James A Nickelsen, MD

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Nickelson for thirty years, now (except when my health plan has been Kaiser). He is, quite simply, the finest allergist in the area, and one of the kindest human beings I have ever met.

Dr Nickelsen literally changed my life… after a series of extremely frustrating visits with other doctors, Dr Nickelsen actually listened (!!!) and worked with me to determine a practical course of action. Plus he has a wonderful demeanor and genuinely cares about his patients. Thanks to Dr Nickelsen I am now symptom-​free. Highly highly recommend!

Two updates: they are still taking Cigna, so I don’t have to find another place to get shots. But I might anyway. I made the trip up to Berkeley a few days ago and found that they were closed at a time when they should have been open. The sign said to check their website for closure information, which was especially annoying because I had, just by chance, looked at the schedule page on the website before coming over and there was nothing about a closure. Turns out that closures are listed on a separate page from the regular schedule. How unintuitive can you get? Also there is apparently an email list to notify you of closures. A geek like me would have signed up for that the minute I heard about it so either nobody told me or they signed me up wrong. In any case, I’m much less pleased with this place than I used to be. (I will say, though, that they put the «we are closed» sign at the entrance to the expensive parking lot, so at least I didn’t waste any money on parking. Still, I’d rather not have wasted 45 minutes of my time.)

Dr. Nickelson and his staff are great once you get to them. The waits do tend to drag while waiting for shots as other reviews have stated.
I’m not a fan of their business practices. If you decide to get shots, you will commit to a one year treatment that you are financially responsible for. If you have insurance, no big deal. But heaven help you should you lose your insurance or be transferred out of the area– you have a contract that they make no exceptions for. Sure, they’ll offer you the «cash price» which is about half the amount they bill the insurance… but you’ll still be forking over a car payment or two. Does anyone really believe the cost of the two small bottles of serum really costs near $ 2k to produce? I’d love to see what the mark up is.

i just wanted to second all the previous reviews… my daughter with mild asthma has seen dr. nickelsen for years (though unfortunately we just moved away) and he has always been, as the others said, punctual, friendly, very practical in his approach to problems, kind, and thorough in explaining the reasons for things. He always makes you feel like you are on the right path. Not to mention his obvious love for kids, and quirky but friendly bedside manner. love him!

This review is for shot patients only.
Dr. Nickelson is a great dr but I discourage anyone who is employed from coming to his office for allergy shots. When you are a shot patient you rarely see the dr anyway so you might as well go somewhere that is interested in its shot patients, even if the doctor is not as good as Dr. Nickelson.
Problems: The shot hours are limited and I consistently wait more than half an hour to get an allergy shot. The office makes shot patients the last priority for the nurses, so even if giving a shot takes the nurse only two minutes, she can’t do it unless she has nothing else to do. Of course, as with any allergy shot, you need to wait half an hour in the office after the shot. Unless you can take off an hour in the middle of the workday twice a week for the next several months, I suggest you go somewhere else for allergy shots. To top it off, parking is $ 1.25÷20 min. There is nothing like paying to park while you rot in a waiting room.
The extra star is for the excellent waiting room magazines. And the nurses are great once they finally are allowed to see you.

