OK a few points from someone who uses oral drops for (strong, class 6) dust mite allergy.
* the first dose MUST be administered by a doctor (so that they can take measures if an acute adverse reaction happens) - for the same reason you must not leave the doctor for some half an hour after the first dose
* you must stick to the regime if it's going to be efficient (i.e. no forgetting your dose)
* for dust mite allergy, it takes 3 years, lasts for 3 years, and then you need to reepat it
* in general, its efficiency is measured by the amount of medication you need daily - it should diminish with time
* it's not effective in all cases
* you can measure its efficiency also by a specialized blood test
Thanks for sharing your experience! It sounds different from many of our patients' experience -- we don't want our patients to have to repeat treatment!
Our goal is to give our patients lifelong allergy relief with as little hassle as possible.
My personal experience is obviously limited - I'm using Staloral drops, they're very popular in Europe. Also, they seem to be very effective[0]:
"sublingual immunotherapy was able to reduce the mean number of asthma attacks per year from 8.2 ± 3.05 before treatment to 0.44 ± 0.79 after 3 years, ie, the recommended duration of sublingual immunotherapy; complete clinical remission was recorded in 95% of patients with asthma and in 82% of patients with rhinitis"
However, my doctor told me that what happens after 3-5 years after you stopped taking it is uncertain and often the therapy is repeated. The studies I saw about it are fairly recent so I guess researchers themselves might not be 100% sure about the long-term effectivity.
* the first dose MUST be administered by a doctor (so that they can take measures if an acute adverse reaction happens) - for the same reason you must not leave the doctor for some half an hour after the first dose
* you must stick to the regime if it's going to be efficient (i.e. no forgetting your dose)
* for dust mite allergy, it takes 3 years, lasts for 3 years, and then you need to reepat it
* in general, its efficiency is measured by the amount of medication you need daily - it should diminish with time
* it's not effective in all cases
* you can measure its efficiency also by a specialized blood test
* in Europe, the drops cost ca €70 for two months