Dust Mite Allergy

[rae519]

Yesterday we found out that Michael (8) has a severe allergy to dustmites!!! Of course, I flipped out because I am very particular about our home being clean and dust free - yes, I confess I am a neatfreak!!!!

Part of the remedy is getting rid of the carpeting in his room, taking down the draperies, no more stuffed animals and encasing his mattress/boxsprings and pillow in allergy casings!

Has anyone else gone through this? I could sure use some more suggestions/hints/advise and "sage wisdom"!!!!

Thanks in advance!

Rae

 

[Lorix2]

Oh boy do I know he is going thru (sniff) even as I type this.

I am severly allergic as well.

Yes, carpeting isn't very good for people like us.

Washing his bedding in hot water is supposed to help kill the mites, even wash his stuffed animals if they can take the beating in the washer. The covers are a great idea, but they need to be washed too.

Also, buy a HEPA systm and change the filter every couple of months. THere are alot of air purifier/cleaners out there. But be sure it says HEPA (forget what it stands for). I run mine daily.

Try to wash down his room furniture with a wet cloth often too, I find that helps.

I have to wear a dust mask to vacuum or when I move furniture around or cleaning out a closet...basically when I know I will be kicking up dust.

Humidity is especially nasty because the mites thrive in it - try to keep the house and his room cool if you can - it really helps.

Has he been prescribed a nasal spray? Mine (Rhinocort - Aqua) works great for me before bed and i wake up feeling good because it keeps the nasal passages open.

I'm sure he's feeling like he has to sneeze alot and constant itching in his nose, having to blow his nose all the time, watery eyes, etc...I have it every day.

I hope some of these things will help him feel better and be able to lessen the allergy real soon.

 

[Lorix2]

p.s don't stress yourself about not keeping a clean house - dust is almost impossible to prevent.

 

[ahutton]

We just pulled the carpet out of the kids bedrooms and play room and replaced it with laminate flooring. Both are significantly better already, just with no carpet and making sure I wash their bedding and special stuffed animals regularly.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, and that is why our new log home will have NO carpeting in it at all.

Try putting an ionic electronic air purifier on your furnace. This helped me the most. They do need to be cleaned regularily, but you just run it through the dishwasher. A hepa filter clean air macine running 24/7 in his room will help too.

 

[believe]

How do you know if you have a dust/pet allergy? There are times I lie on the couch and my eyes will start watering and not stop till I get up. Currently I am sneezing throughout the day. I constantly feel like my nose is clogged. I have tried a nasal spray, flonase, and it did not seem to help. My dr did say I had allergies...which I thought were just seasonal, but they seem to be getting worse.

 

[bumcat]

We ripped out the carpet thru all the house except my bedroom (haven't had time yet) about a year ago. My son has only had one mild attack since we took the carpet out. He is 9 now and had attacks pretty bad since he was born.

 

[disykat]

Do as many of the preventive measures as you can. We still have carpet and manage okay - one day we'll get hardwood floors but until then we just do everything else. HEPAs are great - we have three - I even take one sometimes when we go on vacation. (by the way fancy hotels can be an issue - feather pillows etc. - even a close friend with a down jacket can be irritating!)

Usually I do have knicknacks etc. around. During my pregnancies we stripped our bedroom bare and followed the protocol to a T-even had rolling vinyl blinds - it really did make a difference and helped me live without medication. If you can manage a way to have him sleep in a seperate room from his toys that will make dust management much easier. Managing the room he sleeps in is the biggest thing.

Watching the video is the worst. Once you get past the images on that, nothing is that big a deal!

 

[binny]

consider getting a good vaccuum, we have a Kirby with a special filtration bag that really helps, there is also Febreeze allregen reducer that is supposed to help a lot as well.

Most stuffed animals can be washed in the washing machine if you put in them in pillowcases first.


Here is the list at Google for Dust Mite Allergies you should be able to find more here
Good luck!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Dust+Mite+Allergies

 

[barbeml]

I am allergic to dust mites and just about everything else. I went over a solid year without being able to breathe through my nose. Washing bedding in hot water, buying a hepa filter vacuum and taking Clarinex have made an unbelievable difference. Good luck!

 

[ead79]

Here's a website that might be of some help:

www.aerias.org


Hope that helps!

 

[rae519]

Thank you all so very, very much for the suggestions!

What a horrible allergy to have, especially for a child! I will be heeding ALL the advise (thank you again!) and hopefully will be able to report some good news soon.

Any suggestion about curtains/draperies - MD told us no curtains, but just the venetian blind (mini blinds). I sure think that's pretty STARK - but ??????????maybe some of you have come up with creative ideas....My creativity is limited to writing!

Michael thanks you all and hopes that those of you with "dust mite" allergy get over it someday soon!

God bless!

Rae

 

[Mermaid02]

My son and I are both severely allergic to dust mites. We have curtains.... What's the difference between having curtains and bedding? Bedding is actually worse becase dust mites actually EAT the skin cells that we shed constantly! I just wash them more often than I would otherwise. The airpurifier is a great idea. We need to get one for our house. We have hardwood floors, but we do have some area rugs.

 

[bumcat]

We also did away with all curtains and only have blinds. It's not as pretty but it was one less thing for me to worry about cleaning all the time. My two girls also have asthma but not as bad. After spending too much time in the er I took drastic measures. As long as you keep them real clean you should be ok.

 

[Regina]

My youngest DD is allergic to dustmites, as well as mold, mildew, pollen, etc.

She had the shots, which do help. Taking up her carpet was impractical as we don't have finished floors underneath. (Almost the entire house is carpeted.)

What I found helped the most was getting the Ionic Breeze air purifiers from Sharper Image. She's sleeping much better with one of the units in her room. The second one does a good job of keeping the main floor allergens in control.

They're not cheap, but there are no filters to replace and they are completely silent. She's taking hers to college with her.

Good luck!

 

[rae519]

dvcreg - Hail President!

I just picked up an airfilter system for Michael's room. Anything that keeps him comfortable, safe and healthy is a GO!

We ripped up the carpeting in his room and of course, unfinished floors there. The rest of the house has new carpeting so I'll just vacuum more often than weekly. Going to put down linoleum for him......gotta do everything!

Thanks!

Rae

 

[disykat]

I think mini-blinds are hard to dust. I'd suggest an old fashioned vinyl pull down shade. They're not so great to look at but you can paint them any way you want - and they're cheap too.

 

[rae519]

We always had shades when I was living at home - until the night that I was undressing and the shade rolled up on it's own......talk about "hitting the deck"!!!!!!!!

And we had no neighbors! Thankfully!


Rae