My first visit to Dr. Nickelsen today was nothing short of astonishing.
I’ve been to four allergists before, starting in the mid-​60s. In each case, the drill was the same: skin-​pop tests to figure out what I was allergic to, the doc making a brief speech, asking if I had any questions and handing me a prescription or three, and then allergy shots on a regular basis for years. So that was exactly what I expected from Dr. Nickelsen. but what I got was quite different.
After a quite pleasant two-​way discussion, we discussed medications, and then we got to shots — and he said while it was up to me, he wasn’t eager to launch right into them. That was a big surprise! Then he explained why.
Allergy desensitization shots don’t work for everybody, often only give partial relief when they do work, and it typically takes two years to ramp up to the point where you really know what they’re doing. In the meantime, you’re presumably on medications to control your symptoms.
Dr. Nickelsen’s take was, if the meds are giving you the relief you need and not causing side-​effects, why do the shots?
And I sat there dumbfounded. Finally, I said, «No other allergist has ever said that to me. And it sounds so sensible! Wow… I could avoid having to come into for shots 2 – 3 times a week for the next few years, and just see you every few months for med monitoring.» And he smiled and nodded.
So he sent me home with samples of several drugs to try, and we’ll get together again in a few weeks to see if they worked and, if not, figure out next steps. Having been prepared to get the skin-​pop tests, I found myself with an extra hour on my hands, which was also a nice bonus.
He’s also a very pleasant, personable guy. We’re both into martial arts, and had a very nice chat comparing our disciplines. You get the sense that to Dr. Nickelsen, you’re a human being, and not just somebody to be rushed through so he cope with his overloaded schedule.

I can’t recommend Dr. Nickelsen highly enough.
For over a year before I was referred to him, I had been dealing with very serious chronic pain and other problems that evidenced themselves as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. After a number of hospital stints, countless appointments with my (good) Internist, numerous tests and visits to a variety of specialists on both coasts, I wound up at Dr. Nickelsen’s office in debilitating pain and extremely frustrated.
Not only did Dr. Nickelsen take the time to really listen to me (in an sympathetic manner that I really welcomed) as I described my symptoms, he asked a lot of good follow up questions, and then reassured me that all the work I had gone through up to that day with other doctors made a lot of sense, in order to eliminate various potential ailments– which was invaluable feedback for me. He then told me his thoughts on my problems, did some follow up research, ordered some very specific tests, gave me a potential diagnosis and course of action– which has, thank you any and all higher powers, been thus far successful. He also stayed in very clear communication with my Internist during my treatment.
In addition to being completely grateful that he could help me, I was very impressed with his overall approach– he seemed to really be interested in hearing my observations and thoughts, he has a straightforward but kind manner, he was very clear about what he wanted to do and why, and he made a point of being accessible in between appointments. In addition, he’s timely– if you have a 4:30 appointment, you’re with a medical assistant doing tests and the initial intake at 4:30, and he’s with you minutes later. It’s a small thing, but speaks volumes about the respect he has for his patients.
I’m so glad I was lucky enough to be referred to Dr. Nickelsen. Highly, highly recommended.

I discovered Dr. Nickelsen many years ago when my hay fever was acting up and I needed a good allergist. Everything’s cool now, but I have stayed with Dr. N over the years while I have burned through a series of the most worthless Internists, most of whom had the bedside manner of Josef Mengele.
So really I have no principal physician, but I do have Dr. N. And check this out: When I have a bad cold, I go visit Jim Nickelsen, and he says, «hock me a loogey in this cup.» Which I do. Ten minutes later he comes back after staring at said loogey under a microscope, and pronounces me either virally infected, in which case I am fending for myself, or bacterially infected, in which case he gives me a Hiroshima antibiotic and I am cured, praise Jesus.
I dare you to find another doctor who will happily do a little semi-​pro lab work like this in his or her office.

My 2 year old had to endure a number of visits to doctors and specialists before we finally determined the cause of her illness (es). Dr. Nickelsen (affectionately referred to by my toddler daughter as «Dr. Noodle») just shined as a wonderful clinical specialist (asthma and allergy). But perhaps more importantly, it is his incredibly wonderful manner with little ones that has been such a gift. Despite all the blood draws, CT scans, x-​rays and other procedures that can make doctors and hospitals scary places for little ones, my toddler daughter still has little fear when going to the doctor – and I primarily credit Dr. Nickelsen for this major feat.
He is so patient and he KNOWS toddlers (and naturally seems to delight in children). This crosses over into his exams and his clear, thoughtful communication with us parents too. Dr. Noodle, we can’t thank you enough. Thank you for being savvy enough to test our daughter for all you did – we caught it early! And thank you for your care, concern and consultation. The best!