Welcome to Richmond Allergy & Asthma Specialists! We can’t wait to meet you and help you have a smooth and positive first allergy appointment. In order to do so, we’ve included some important information below about what you can expect and what you need to bring with you. This helps keep your appointment as quick as possible while thoroughly attending to every aspect of your allergy care. Keep reading to learn more about your first visit with us!
Getting Ready For Your Appointment
The morning of your first allergy appointment, eat your breakfast as normal and bring your patient forms, which you should have already filled out. Remember to leave early so that you get here with plenty of time before your appointment time! We appreciate your timeliness.
If you’re visiting us for allergy testing, you’ll need to wear clothing that allows your arms and back to be accessible. Avoid wearing scented lotions, perfumes, colognes and essential oils. You’ll also have some down-time during your appointment while you wait for a potential reaction. Not to worry—we have free Wi-Fi! Here’s what we recommend you bring to have available while you wait:
What To Expect At Your First Allergy Appointment
Your first allergy appointment with us typically consists of three parts: a consultation with one of our allergists, skin allergy testing and a review of your results. During your consultation, our allergist will take a complete medical and environmental history and perform a physical exam. From there, our allergist will discuss your symptoms to determine what you may need to be tested for.
After your allergy test, our team will discuss the results with you and talk through a treatment plan that first meets your needs. If you immediately react to the testing, we may ask you to return to the office later on in the day a “late reading”. This can help capture full reactions and lead to more accurate results for some patients.
How Long Will My Appointment Take?
The length of the first allergy appointment depends on multiple factors, especially if you are receiving allergy testing that day. If so, the length depends on how many allergens you are being tested for and how long it takes your body to react to them. We recommend taking an entire day off so that we can make sure to provide thorough testing to provide you with the very best allergy care, and because some patients will need to come back in the afternoon for a late reading.
Can I Take My Medications Before My Appointment?
We ask that you stop all allergy medications a week before your appointment so that we can make sure your allergy test is accurate, as some medications may interfere with allergy skin testing. In addition to allergy medications, you may need to avoid taking certain other medications before your appointment.
If you are taking medication for blood pressure, do not take it on the day of the appointment but bring it with you to take as soon as your testing is completed.
If you will have had a steroid injection, such as cortisone or kenalog, within 3 weeks of your appointment, please let our team know when you schedule it.
Stop taking these medications a week before your appointment, or as soon as possible:
| • Actifed | • Deconamine | • Novahistine |
| • Advil PM | • Desloratidine | • Olopatadine |
| • Alavert | • Dimetane | • Optimine |
| • Allegra | • Dimetapp | • Patanase |
| • Allegra D | • Diphenhydramine | • Periactin |
| • Amitriptyline | • Doxepin | • Phenergan |
| • Astelin | • Dramamine | • Polyhistine |
| • Astepro | • Dymista | • Rondec |
| • Atarax | • Excedrin PM | • R-Tannate |
| • Atrohist | • Fexofenadine | • Ru-Tuss |
| • Atrovent | • Hydroxyzine | • Ryna 12 S |
| • Azelastine | • Ipratropium | • Rynatan |
| • Benadryl | • Isolclor | • Semprex |
| • Bromfed | • Kronofed | • Tavist |
| • Ceterizine | • Levoceterizine | • Triaminic |
| • Chlorpheniramine | • Loratadine | • Tylenol PM |
| • Chlortrimeton | • Marax | • Vistaril |
| • Clarinex | • Mucinex Allergy | • Xyzal |
| • Claritin | • Mucinex D | • Zyrtec |
| • Claritin D | • Naldecon | • Zyrtec D |
| • Comhist | • Naldelate | • Vitamins |
| • Cyproheptadine | • Nolahist | • Herbal Medicines & Homeopathic Medicines |
Stop taking these medications 3-5 days before your appointment, or as soon as possible.
- Axid
- Pepcid
- Tagamet
- Cimetidine
- Ranitidine
- Zantac
- Famotidine
- Reglan
Do not take these the day of your appointment:
- Acetaminophen
- Esgic
- Midrin
- Advil
- Excedrin
- Motrin
- Aleve
- Fioricet
- Naproxen
- Aspirin
- Ibuprofen
- Orudis
- Butalbital
- Imitrex
- Relafen
- Celebrex
- Indocin
- Tylenol
Do not take these the day of your appointment:
- Beconase
- Nasalcrom
- Qnasl
- Flonase
- Nasalide
- Rhinocort
- Flunisolide
- Nasarel
- Triamcinolone
- Fluticasone
- Nasonex
- Veramyst
- Nasacort
- Omnaris
- Zetonna
Do not take these the day of your appointment:
- Acular
- Claritin
- Naphcon
- Alamast
- Elestat
- Opcon
- Alaway
- Emadine
- Optivar
- Alocril
- Epinastine
- Pataday
- Alomide
- Ketotifen
- Patanol
- Azelastine
- Lastacaft
- Zaditor
- Bepreve
- Livostin
- Zyrtec
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary.
