Your evaluation at the AAS is intended to determine if you are an appropriate candidate for sublingual immunotherapy for the treatment of your allergies and/or asthma. You will undergo an examination on by a board certified allergist, allergy skin testing, and if necessary pulmonary function testing.
To make certain that you can be allergy skin tested at your visit to AAS, do not take any antihistamines ten (10) days prior to your appointment. Antihistamines block the skin testing results and the physician will not be able to determine how best to treat you. Antihistamine medications include Allegra, Claritin, Clarinex, Zyrtec, Alavert, Loratadine, Phenergan, Atarax and Astelin (a nose spray). Some over-the-counter medications such as Benadryl and allergy/cold/sinus medications can be taken up to 3 days before your allergy testing. At your visit, the physician will assess if any of the above medications, if taken, will interfere with skin testing. If it is determined that skin testing results will not be accurate, you will need to reschedule your appointment.
You do not need to be experiencing any allergy symptoms at the time of the visit to be evaluated for sublingual immunotherapy. Allergy skin testing will provide accurate results, even if your nose has stopped running and your eyes have stopped itching.