Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 144 posts

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#41

Post by whymauri »

ahstilde wrote: post #9
candiddevmike wrote: post #6

General feedback: - I want to try this but I'm not sure how much it will cost in total. I see a lot of hints, but no clear pricing on the total treatment cost. I know from experience with a local allergy clinic, this treatment is ridiculously expensive. - I also see no claims around how long the treatment will last (on average) - I'm not sure I understand how an at home allergy test works or suffices for diagnosis. I…

Thank you for the feedback! On total cost: We charge $99/mo. It's hard to give a total cost without knowing more about each person's specific allergy triggers and how well immunotherapy takes for them. Generally, we expect patients to be with us for up 5 years. On how long treatment lasts: I spoke to this in the total cost section, but it's hard to make a blanket statement. On our at-home allergy test: We use a CLIA-…

How effective is this against eczema? Without proper insurance, this is a better deal than medications like Dupixent, right?

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#42

Post by orliesaurus »

A couple of friends and I (back in London) tried to work on this exact same problem, we built an allergy-log app which in theory was going to sync with the doctor's office so that they could recommend a therapy (or even skip the visits with docs and specialists). Our monetizing strategy was to ship you the "therapy" and take a cut - we worked on it for 6 months and then..life threw us some lemons. Definitely a good idea and a missed opportunity!

As an allergy sufferer, I am super happy that you're pursuing this, going to bookmark it - good luck!!

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#43

Post by ahstilde »

criddell wrote: post #38
ahstilde wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you! It's unbelievable that so many people struggle with managing their allergy symptoms instead of trying to take care of the root cause. We're hoping we can change that.

What is the root cause?

Allergic reactions begin in your immune system. When a harmless substance such as dust, mold, or pollen is encountered by a person who is allergic to that substance, the immune system may over react by producing antibodies that "attack" the allergen. The can cause wheezing, itching, runny nose, watery or itchy eyes, and other symptoms.

Antihistamines and nasal sprays handle the symptoms, but they don't try to correct your immune response, which is the root cause of the symptoms. Allergy immunotherapy trains your immune system to not attack the harmless allergens and not trigger the allergy symptoms.

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#44

Post by ahstilde »

mastermojo wrote: post #39
ahstilde wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the feedback! On total cost: We charge $99/mo. It's hard to give a total cost without knowing more about each person's specific allergy triggers and how well immunotherapy takes for them. Generally, we expect patients to be with us for up 5 years. On how long treatment lasts: I spoke to this in the total cost section, but it's hard to make a blanket statement. On our at-home allergy test: We use a CLIA-…

I'm trying to interpret this statement. Are patients paying for therapy for 5 years before seeing effects, or is a course of treatment valid for 5 years?

Sorry about that! I'll try to be more clear:

Patients see improvement in symptoms after 6 months, with some patients reporting improvement as soon as 6 weeks.

If patients stays on drops for 5 years, they can expect significant decrease in allergy symptoms for decades, even once they have stopped taking a daily allergy drop.

If the patient stops taking their allergy drops, they will still see a reduction of their allergy symptoms, but it won't last for decades -- it may only last a few months.

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#45

Post by adkadskhj »

Shoop wrote: post #15

I would recommend toning back some of the emotional language in your treatment comparison table -- things like "confusing terminology", "Busy staff with no time to help", and "Unhelpful Google searches". Your value prop of convenience of no shots is super obvious to me but the biased comparison table is a turn-off. It would give me a lot more confidence if the language in the table were more scientific and clinical.…

Yea, the emotional tone has me thinking this is more "essential oils cure all" than it is actual science.

My fear with something like this is that in a lot of other cases - if it worked, it would be science. So it's difficult for me to be an early adopter here.

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#46

Post by Vaslo »

ahstilde wrote: post #29
reidjs wrote: post #27

I have a dust mite allergy and have tried doing this in the past, but had to stop because I moved away from my allergist. I would be interested in this type of service, but $99/month is a bit expensive for me. I have health insurance, is there any way I could get them to pay for it for me? I have had surgery for nasal polyps related to this twice if that might help my case.

Unfortunately, we don't accept insurance right now because of the complexities involved with insurance and telemedicine (the laws are literally being written right now). If you have an HSA or FSA, you can put it towards treatment with us. Many of our patients have employer-funded HSAs that they put towards their treatment.

I’d do this in a second if you accepted insurance. It’s a huge hassle to go and get shots especially given I have to wait like I’m waiting on the doctor (sometimes it’s 30 mins then I have to wait around to make sure I’m ok.

But I just can’t justify the 100 bucks out of pocket each month when insurance will pay 100% for the shots. I know this insurance situation is ridiculous and out of your control. That said, I think it will be huge for you if you can work that out. Good luck and I’ll keep an eye on this for sure.

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#47

Post by lgg »

Right before the pandemic started I went to an allergist and was considering getting shots, but obviously the last year has put many things on hold.

Avoiding weekly doctor's office visits (and all those shots) is appealing. Would I need to do the take home test, or would it be possible to have my doctor forward my existing results?

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#48

Post by helios_invictus »

ahstilde wrote: post #9
candiddevmike wrote: post #6

General feedback: - I want to try this but I'm not sure how much it will cost in total. I see a lot of hints, but no clear pricing on the total treatment cost. I know from experience with a local allergy clinic, this treatment is ridiculously expensive. - I also see no claims around how long the treatment will last (on average) - I'm not sure I understand how an at home allergy test works or suffices for diagnosis. I…

Thank you for the feedback! On total cost: We charge $99/mo. It's hard to give a total cost without knowing more about each person's specific allergy triggers and how well immunotherapy takes for them. Generally, we expect patients to be with us for up 5 years. On how long treatment lasts: I spoke to this in the total cost section, but it's hard to make a blanket statement. On our at-home allergy test: We use a CLIA-…

So I think being up front that you think it will take 5 years to complete the therapy is a good idea. That this isn't a quick fix is key. But for people with bad allergies or long term users of OTC treatments this might be clarity they need for long term treatment. Also you might want to compare it to other long term life therapies, like braces..which are almost as expensive. I like the idea..I think the $99 price tag a month for 5 years might be a sticker shock though.

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#49

Post by mananatwyndly »

deskamess wrote: post #40

How are oral doses tailored for regional pollen allergies? For example, the US Northwest flora is different from the Tennessee Valley flora.

Each patient’s allergy drops are prescribed individually by their physician based on their symptom history, allergy test results, and region. So yes, the northwest patients typically are treated for different pollens than those in Tennessee valley, however, it is usually even more specific than that: one patient in the same region will likely have different sensitivities and thus a different prescription than another in the same region. This is why the treatment has to be individualized per patient.

Re: Launch HN: Wyndly (YC W21) – Allergy relief through at-home oral drops

#50

Post by Pfhreak »

My allergies are seasonal and pet related, and they provide me some nuisance every year but aren't generally debilitating. That said, itchy eyes and a nasal drip are annoying and there's probably some amount I'd pay to just not have to deal with them.

I think my worry is that I'd start something like this and experience the same low grade symptoms (e.g., a treatment like this might improve my symptoms, but only take them from low-grade to low-grade.) As someone who does take an allergy med during seasonal allergy seasons but is able to function without them, is there much benefit into looking into SLIT? Or is this something that's designed to treat folks who are experiencing a certain level of quality of life impairment?

Post reply on HN