Hello, I'm a newbie and this is my first post. We bought an older home about 6 years ago and I started getting sick. I have no spleen and don't fight infection very well anyway.At first, we thought we had fleas in the house. I started having pimple like eruptions which itched intensely. Then I had breathing problems/asthma that progressively got worse. Most of my body became wounds from the itching that made my wounds infected. I had to be hospitalized with a leg infection. After seeing numerous doctors and two dermatologists, I stumbled onto the root of the problem by accident. My daughter visited us and had her shoes off. She began to itch. My son on leave from the military started breaking out in the pimple like rash I had. I noticed that my feet itched when walking on the carpet. I decided to see an allergist. I am allergic to most all of nature and am on allegra, advair inhaler, guaifenesin, and albuteral inhaler for emergencies. I take 2 allergy shots twice a week and yes I have already had a welt the size of a large pancake on one arm from the shot. I will continue to take the shots. The allergist said it could be 1-5 years to build an immunity to the allergens. He said the protection lasts about 20 years according to the research. He did a patch test and found I am allergic to carba mix, thuram mix, and mercapto mix. That means I am allergic to rubber additives to include elastic, rubber backing of carpet, etc... Back to the house. We found out someone laid carpet on top of carpet and the rubber backing became dust which got in the air and in the particle board flooring. We have replaced the floor and walls and I feel much better. I know this is a long post, but I felt I needed to share my experience with you. I hope it helps someone else.

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Be happy, Earthling 365

I have never had this problem (thank GOD!), but I saw your post and was just curious...did you ever have your ducts cleaned just to make sure that after you replaced the walls and the carpeting, etc... that there are no leftover particles in the ventilation system? Good luck! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by purple2067 (edited 08-12-2002).]

Thanks for the reply purple2067. We don't have any duct work fortunately or we would have to have that cleaned out too. Oh, I forgot to mention that when we removed the two layers of carpet there was a 3 foot by 4 foot patch of mold growing under my bed. I would wake up at night thinking my little dog was crying. It was my breathing! Thanks for your concern.

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Be happy, Earthling 365