Sustained unresponsiveness means that the introduction of large, infrequent doses of an allergen will no longer elicit a response from your child’s immune system. Where the exposure to allergens previously produced an allergic reaction — regardless of the severity of symptoms — with sustained unresponsiveness, your child’s immune system will remain in a state of clinical unresponsiveness regardless of amount or kind of allergen consumed.
For example — for a boy who was previously allergic to pistachios — on Day 1 he would eat ½ cup of pistachios. On Days 2 through 7, he would eat no pistachios and/or have no exposure to pistachios. On Day 8, he would eat another ½ cup of pistachios. In this example, with sustained unresponsiveness, there would be no clinical reaction after seven days of zero exposure to the allergen followed by a large dose of the allergen.
At SoCal Food Allergy, our goal is to not only achieves seven days of sustained unresponsiveness but up to 30 days of sustained unresponsiveness. During that 30-day period, the child could eat whatever they want, without restriction or limitation.