To expedite your first visit to our office, please arrive at least 15 minutes early to complete your registration forms, or, to save time, you may print them and bring your completed forms with you to your appointment. Also, please bring your insurance card and a photo ID. It may also be helpful to bring a list of the medications, vitamins, or supplements including the dosing information. Additionally, it is useful to have a copy of all relevant prior tests, whether they be lab or blood results, or allergy tests, lung function tests, and/or X-rays, as well. Having the contact information for your primary care provider as well as specialists you have to see is essential for proper communication and coordination of your present and future care.
You will be seen initially by our medical assistant, nurse, and/or physician assistant in most cases, prior to seeing the allergist. They will take your vital signs and as well as recent relevant history, which will allow additional time to be spent on your behalf with the allergist in evaluating and developing an effective plan in order to better manage your allergic condition.
Allergy testing is usually done during the first visit so patients are advised if possible to avoid all types of antihistamines (eyedrops, nasal sprays, and oral medications) for 48-72 hours before the appointment, if feasible. Please do not stop your other medications and feel free to call us for further clarification, especially if you feel it is not possible to discontinue your “antihistamines”. Testing is done on your forearms so please consider this when dressing for the appointment. In most instances, comprehensive allergy testing cannot be completed during one visit, so follow-up visits may be necessary and will be discussed with you at your initial visit.
Examples of prescription antihistamines include:
- Astelin, Astepro (azelastine) nasal sprays
- Atarax, Vistaril (hydroxyzine)
- Clarinex (desloratadine)
- Optivar (azelastine) eyedrops
- Xyzal (levocetirizine)
- Allegra (fexofenadine)
Examples of OTC antihistamines:
- Allegra (fexofenadine)
- Benadryl (diphenhydramine)
- Dimetane (brompheniramine)
- Claritin, Alavert (loratadine)
- Tavist (clemastine)
- Chlor-Trimeton (chlorpheniramine)
- Zyrtec (cetirizine)
Please be aware that the entire visit may take up to two hours, so please advise the staff if you have any time constraints so the initial visit can be properly constructed to accommodate your individual time needs. It is also helpful to bring along any reading material, work and such, while you are waiting for the results of the diagnostic allergy skin tests.
If you have any questions for the NYC allergists or would like to schedule a consultation with the allergists, please feel free to contact us at (212) 260-6078 for Gramercy or (212) 964-1295 for Financial District.
