Hi everyone!

I am writing this for my husband (he's at work at the moment).

He suffers from a severe allergy to dust mites. But that isn't what I need advice on :-)

Sometimes in the mornings, as soon as the alarm goes off, he is sneezing, and that sets his hay fever off for the whole day. (We thought maybe there might be some dust on the alarm clock that he disturbs?)

He also has a very sensitive nose. If it gets touched, it sets him off. He might be mucking around with the kids and they will accidentally touch it, and he then has hay fever for the rest of the day. It is so sensitive that he can't use nasal sprays, even as a preventative measure as this will set him off.

He can be having a good day, and then all of a sudden he starts sneezing. When this happens we haven't noticed anything obvious to set it off, no wind direction change or anything like that.

His symptoms are very typical, watery eyes, itchy & runny nose, continual sneezing, and lethargy.

After reading a lot of posts on this board, I think he may also have that post nasal drip too, cos he 'gurgles' a lot in his sleep. He had his tonsils out as a child but not his adenoids. He is a very VERY bad snorer, no matter what position he is lying in and has bad breath all the time, within a couple of minutes of brushing his teeth and using mouthwash. The breath is waaayyyyy worse when he has hayfever/allergies.

He has antihistamines to take when he is suffering, but the 'non drowsy' ones aren't strong enough to work, so he has to take the ones that make him drowsy, but it is either that or put up with the symptoms. He has been to the doc and had a needle in his bum, but gave up on that after a few months as it wasn't making any difference at all.

What I am asking is, does anyone have any advice as to what we can do now? It is really getting my husband down feeling like this all the time and we need some help, for his sanity!

Thank you in advance.

Sara

Why would they give him an injection in his bum? That is odd. So did he try allergy shots? If so they take a loooong time to fully work. Does he have allergies all year round or just during a certain time of year? He can try supplements and see if they help. There's quercetin, grape seed extract, nettle, and something called NSC-24 immunition beta glucan. I tried the NSC-100 which is a bigger dosage and boy did it clear me out good. I could actually sleep and didn't wake up with a stuffy nose.

Hi, and thanks for your reply!

I may have been mistaken about the allergy shots in his bottom, but I am sure he said that's where the doctor gave it to him, I will check when he gets home.

Sara

Coasty, dust mites are the easiest allergen to control. Do you all have dust mite covers on the mattress and pillow and do you do other things around the house to control the dust mites? We have a very allergy-free house. My husband has a friend who snores really bad. He stayed at our house for a few days once and he never snored! I have a dust mite allergy and I haven't had symptoms or taken allergy medicine since I have started to control the house for dust mites. If you are interested I will tell you what I do.

You might try a benedryl at bedtime.

Hi!

At the moment we are renting so there isn't much we can do in regards to dust mites/carpet. We have an 'allergy friendly' doona, but that may just be a sales gimmick!

Where we used to live we ripped up all our carpet and put a floating timber floor down which didn't really seem to do much.

I would be very appreciative of anything more I can do to relieve his suffering, and I will also encourage him to have some Benadryl at bedtime as a preventative measure.

Thanks so much

Sara

Coasty, the dust mite covers are the most important thing! Please consider purchasing these and wash them periodically. Wash blankets frequently. Clean out the bedroom of clutter which collects dust. I keep us symptom free by cleaning about once every 10 days or so. I wipe down all surfaces and vacuum. Vacuum slowly. I also vacuum the furniture monthly and throw sofa pillows into a bag and suck out the air with a vacuum hose. Wash clothing after you take it out of storage and wash his winter coat.

I have read that air purifiers aren't that effective against dust mites because they are IN things and don't float around like pet dander and pollens would.

Dito on the covers for all pillows and matresses. Get a steam cleaner and clean carpets with allergen agents frequently.. if you have to have carpet. There are also allergen sprays that can be applied to upholstery as well.. like Fabreeze's Allergen Reducer spray. There are others out there.. better but not as easy to get your hands on.. on a local level.

Air purifies like the ionic breeze do miracles with pollen and pollutant allergen reduction. Using allergy filters in your AC ducting is another must.

MG

Excellent! Thanks so much everyone for your advice, I will get into gear and start applying these ideas!
Thanks again,
Sara