What set off my allergies?? (allergy, cold, skin, hair)
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Hi everyone,
I have environmental & food allergies & an autoimmune disorder. I'm pretty allergic to dust mites & slightly allergic to dogs. (I know this through skin prick testing.) About 6 weeks ago I started getting drippy eyes & off and on runny nose (clear). I sometimes wake up with a bad taste in my mouth. I hope you all can help me narrow down the cause of the symptoms. I assumed this to be some sort of seasonal hayfever. I was surprised by the occurrence as my environmental allergies have been pretty quiet over the years due to injections I received as a child in the 1970s. (However, my food allergies have been pretty troublesome over the past decade at least.) Well, we're into fall here in Massachusetts & temperatures are dropping. However, my symptoms persist. I've noticed the symptoms typically lessen (though not always) when I leave our house. Here are some observations I've made of possible allergy triggers around the house:
We have a dog who sheds like crazy. His hair gets into everything. No matter how often I brush him he just produces more.
However his hair hasn't set off visible symptoms in the past.
The house is pretty dusty & has been that way for awhile. (I have a spouse & 2 kids who don't believe in cleaning. Ugh.)
I typically change our pillowcases once a week, sheets once a month. (Like I said we're gross.)
I wash quilts once a month.
Right now, I'm spending a lot of time trying to clean up the house in the hopes of lessening my symptoms. The only thing that has produced any improvement is washing bedroom quilts and pillowcases. I really don't know what to do to control this. Steamclean the house? Wash sheets & quilts daily? Buy allergy sheets & pillowcases? Shampoo the dog daily? What do people think is the cause? What might help?
Have you tried encasing your mattress and pillows with allergy covers? The usual recommendation I've seen is to wash sheets in hot water, once a week. I think using special anti- dust mite detergent might be an atlernative, if you can't wash your sheets in hot water.
You could also buy a humidity monitor and see how humid your house is getting. If it's above 50%, especially, you could try to do something to reduce humidity. Keeping it no higher than 40% is probably ideal for not encouraging dust mites, but I know it's difficult to get things just right. I live in New Mexico and I frequently run humidifiers because of how dry it gets in my apartment, but it's hard not to overshoot the mark.
I'm not sure what to make about the fact that leaving your house only sometimes makes things better. Maybe you need to be re-tested for allergies. I would look at mold allergy, especially. My entirely unscientific impression is that it tends to cluster with dust mite allergy.
Have you tried encasing your mattress and pillows with allergy covers? The usual recommendation I've seen is to wash sheets in hot water, once a week. I think using special anti- dust mite detergent might be an atlernative, if you can't wash your sheets in hot water.
You could also buy a humidity monitor and see how humid your house is getting. If it's above 50%, especially, you could try to do something to reduce humidity. Keeping it no higher than 40% is probably ideal for not encouraging dust mites, but I know it's difficult to get things just right. I live in New Mexico and I frequently run humidifiers because of how dry it gets in my apartment, but it's hard not to overshoot the mark.
I'm not sure what to make about the fact that leaving your house only sometimes makes things better. Maybe you need to be re-tested for allergies. I would look at mold allergy, especially. My entirely unscientific impression is that it tends to cluster with dust mite allergy.
Hi Nomad,
Thanks for your ideas. I haven't yet tried the allergy covers. It sounds like that is a next step. I've been washing sheets in cold water. I'll change that. Does drying sheets at high heat have the same effect?
I guess may need to look into getting retested. Ugh.
Our fridge has mold in it (we're slobs). Our shower does too. More cleaning. Ugh.
The area is pretty dry. We're in a drought so moisture has been a rarity all summer. Our house has forced hot air heat (not yet turned on) which is very dry too.
Use bleach water to kill mold the fridge and other places that might have mold. Make one room in your house a "safe room." Usually that's the bedroom. Wash the sheets once a week and make sure you shake any quilts outside to get the dust out. Use the dust stopping cover for the mattress and pillowcase. Make sure you either make your bed or at least cover up the pillows during the day so dust doesn't settle on them.
If it's from ragweed, we are due to have a hard freeze any day now so that will put an end to it for this year. But if the allergies continue after the freeze, it's not ragweed. It can be moldy in the fall too because of all the leave falling, moldy leaves. That won't go away the leaves are all gone, probably late November? So you can eliminate ragweed, then you can eliminate mold, then what you're left with are all the rest. Dust is probably a big one. That or the dust mites. For dust mites, you're lucky you live here because you can take pillows, bedding, outside overnight and the freezing air kills the little demons. Dust itself is another matter and you just have to keep things washed and very clean. Wipe hard surfaces down with a damp cloth to get dust off because with your type of heating, it will blow the dust into the air. Concentrate on the bedroom though so that you always have one room to go to when things get bad.
Use bleach water to kill mold the fridge and other places that might have mold. Make one room in your house a "safe room." Usually that's the bedroom. Wash the sheets once a week and make sure you shake any quilts outside to get the dust out. Use the dust stopping cover for the mattress and pillowcase. Make sure you either make your bed or at least cover up the pillows during the day so dust doesn't settle on them.
