Despite some recent studies exploring the use of oral or sublingual immunotherapy, Dr. Kenneth Backman emphasizes that it is still experimental and should not be tried at home. As the story from HealthDay News notes below, there are many dangers in their use. Also, sublingual immunotherapy is not approved in any form for use in the US, and there are no FDA approved extracts available.

July 5 — Doctors have long used allergy shots to desensitize children and adults to environmental allergens such as bee stings, pollen, mold and dust mites. Now researchers are trying to apply that theory to food allergies, through processes called oral immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy. They believe they can build up a child’s tolerance for a food that prompts an allergic reaction by exposing the child to tiny amounts of that food. Trials involving eggs, peanuts and milk have produced positive results, said Dr. Scott Sicherer, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and chair of the allergy and immunology for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “The studies are promising in that some individuals are able to get to high doses of the food used in treatment,” he said. Sublingual immunotherapy works by placing an extract of the food allergen under the child’s tongue.

But Sicherer warns these therapies are still in the experimental stage. “All of the experts working in this treatment currently believe it is too early to attempt widespread use and that much more needs to be done to see if this is a viable treatment,” he said. For one thing, there’s still a risk of severe allergic reaction prompted by even the tiny amounts used in immunotherapy.