Allergies (Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Port Angeles: 2015, closing, mold)

[DocT]

I'm currently in Houston looking to make the move up next spring and am wondering if anyone can share their experiences moving from the south to the Seattle area in terms of allergies. I have horrible, almost year-round allergies here in Houston that require the holy trinity of treatments: eye drops, spray, and tablet, and they work only sometimes. The whole family suffers, and my youngest son was just diagnosed with allergy-induced asthma, so we are really over the environment here. When I compare pollen counts between the two places it seems much lower in the Seattle area.

Particulates and ozone are harder as I can track them here in Houston (and they're generally not that great), but I can't find any data on the same measures for Bainbridge Island, which is specifically where we are looking. Anyone know why?

[Never Shuts Up]

It could be a regional thing. I get horrible allergies in New York that I don't get in any other part of the country.

[Plenus]

My girlfriend gets a few issues with allergies in the Seattle area. But only in the springtime as the fir trees and a a few other species send out pollen spores.
The rest of the year, not so much.

[Transmition]

Do you have pets? A friend of mine thought he had asthma until he moved out of his parents house. He was just allergic to their dog.

Pollen type is very important. I am allergic to deciduous tree pollen, my wife to grass pollen. We get our allergies at different times of the year.

[DocT]

We do have pets but none of us are allergic to animals. We have all been tested and know our individual allergens, some of which appear in all four seasons here as it doesn't really ever get cold enough that there isn't pollen from something kicking around. I was looking more for a general feel of allergy seasons in the Seattle area. Our major issues are with grass, oak, cedar, and ragweed pollen as well as mold spores.

[Plenus]

Pollen Count - Northwest Asthma & AllergyNorthwest Asthma & Allergy

http://www.aafa.org/pdfs/FINAL%20pub...pring_2012.pdf

These two links provide some info on Seattle area allergies and rankings.

[DocT]

Those are great links-thanks! The fact the counts aren't even published by the allergist's site from August to December probably tells me all I need to know!

[Plenus]

Originally Posted by DocT

Those are great links-thanks! The fact the counts aren't even published by the allergist's site from August to December probably tells me all I need to know!

You bet!

[CrazyDonkey]

There is a specific panel to test for PNW allergies. Talk to your allergy specialist.

Battling allergies in the Pacific Northwest

I had absolutely awful and multiple allergies, from childhood on, literally "suffering" for almost 2/3's of the year. I was allergic to trees, grasses, cats, you name it (affirmed by allergy testing). In my late 20s, I decided on trying an experiment, on the theory that my multiple allergies were reflective of my relationship with the outside world. At the first onset of systems, instead of running for the tissue box, I immediately went outside, and breathing deeply, smelled the flowers and other natural fragrances, while thinking positive affirmations about opening to, accepting, and loving the world/nature, rather than closing/contracting from and rejecting the world/nature. Contrary to what might have been expected, instead of my symptoms being worsened, they were alleviated. I repeated this for several days and each day had the same result, until my symptoms, after gradually decreasing, simply stopped. The result is that I've been almost completely allergy-free for the last 35 years, accept for very occasional and minor symptoms, without any allergy shots or other medications.

[Hemlock140]

My mother moved here from the SF Bay Area 13 years ago. She had suffered from multiple severe allergies all of her life, but from day 1 in the Sequim/Port Angeles area they have all been gone. Bainbridge would be very similar. Some people are sensitive to the pollen from the many fir trees, which at times will leave your car yellow, but it doesn't last long. We also get some cottonwood fluff, almost like snow, but that is seed, not pollen. Their pollen is earlier in spring, when it's almost always raining and that helps wash the pollen from the air.