If it's from ragweed, we are due to have a hard freeze any day now so that will put an end to it for this year. But if the allergies continue after the freeze, it's not ragweed. It can be moldy in the fall too because of all the leave falling, moldy leaves. That won't go away the leaves are all gone, probably late November? So you can eliminate ragweed, then you can eliminate mold, then what you're left with are all the rest. Dust is probably a big one. That or the dust mites. For dust mites, you're lucky you live here because you can take pillows, bedding, outside overnight and the freezing air kills the little demons. Dust itself is another matter and you just have to keep things washed and very clean. Wipe hard surfaces down with a damp cloth to get dust off because with your type of heating, it will blow the dust into the air. Concentrate on the bedroom though so that you always have one room to go to when things get bad.
Hi in_Newengland,
Thanks for the advice. First, it's dismaying to think of the amount of time I may need to spend cleaning to get this problem under control. My immediate family members are pretty inconsiderate about mess. Ugh. I wonder if stress & frustration aggravate allergies. Second, we live in an urban area with a small lot so a clothes line isn't a good option. I'll have to rely on the dryer to kill the dust mites. Third, is dust an allergen by itself? (Based on my quick look at the web and the allergy tests I was given a couple years ago, it looked like the mites & not dust was the cause.)
Try changing all the shampoos, toiletries you use on yourself and the dog.. same with all the household cleaners, PM me if you need advice and help..
Hi Dizzy,
Thanks for responding. I can try changing but I use mostly hypoallergenic stuff as it is: a shea butter soap, unscented ammonia, unscented ammonia. The dog's last wash was last week & back in July before that. I use unscented Tide for laundry. I'm wary of changing because the natural stuff uses soy derivatives & soy is my worst food allergen. My wife uses 409 & Swiffer cleaning liquids. The latter has fragrance added & causes me a bit of irritation at times. What do you recommend as alternatives? (I will PM you as well.)
Hi in_Newengland,
Thanks for the advice. First, it's dismaying to think of the amount of time I may need to spend cleaning to get this problem under control. My immediate family members are pretty inconsiderate about mess. Ugh. I wonder if stress & frustration aggravate allergies. Second, we live in an urban area with a small lot so a clothes line isn't a good option. I'll have to rely on the dryer to kill the dust mites. Third, is dust an allergen by itself? (Based on my quick look at the web and the allergy tests I was given a couple years ago, it looked like the mites & not dust was the cause.)
Hi, not too far away neighbor. Yes, dust is an allergen. Dust mites are something else. When we get freezing weather, even if you can put pillows and blankets out on a deck or a balcony, even in your car overnight, that will kill the mites. A dryer won't do it. It takes freezing cold for quite a few hours to kill the mites, which are tiny, living bugs.
It's hard to put a mattress outside but you can buy plastic mattress covers to solve that problem.
You could always get a good electric air filter but the really effective ones cost a lot of money. The dust has to go--and anything that collects dust. Doctors recommend taking any dust collectors out of at least your bedroom--stuffed animals, extra pillows, anything that dust can fall on. Also, you could be allergic to both the dust and the dust mites. I was.
Hi, not too far away neighbor. Yes, dust is an allergen. Dust mites are something else. When we get freezing weather, even if you can put pillows and blankets out on a deck or a balcony, even in your car overnight, that will kill the mites. A dryer won't do it. It takes freezing cold for quite a few hours to kill the mites, which are tiny, living bugs.
It's hard to put a mattress outside but you can buy plastic mattress covers to solve that problem.
You could always get a good electric air filter but the really effective ones cost a lot of money. The dust has to go--and anything that collects dust. Doctors recommend taking any dust collectors out of at least your bedroom--stuffed animals, extra pillows, anything that dust can fall on. Also, you could be allergic to both the dust and the dust mites. I was.
Hi In_NewEngland,
Thanks for filling me in on dust and dust mites. My wife has said she'll remove or contain her dust collectors from our bedroom. Hopefully I wont need to wait for winter to rid myself of whatever is causing my troubles. I may turn into a 21st Century Howard Hughes before the snow falls.
You can get a deshedding tool for the dog. It's just a comb that removes the loose fur. The idea would be for one of the nonallergic family members to take the dog outside and use the comb on the dog. My dog doesn't shed a lot but when I use the deshedding comb on her I end up with enough loose fur to fill a small sandwich bag.
Also, if no one in the house wants to clean and you can afford it, you can hire a cleaning service to come in once a week or so. That might even help the lazier people in the house to clean a little more on their own...lots of people will do a little bit of tidying or cleaning before the cleaning lady shows up because they're embarrassed for other people to see how gross their house is.
You can wash your sheets in hot water with borax to kill the dust mites. You might let the machine fill up, add your detergent and borax, put the sheets in and then stop the machine for 10 minutes to let the sheets soak, then let the machine do its thing.
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Second, we live in an urban area with a small lot so a clothes line isn't a good option. I'll have to rely on the dryer to kill the dust mites. Third, is dust an allergen by itself? (Based on my quick look at the web and the allergy tests I was given a couple years ago, it looked like the mites & not dust was the cause.)
