May is Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. Spring allergies are making many of us miserable right now, but if you suffer from fall allergies too -- an allergist says now is actually a good time to seek relief.
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CLEVELAND – Many people are in the midst of spring allergy misery, but if you also wrestle with ragweed in the fall – you’ll want to start seeking relief now, according to Cleveland Clinic allergist Sandra Hong, MD.
“If you get really bad fall allergies, this would be the time that I would have you start seeing an allergist to get started with the ragweed therapy,” she said.
Oral immunotherapy tablets for ragweed have been available for a few years now.
The tablets need to be taken about three months before your allergy season begins in order to build up immunity and lessen symptoms.
They work the same way allergy shots do by giving you small doses of the allergen so your body gets used to it.
When taken daily, your body will react to the allergen less, greatly reducing or eliminating symptoms.
The tiny tablets dissolve under your tongue and are taken daily prior to and during your allergy season.
”You come in for the first time. We monitor you for 30 minutes and from then on out you actually take it at home, so you don’t have to come in for a shot and you don’t have to come in to be seen by an allergist after that,” said Dr. Hong.
Oral immunotherapy tablets are also available for summer grass allergies and indoor dust mite allergies.
