Yes. Sublingual immunotherapy has been used safely during pregnancy for decades. The safety of SLIT in pregnancy has been demonstrated both clinically and in studies. For example, a 6-year study assessing the safety of SLIT during pregnancy (published in the European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2012) actually found a lower incidence of morbidity and mortality in the 155 women on SLIT (and their fetuses) during pregnancy when compared to the general population or the medication use control groups. In 24 of these women, SLIT treatment had even been started during pregnancy instead of before. Their conclusion was that SLIT is safe to use during pregnancy and even to initiate during pregnancy.
If you are a new patient and become pregnant before your initial evaluation, please let us know as soon as possible so we can navigate the specific risks and benefits of starting SLIT during your pregnancy and choose the most appropriate route for your care together, whether that be delaying your testing and treatment until after your pregnancy, or making arrangements to cautiously start at an appropriate time.
Most current patients who are comfortably on SLIT when they become pregnant will not have to stop their treatment. If you are a current patient and may become or are pregnant, it is important for you to let us know right away so that Dr. Schroeder can review your SLIT treatment plan and make any necessary adjustments in order to keep you and your baby as safe and healthy as possible. Often as a safety measure as well as to help you best tolerate your SLIT doses without additional symptoms during pregnancy, we will maintain you at your current doses for the duration of your pregnancy and then reconvene any remaining dose advancements afterward.