- Advair Beclovent
- Symbicort
- Aerobid
- Dulera QVAR
- Alvesco
- Flovent
- Asmanex
- Pulmicort
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Albuterol
- Maxair
- Ventolin
- Atrovent
- Metaproterenol
- Xopenex
- Brethaire
- Ipratropium
- Combivent
- ProAir
- DuoNeb
- Proventil
- Foradil
- Serevent
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Albuterol
- Primatene
- Vospire ER
- Metaproterenol
- Terbutaline
- Ventolin
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- FloPred
- Orapred
- Prednisolone
- Medrol
- Pediapred
- Prelone
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Theo-24
- Uniphyl
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Accolate
- Montelukast
- Zyflo
- Singulair
Please continue taking the following medications as normal:
- Antibiotics
- Birth Control Pills
- Cardiac (Heart) Medications
- Diabetic Medications
- Hormones
- Prescription Sedatives
- Seizure Medications
- Thyroid Medications
How Long Will My Appointment Take?
The length of the appointment depends on multiple factors, especially if you are receiving allergy testing that day. If so, the length depends on how many allergens you are being tested for and how long it takes your body to react to them. We recommend taking an entire day off so that we can make sure to provide thorough testing to provide you with the very best allergy care, and because some patients will need to come back in the afternoon for a late reading.
Can I Take My Medications Before My Appointment?
We ask that you stop all allergy medications a week before your appointment so that we can make sure your allergy test is accurate, as some medications may interfere with allergy skin testing. In addition to allergy medications, you may need to avoid taking certain other medications before your appointment.
If you are taking medication for blood pressure, do not take it on the day of the appointment but bring it with you to take as soon as your testing is completed.
If you will have had a steroid injection, such as cortisone or kenalog, within 3 weeks of your appointment, please let our team know when you schedule it.
Stop taking these medications a week before your appointment, or as soon as possible:
- Actifed
- Advil PM
- Alavert
- Allegra
- Allegra D
- Amitriptyline
- Astelin
- Astepro
- Atarax
- Atrohist
- Atrovent
- Azelastine
- Benadryl
- Bromfed
- Ceterizine
- Chlorpheniramine
- Chlortrimeton
- Clarinex
- Claritin
- Claritin D
- Comhist
- Cyproheptadine
- Deconamine
- Desloratidine
- Dimetane
- Dimetapp
- Diphenhydramine
- Doxepin
- Dramamine
- Dymista
- Excedrin PM
- Fexofenadine
- Hydroxyzine
- Ipratropium
- Isolclor
- Kronofed
- Levoceterizine
- Loratadine
- Marax
- Mucinex Allergy
- Mucinex D
- Naldecon
- Naldelate
- Nolahist
- Novahistine
- Olopatadine
- Optimine
- Patanase
- Periactin
- Phenergan
- Polyhistine
- Rondec
- R-Tannate
- Ru-Tuss
- Ryna 12 S
- Rynatan
- Semprex
- Tavist
- Triaminic
- Tylenol PM
- Vistaril
- Xyzal
- Zyrtec
- Zyrtec D
- Vitamins, Herbal Medicines & Homeopathic Medicines
Stop taking these medications 3-5 days before your appointment, or as soon as possible.
- Axid
- Pepcid
- Tagamet
- Cimetidine
- Ranitidine
- Zantac
- Famotidine
- Reglan
Do not take these the day of your appointment:
- Acetaminophen
- Esgic
- Midrin
- Advil
- Excedrin
- Motrin
- Aleve
- Fioricet
- Naproxen
- Aspirin
- Ibuprofen
- Orudis
- Butalbital
- Imitrex
- Relafen
- Celebrex
- Indocin
- Tylenol
Do not take these the day of your appointment:
- Beconase
- Nasalcrom
- Qnasl
- Flonase
- Nasalide
- Rhinocort
- Flunisolide
- Nasarel
- Triamcinolone
- Fluticasone
- Nasonex
- Veramyst
- Nasacort
- Omnaris
- Zetonna
Do not take these the day of your appointment:
- Acular
- Claritin
- Naphcon
- Alamast
- Elestat
- Opcon
- Alaway
- Emadine
- Optivar
- Alocril
- Epinastine
- Pataday
- Alomide
- Ketotifen
- Patanol
- Azelastine
- Lastacaft
- Zaditor
- Bepreve
- Livostin
- Zyrtec
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary.
- Advair Beclovent
- Symbicort
- Aerobid
- Dulera QVAR
- Alvesco
- Flovent
- Asmanex
- Pulmicort
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Albuterol
- Maxair
- Ventolin
- Atrovent
- Metaproterenol
- Xopenex
- Brethaire
- Ipratropium
- Combivent
- ProAir
- DuoNeb
- Proventil
- Foradil
- Serevent
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Albuterol
- Primatene
- Vospire ER
- Metaproterenol
- Terbutaline
- Ventolin
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- FloPred
- Orapred
- Prednisolone
- Medrol
- Pediapred
- Prelone
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Theo-24
- Uniphyl
Do not take any of the following medications on the day of your appointment, unless absolutely necessary:
- Accolate
- Montelukast
- Zyflo
- Singulair
Please continue taking the following medications as normal:
- Antibiotics
- Birth Control Pills
- Cardiac (Heart) Medications
- Diabetic Medications
- Hormones
- Prescription Sedatives
- Seizure Medications
- Thyroid Medications
(804) 285-7420