LDA Preparation Guidelines

The best way of insuring that the LDA will have its maximum positive effect is to comply with the diet and other guidelines in the Patient Instruction Booklet-"The Pink Book". Because the diet restrictions and other complications may seem too difficult; many patients forego this potentially very beneficial treatment. My experience has been that those who follow the guidelines get the best results.

On the other hand, I have seen patients who had great success with LDA by following little if any of the rules. I was shocked one morning about 15 years ago when a 9-year-old boy with ADHD, who had improved markedly since doing LDA, started eating candy right in front of me, just after I gave him his LDA shot. His mother was there with him and admitted that she was completely unable to control his diet and gave up. After that I began to question my other LDA patients (nonjudgmentally) about how strictly they were following the guidelines. I was quite surprised that many of them who experienced major improvements on LDA had not been complying the recommended protocol. On the other hand, I have seen patients who have gotten worse because they did not follow the guidelines, but this only happens in patients with extreme sensitivities.

So what I am saying is that if you want optimal results, then you should follow the guidelines 100%. If you don't think you can, then shoot for 80-90% or maybe less and you will still likely get favorable results. If you do decide to try LDA you should at least try to follow these guidelines:

Avoidance List
Drugs - Avoid all medications listed on pages 31-35 in the Pink Book. If you don't think you will be able to, then call our office for advice.

Supplements - Best to avoid fish oil, vitamin C and most vitamins (except for vitamin D) for one week before and one week after LDA, unless you think they are absolutely essential. If so, call our office for advice on what to do.

Dietary Changes - avoid the foods you know for sure that you are allergic to - the ones that definitely cause symptoms (not the ones just based on a blood test). Eliminate them for one week before LDA and one week after. Best to avoid caffeine and especially alcohol during the critical 3 days (the day before, the day of and the day after LDA).

During the critical 3 days reduce your exposures to chemicals as much as possible - fragrances, hairsprays, cleaning agents, etc. You should also avoid exposures to excessive levels of mold. Depending on what you are allergic to you might need to avoid having a lot of close contact with cats and dogs.

What You Should Take
Vitamin D - very important in enhancing the immune effects of LDA. Adults 10,000 units daily children-1000-5000 units, depending on age and weight. Avoid on day of LDA. Ideally everyone should have an optimal blood level of vitamin D before starting LDA. If you haven't had a recent vitamin D test then call our office and we will arrange it.

Antifungal drugs - fluconazole, amphotericin or nystatin because most patients have excessive yeast in their GI tract. Take one week prior to and one week after LDA, but skip on LDA day itself.

To reiterate, many patients will likely have a better response to LDA treatment if they follow the pink book protocol or at least some of the above guidelines. However, since some people still improve without following the guidelines, one could start the LDA not complying with the strict rules and see what happens. If after a few injections there was no improvement you would need to follow the protocol more strictly and would then likely improve with further injections. You can order the ”Patient’s Pink Book” online

Anaphylactoid patients-We do use LDA to treat patients with anaphylaxis, but they need to take prednisone for a few days before and after getting the injection at least for the first several injections.

Patients who are extremely allergic and hypersensitive-especially those with chemical hypersensitivities should follow the guidelines as strictly as possible.