100th Episode + Allergies, Asthma & Pregnancy: What’s Safe When Trying to Conceive | Dr. Kerry Reller

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In this episode of the Love and Science Fertility Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Kerry Reller, owner of Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy, for a deep, practical conversation on allergies, asthma, and pregnancy.

If you’re trying to conceive, going through IVF, or newly pregnant and struggling with seasonal allergies, asthma, chronic congestion, or medication questions — this episode is for you.

We cover:

• What allergy and asthma medications are safe during preconception and pregnancy
• Why asthma control is critical for maternal and fetal health
• The truth about antihistamines, nasal steroids, inhalers, and decongestants
• HEPA filters, dust mites, pets, and environmental changes that actually help
• Allergy shots (immunotherapy): when they’re safe — and when to avoid them
• Progesterone reactions, fertility medications, and allergic-type responses
• What to avoid during pregnancy (including common OTC products)
• How allergies, asthma, and inflammation can impact sleep, energy, and overall fertility health

Whether you’re early in your fertility journey or already expecting, this episode provides reassurance, safety guidance, and practical next steps.

Today we also celebrate our 100th episode of Love and Science Fertility! With so much gratitude, we are so honored to be doing this work. As always I love you! 

Guest Details:

Dr. Kerry Reller is a board-certified Family and Obesity Medicine physician and the owner of Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy in Florida. A former electrical engineer turned doctor, she blends primary care, allergy, and obesity medicine to help patients prevent disease and build sustainable habits for healthier living. 

Transcript

Hello, my loves, and welcome back to the Love and Science podcast. I am so excited today to have a friend and a colleague on the show, Dr. Kerry Reller. We’ve been talking about doing this podcast for so long. She is, like I said, a friend and a colleague, and she is the owner of Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy in Clearwater, Florida, which is such a beautiful place to be.

Her practice encompasses family medicine, obesity medicine, allergy, and more — which is amazing, because we have not yet had anybody come onto the podcast to talk about allergy medicine. I have so many questions, and I can’t wait to get into it.

With the combination of these passions, she helps patients live their healthiest and best lives so they can prevent chronic disease, move better, and breathe better. I love that you combine family medicine and allergy because it feels like such a comprehensive way to look at health. Lifestyle change is really your jam, helping people live their best lives.

So welcome, Dr. Kerry Reller. It’s so great to have you.

Thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited to be here.

Absolutely. Another fun fact about Dr. Reller is that she went to Notre Dame just like I did, so go Irish.

Go Irish.

So can you share a little bit about your story and how you came to do what you do?

Yeah, so my story is a little long, but I’ll try to keep it brief. At Notre Dame, I studied electrical engineering. I ended up going to grad school and working in engineering for a bit, but I realized I didn’t want to work behind a computer screen all day. I wanted to interact with people and build relationships.

I had initially intended to do something more biomedical, and I learned about going back to school for medicine through a post-baccalaureate program out of Johns Hopkins. I ended up doing that and ultimately going into medicine. I joke that I’m a professional student — I’m always learning, which I love.

At different points, I considered sports medicine, radiology, and electrophysiology. Eventually, I decided sports medicine was what I wanted to do, which led me into family medicine. I loved every aspect of it. Family medicine allows you to do so much.

I also grew up with an allergist father. He wanted me to move home, learn everything he did, and eventually become a business owner. My husband and I joined him in practice almost ten years ago, and I took over a couple of years ago. He taught me all the allergy and asthma aspects of care, and although I didn’t end up doing sports medicine, that’s how we came to offer such a wide range of services.

I love doing it all. It keeps my day exciting and different, and I’m always learning something new.

That’s amazing. Allergy medicine is honestly a blind spot for me. I have very little training in it, so when patients or clients come to me and say, “I have the worst allergies — can I do this or that?” I kind of freeze and think, I need to phone a friend.

Allergy medicine has evolved so much since medical school, and many of my listeners are either trying to get pregnant or are newly pregnant. What are some basic guidelines for people in those stages?

That’s a great question. Allergies are often accompanied by asthma and eczema, and one of the most important things is making sure asthma is well controlled. Poor asthma control is not good for pregnancy.

