Any suggestions on air purifiers for dust mite allergy?

[mom2boys]

I need something for my son's room. The poor thing was tested for allergies yesterday - he reacted to almost every air-born irritant tested for. Dust mites were especially bad. Washed his sheets & comforter in hot water last night & am looking into special matteress & pillow casings. Do any of the air purifiers filter particles as small as dust mites?

 

[Tony-NJ]

No they don't work. In fact they usually grow mold that you can not see, even if cleaned regularly. This can actually make things worse. I use a mattress cover and a cover for my pillowcase. I will say that I have felt better since I invested in the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze. I was told to wash the linens in hot water, however doing this often will ruin the sheets etc. Good Luck! Vacum often!

 

[FINFAN]

We also have the Ionic Breeze in DS room. At first I wasn't sure it was helping much, 'till he slept in the family room one night and woke up miserable! Of course, the dog was right there and he's not allowed upstairs. Anyway, sorry to hear about you litttle guy...we wash, wash, wash, and vacuum, dust like crazy...allergy shots every week, claritin daily....the wind around here doesn't help AT all!

Good Luck!

 

[Melissa R]

My son is also allergic to dust mites. We ran right out (after doing a little research) and bought an air filter. I don't see where it makes a lick of difference. However, we did put encasements on his mattress and pillow, and I think the pillow one does help. We usually travel with it so he's not using unwrapped pillows.

The thing that we found that made the most difference was getting a new vacuum cleaner. It used to be that my son couldn't even be home when I vacuumed - he'd sneeze and his eyes would swell, even if he was in another room. I got a new vacuum with a hepa filter and with special allergy bags, and now he is completely unaffected by the vacuuming.

Good luck. The unfortunate part is that there are dust mites everywhere (school, other people's houses, etc) so no matter how hard you work at home, he'll still be exposed at times. And it's impossible to completely rid your house of them, so you have to do the best you can.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

Will he be getting desensitization shots? DS is. It REALLY helps! They retest them to see how it is going and you can SEE the improvement (in fact he is no longer allergic to most of the things!). I highly recommend them. I took them for years. DD may need to soon. DS's shots had about 16 things in them. You just cannot avoid grass in FL nor Dust mites anywhere! The allergist said we were decreasing his risk of getting asthma by taking the shots-studies have proven this.
He did the rapid desensitization where he got about 10 shots spaced out over 1/2 a day. Then we only had to go twice a week for a few weeks. He is at once a month now and ready to stop!

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I have Hepa air cleaners and they make a HUGE difference. So much so, I cannot sleep in a room without one.

I also have the pillow casings, etc. It also helps to remove all carpeting and swiffer the hardwood floors all the time. We are always washing bed linens.

 

[Kristi1357]

Another vote for the Ionic breeze and the mattress & pillow cases!

I also get the shots and they help alot. Just make sure the place that you get them in certified by the allergy and asthma board - and their protocol follows what the board recommends. The first 3 1/2 years I had shots weekly and the darn ENT docs were doing them wrong and not following the AA board's recommendations! Little did I know at the time that they were not *allergy* board certified! It was basically a money-making rip-off. I have been on shots for 3 years now with a renowned allergy & asthma office and they really do help.

 

[Lorix2]

I am extremely allergic to dust mites, to the point I sneeze so violently it gives me "whoozy feeling" afterward, followed by swelling eyes and runny nose. I feel like there are bugs crawling around my nose.

I have a Holmes air filter/cleaner with an ionizer that I run when I start feeling the symptoms coming on. It really does work for me. I change the filter every 3 mos or so and I can see it working in the air when the sun is coming in the particles are floating around the air.

You might want to try one in his bedroom.

We also bought a vacuum with a HEPA filter in it and that did make a difference for me.

The the dr perscribe a nasal spray for him? Rhinocort Aqua works really well for me.

Hope he'll get some relief soon.

 

[tw1nsmom]

As others have said, wash all linens weekly in HOT water. This includes comforters. As we've begun to better understand DH's allergy we have replaced all our linens with ones that can be washed weekly. Unless you are going to wash his curtains every week, get rid of them. Also, replace any miniblinds with vinyl roll down shades. Mattress and pillow covers are needed too (the have the at Bed, Bath and Beyond...and Linens and things).If at all possible, replace carpet with hard wood floors. Limit stuffed animals to a few that can be washed. Keep only the necessary clothes in his closet/drawers so that they get washed fairly frequently and make sure the closet door and drawers remain shut. You're never going to completely get rid of all mites, but DH's doctor told him that if you can get your sleeping environment as mite free as possible, you'll be ahead of the game. Good luck, it sounds like a lot, but it isn't so bad when you get used to it.

 

[Rajah]

I don't know about dust mites, but the HEPA filters we have make a HUGE difference to me. I notice within a few hours when they need to be changed, or if the power shuts off and we forget to turn the filters back on.

 

[momtoce&j]

just wanted to add that besides changing sheets and putting on mattress covers and pillowcase covers, be sure to move out the bed and vacuum under there. Most people don't or rarely vacuum under the beds and dust mites love to live under there. We have a Hepa filter in both the livingroom and DS's bedroom and have found that it has helped a lot. Even BIL feels difference when he comes over.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

http://www.allergycontrolproducts.com

I have a dust mite allergy as well, but not very severe at all. We have purchased some mattress covers and stuff from here (recommended by the allergist). We also vacuum quite a bit. You need to assess your vacuum cleaners capabilities for filtering the air, as well as what exhaust vents out when you first turn it on...if it is a bag vacuum, it will almost always put some dust/germs back into the air every time you turn it on as well as while it is running...the bag has to have some type of ventilation holes in it and they are usually not as small/fine as you'd think.

If it gets really bad you may want to look into a vacuum that is specially geared towards controlling emissions and has good vacuuming power. Like a HEPA filter equipped vacuum or a Rainbow (www.rainbowsystems.com)

 

[mom2boys]

Thanks for all of the input. I need to order him a pillow cover & mattress pad. I am thinking of removing the top bunk bed from his room - no one ever sleeps up there anyway. I figure it will be one less place for the dust mites to live. Our allergist recommended against the dept store pillow/mattress covers. She says the dust mites can penitrate them much more readily than the medical supply versions.
DS is taking Allegra, Flonase & perscription eye drops. He has always had asthma so he is also taking Flovent & Albuterol. That is an awful lot of meds for a 10 yr old.