Allergic Asthma Specialist

What is allergic asthma?

Allergic asthma is the most common form of asthma. It’s triggered by inhaling allergens, such as pollen, pet dander, dust mites, or mold. When you are sensitized to those allergens, being exposed to them leads to an allergic response in your immune system. Your immune system overreacts, causing inflammation and swelling in the lungs. Your airways tighten, making it difficult to breathe. You may wheeze, cough, and experience chest tightness.

What are the symptoms of allergic asthma?

Allergic and non-allergic asthma share many of the same symptoms. In both cases, the most common symptom is wheezing. Other symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain or tightness
• Chronic coughing
• Difficulty sleeping due to wheezing or coughing
  
  

Some patients may experience all of the symptoms of allergic asthma, while others may experience only one symptom such as a chronic cough.

How is allergic asthma diagnosed?

At Advanced Sinus and Allergy Center, Dr. Caballero takes a thorough medical history and examination. She typically asks you to perform a breathing test called spirometry to assess your lung function. Sometimes more extensive testing may be needed, called Pulmonary Function Testing. Dr. Caballero may also recommend allergy tests and an exhaled nitric oxide test, which measures lung inflammation.

How is allergic asthma treated?

There are several medications used in the management of asthma. These include rescue albuterol inhalers (ProAir ®), steroid inhalers (Flovent ®), leukotriene modifiers (Singulair ®) and combination medications like Symbicort ®, to name a few. The medications chosen depend on the severity of your asthma, and a step-wise approach is followed to achieve adequate control of asthma symptoms.

In addition, there are new injectable medications like XOLAIR® (Omalizumab) that decrease IgE levels in your blood. IgE is the antibody in your blood responsible for allergy symptoms. Another injectable medication, FASENRA™ (benralizumab), reduces the number of eosinophils in your blood. Eosinophils are white blood cells that play a role in asthma.

Depending on your condition and overall health, Dr. Caballero recommends immunotherapy to give you lasting relief from allergic asthma. Immunotherapy reprograms your immune system to decrease or turn off the hyper reactive response of your airway.

Immunotherapy is sometimes called allergy shots. Advanced Sinus and Allergy Center offers immunotherapy as shots and in a drop form.

• Subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT): These allergy shots are administered during a weekly visit to Advanced Sinus and Allergy Center. After the shot, you’ll wait in the office 20-30 minutes before going home. The shots have a 90% success rate at relieving allergic symptoms. Symptoms usually improve within 12 weeks. You may need 3-5 years of treatment to achieve lasting benefits.

• Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT): You perform this allergy treatment at home, as a tablet or drops under your tongue. SLIT is just as effective as SCIT and works on many allergens, including weeds, grass, trees, dust mites. With the drops, you’ll typically begin with one drop the first day, increasing to five drops on the fifth day. You may stay at 5 drops per day to maintain the effectiveness of the treatment. With the tablets, you may begin to take the tablets that treat pollen and ragweed 3-4 months before allergy season, but take the tablet for dust mites year-round. Treatment lasts 3-5 years to be effective.
  
  

If allergic asthma symptoms are affecting your quality of life and you are ready to Breathe Better and Enjoy Life Again, call or book a consultation online today with Advanced Sinus and Allergy Center.