One of the biggest points is not stopping inhaler medications. Oxygen delivery is incredibly important for both the mother and the fetus. Inhalers are safe during pregnancy and during the preconception phase, and continuing care is critical. Controlling allergies often helps control asthma as well.

Some simple things include nasal saline irrigation, especially at night, and avoidance of triggers. If you have a cat or dog, keeping them out of the bedroom, bathing dogs weekly, and using HEPA filters can be very helpful. I often prefer stand-alone HEPA units for patients with more severe symptoms. Some even filter viruses, which can be beneficial.

Cost can be a factor, but places like Costco often have good options.

Post-nasal drip can irritate the airways and worsen asthma, so reducing allergens and inflammation is important. Antihistamines are usually fine during pregnancy. The most studied ones are loratadine (Claritin) and cetirizine (Zyrtec). Allegra is also a good option and typically doesn’t cause drowsiness.

Nasal steroids are still first-line treatment. Budesonide (Nasacort) has been studied the most and is safe during preconception and pregnancy. Fluticasone (Flonase) is likely safe as well. These help reduce inflammation, post-nasal drip, and eye symptoms.

Treating allergies matters because otherwise people are exhausted, don’t sleep well, and don’t feel their best.

This is all new information for me, and I’m so excited for our listeners. I’ve heard of HEPA filters but didn’t really understand them. Are there other environmental changes people can make?

Dust mite avoidance is important. Allergy testing is safe during the preconception phase, but I wouldn’t start testing during pregnancy due to a very small risk of anaphylaxis.

For dust mites, you can use mattress covers, wash bedding weekly in hot water, and dry pillows in the dryer. Dust mites live in bedding and can worsen morning symptoms.

What about travel and hotels?

That’s harder. Start nasal steroids before traveling, use saline rinses, and be aware that many hotels have feather pillows. You can request non-feather pillows. Carpeting and humidity can worsen dust mite symptoms, so avoid humidifiers if you have dust mite or mold allergies.

I hear a lot about allergy shots. Can you explain how they work?

Allergy shots, or subcutaneous immunotherapy, expose you to small amounts of allergens to retrain the immune system. Doses build over time. If someone is already at maintenance dose, they can continue shots during pregnancy. We don’t start or increase doses during pregnancy, but preconception is a good time to begin.

Asthma must be controlled before starting immunotherapy.

That makes sense. I wanted to ask about progesterone allergies. I’ve seen rare cases of true endogenous progesterone allergy, but more often reactions to progesterone in oil during fertility treatments.

Yes, true progesterone allergy is extremely rare. Reactions are usually to components of the medication, such as peanut oil or polyethylene glycol. Compounded versions can help. Desensitization protocols may be possible, but they’re not standardized and would require a willing allergist.

Some biologic medications like Xolair and Dupixent are considered safe to continue during pregnancy if asthma or chronic hives are well controlled.

Are there any over-the-counter products people should avoid?

Topical phenylephrine and oral decongestants like Sudafed should be avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Afrin can be used short-term, especially if paired with a nasal steroid. Montelukast can be continued if someone is stable on it, but I wouldn’t start it during pregnancy.

Intranasal cromolyn is another option. It’s a mast cell stabilizer and very safe in pregnancy.

We also discussed maternal diet and allergies in children. Current evidence is mixed, but vaginal birth may reduce allergy risk due to microbiome exposure. Mothers shouldn’t avoid foods unless they’re allergic themselves, and early exposure to foods like peanuts in infancy reduces allergy risk.

Dr. Kerry Reller, I’ve learned so much. Where can people find you?

I have the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. You can find me at Clearwater Family Medicine on Instagram and Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy on Facebook. Our website is CFMA.health, and we’re located in Clearwater and Palm Harbor, Florida.

If you’re in Florida, go see Dr. Reller. I adore her and the care she provides. If you’re elsewhere, binge her content.

Thank you so much for being here. I look forward to many more collaborations.

Thank you so much. Take care.

And to my loves — I love you. Bye.