ALLERGIES in AZ (Tucson, Catalina Foothills, Catalina: homes, buy, living in)

[ExNooYawk]

My DH and I have been coming to Tucson during the winter months for about four years, both to visit our daughter and get out of the Oregon rain. I love it here. Tucson is a vibrant place, the mountains are breath-taking and there are plenty of interesting restaurants. Last year we looked at homes with an idea to moving here full-time and going to Oregon for July and August. We have run into a big obstacle, though. My DH's allergies.

We've been married almost thirty years and lived mostly in the northeast, five years in California and some time in the Caribbean. He is from London. I have never known him to be so sick. When the wind blows, he has to remain inside. We are due to leave next week and I hope he survives that long.

Are there 'allergy seasons' in Tucson? Is there a time of year when he might be okay? Right now we don't talk about moving here anymore, which is too bad. I love the Catalina Foothills.

[CheyDee]

I would guess the "allergy season" depends most upon what one is allergic to. A friend of mine's are worst in spring and fall; mine seem to be year-round.

I spent 40 years living in NY and 10 in Dallas, before moving to AZ. We're in AZ for over 8 years now. Since year #2 or #3 here, I've had allergies - whereas before I never had any. I live on antihistamines. It took a bit of trial and error to find which ones worked for me and which didn't, but I do just fine as long as I remember to take them. When I forget, my allergies remind me I'm overdue. Immediately upon visiting NY, Dallas, or most other places, they miraculously disappear and return within one day of coming back here.

Sorry. That's probably not what you wanted to hear.

[Marcy1210]

I have to ditto CheyDee. My 23 year old son was born and raised in Colorado's high country, and was not allergic to anything. Even when we'd visit here every March from the time he was four years old, nothing. No allergies even when we started snowbirding here six months a year in 2008. We moved here permanently in 2010 and sometime in the summer of 2011, he started having hay fever. It grew quickly to full blown, miserable, two boxes of Kleenex a week, almost debilitating year round allergies by that fall, and he's now living on antihistamines which only work part of the time. Air conditioning doesn't seem to make a difference even though we have HEPA filters. There are short times from November to January when he seems to do much better, but most of the time, he's miserable.

On the other hand, lots of people say their allergies have cleared up since they've been here.

[Jukesgrrl]

Yes, indeed, as an allergy sufferer myself (a condition that worsened after I had my nose broken), it does depend on what a person is allergic to. When I live in the East and especially in Washington State, my worst allergy was to mold and mildew, which gave me not rhinitis, but migraine-like headaches. Here I do not have that at all. Instead, I have rhinitis off and on all year.

Many people who have immediate reactions in Arizona are responding to the dust which is prolific and pervasive, especially in times of high wind. So that issue is totally unpredictable and is probably the basis of your husband's problem. But it can also be from plants he's never encountered elsewhere. I never saw a palo verde tree until I came here, so who would know I am extremely allergic them when they bloom. So one of the prettiest sights in the desert is a screaming yellow flag of distress to me.

As CheyDee said, antihistamines are about the only thing that can stop the symptoms, but not every brand works for every person. So it's trial and error to get the right one. I'd start with the ones that claim they don't cause sleepiness. When they don't work, move to the ones that do, but just try a half a pill to start. I have the best results with good old-fashioned diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which I buy in its drugstore generic form. It did nothing for my mold allergy, but works better than more expensive things for my pollen allergies.

Good luck.

[sickofIL]

We just returned from Tucson yesterday. (we live in the western Chicago suburbs) Just as last time we were there our allergies mostly disappeared. I am allergic to mold so Tucson is great for me. I was mostly clear and had no headaches and slept very well. Normally I have sinus headaches every day and do not sleep well.

Immediately after returning home I developed a terrible headache and became stuffed up. One of my sons is normally stuffed up all of the time but in Tucson he was clear in Tucson as well.

Last time we visited Tucson it was the first day after some very hard rain and it was humid (for Tucson) and again we were all clear.

I cannot say that when we move we will not develop any other allergies but as it is now it was so much better.

[ExNooYawk]

Thanks for all the interesting replies. I'm thinking that as much as I like it here, we won't be making a permanent move. I've never had allergies so don't know what it feels like but watching my husband suffer, I know what it looks like. Not pretty.

[starrynightz]

My DH and I lived in Tucson for a year and half. I loved it there and never felt better ( have a horrible struggle with SAD). Unfortunately, DH developed severe allergies and we had to leave. He couldn't breathe when outdoors and had to have an inhaler for the asthma type attacks he suffered. He never had any allergies prior to living in Tucson, and now that we have relocated his symptoms have subsided. I miss Tucson immensely, but we just can't live there.

[LittleGirly]

It's always a good idea to get tested to find out exactly what you're allergic to. I'm new to Tucson and I know from testing (again last summer) that I'm allergic to dust, mold, grass and several other things and will be testing for local things in about 10 days. My allergies are year round. Just this week, I was prepping an area of the yard for a garden and was removing grass and playing in the dirt. I was miserable that evening. I make sure I shower after doing outside work and remembered to stay inside when the wind was bad earlier this week.
I've had several changes of medicines since July and two of them caused migraine headaches or nose bleeds. I had to stop using some of the medicines because the side effects were worse than the allergies.
I just read an article that mentioned replacing your bed pillows every 18 months to keep dust mites (huge allergen) at a minimum and make sure you wash your sheets at least weekly. If you know what you're allergic to, you can at least have a better handle on what triggers your allergy symptoms and get to a doctor that can offer you various types of sample meds to see what works for you.

[MrsBreeder]

When we moved here (from TX, where I had allergies) I was constantly getting sick. I had strep multiple times...bronchitis...multiple colds...you name it.

I ended up having allergy testing and then started allergy shots. I thought that they were wonky-- but my illnesses stopped!

I suggest getting allergy tested ASAP...hopefully he can feel better soon.

[Jimrob1]

I'm having a miserable time with what I assume are allergies. I have been in the Phx area since Sept. I'm again on antibiotics for sinus infections, that become so clogged I have headaches and post nasal drip. I cough and gag. I get a few weeks where it stops when I take the antibiotics. I'm also on Flonase for the allergy problem. The problem has been with me for years, but the new problem here is I now lose my voice. I lost it in Jan and again this past week. I was at the Grand Canyon and on day 2 of a 3 day visit my voice completely went. Sinuses clogged, headaches the same problems. I have also been in Tucson the past few days. No voice but I have to say the air seemed much cleaner than the PHX area. I started to feel better in Tucson but on the drive back to Phx. I could not stop gagging and coughing. I know the dust and wind is a trigger to this problem. I don't know what to do. Between Flonase and sinus rinse I would think this problem would subside, but it doesn't. I'm liking the sun here and the beauty of parts of AZ, but is it worth it to live like this. I'm guessing NO. One good thing came out of this recent trip around Arizona even though I didn't feel well. I found I like the Tucson area much better than Metro Phx.