• 300mg

We then headed to Piedmont Park where we explored the botanical gardens. The sun was shining and we had a beautiful afternoon. Although, maybe eat before you go as we had a 30 minute wait for a pre-made sandwich, 2 packets of crisps and a sprite from the ‘quick cafe’. It was ridiculous! The gardens also have a gorgeous little gift shop too. Would definitely recommend a visit – it was around $27 per adult.

I had a little more heartburn and nausea feeling last night so I text Dr A this morning to ask if I should continue with the 1200mg dose. He was so quick to reply and told me to dose 1000mg split between 700mg and 300mg to see if my body felt better on that. He said I could stay on this dose, once a day, until clinic on Monday.

700mg dose – tingling which went away after 5-10 minutes.

300mg dose – all ok.

I had a slight bit of heartburn but this soon disappeared when I distracted myself. I think a lot of this process is definitely psychological too and it is a huge mental barrier to overcome! I feel like sometimes I am waiting for the symptoms to appear and I definitely think my brain can do that.

Dr A was happy with my symptoms on this dose so said to continue on this.

I then went for my 3rd lot of blood tests of this trip so should get those results back on Sunday/Monday.

We then went on a long walk around PTC which was beautiful !!

We headed to clinic this morning and they dosed me with the 1200mg of peanut but all in one dose (instead of splitting it like yesterday). This was OK – usual symptoms but felt a little more itchy so they decided not to updose me. I had vitals checked and was observed for about 40 minutes before starting my brazil nut challenge.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Brazil nut before and most definitely have never eaten one! We started on:

• 50mg
• 150mg
• 350mg
• 750mg
• 1.5 g

I am pleased to say that I passed the Brazil nut challenge so that’s another tree nut ticked off the list. I weirdly thought they tasted like the oil from a fish and chip shop… I am strange!

Amanda then said I’d stay on 1200mg twice a day for the next 3 days and then we’ll see how I’m doing on Monday. They also want to recheck my bloods next week as well as do another hazelnut challenge to see if the SLIT has made any slight difference yet. I got up to 750mg of hazelnut in week 1 before a reaction but this was a local tingling reaction which resolved with water.

I then repeated the 1200mg dose 6 hours later. You’ll know from previous blogs that my body doesn’t like dosing at night so I dosed after 4:30. Again, same symptoms of tingling but a little heartburn – I think this was down to me eating fatty foods / drinking a fizzy drink before dosing!

After clinic, we went for a walk around Senoia and visited Nic & Norman’s. This is a restaurant owned by Greg Nicotero (known for his special makeup effects on the Walking Dead) and Norman Reedus (plays Darryl in the Walking Dead). Lots of Walking Dead fans come to Senoia to see where it was filmed. It was a very cool place to visit!

Today, we headed to clinic and we did a peanut updose. Again, they decided not to tell me the dose increase but I decided to have a little glance! It definitely looked like more than yesterday and Luke took a quick picture! They’ve worked me out really well and know that my anxiety is a barrier so this method works better!

Symptoms were as usual – tingling tongue.

Amanda, the nurse, then returned after 25 minutes with the second part of my dose. This was much less and it felt doable so took it quicker! I did feel a little itchy again but quickly distracted myself.

They then observed me and checked vitals and then Amanda let me know that I’d dosed:

900mg then 300mg 25 minutes later so 1200mg altogether. This was double yesterday’s increase!

We then headed to our favourite lake and to Starbucks to chill before my next dose!

They asked me to dose another 1200mg at 4pm around 5 hours after my previous dose.

So we had to measure at home for the first time. This took us quite a while and we checked once, checked twice and then triple checked! The scales they give you are very sensitive but they give you a weight to calibrate it and to check each time.

I’m still scared to touch them with my bare hands so lovely Luke weighed them for me and he had strict instructions to break them up into smaller pieces 🤭

He weighed out the peanuts and split them into 879mg and 321mg so it was similar to this morning’s dose in clinic.

We then headed to the supermarket so I took the peanuts with me in the car. I know it’s important for me to distract myself so I thought food shopping would be a good idea. If I stayed in the house, I know I’d stress more!

Symptoms were the same as the morning – felt a little sicky and hot but I think it’s because I was overthinking and sat in the car for too long.

My mouth has felt a little sore on and off because I think I’m eating too many crackers when dosing and not drinking enough water during the rest of the day! I just seem to down water when I’m dosing but neglect my water intake for the rest of the day. I’m so much better at drinking water at home! I am also eating the crackers dry so it is VERY dry but I’ve now got into a routine with crackers before and after dosing so I feel like I need them!

I’m also continuing to take the SLIT morning and night as well as my probiotic, multivitamin and digestive enzyme!

Back to clinic in the morning!