From what I can see of the people like me, we get better but we never get well

[resonant]

Man. I have just survived a week without my allergy medications (three prescription, two over-the-counter) so I could get allergy tested. I never, ever want to do that again. You'd think there'd be a limit to the amount of mucus that a single human body could produce, but you'd be wrong.

The good news is that I'm not allergic to the cat. Nor, surprisingly, to the state of Illinois -- no corn mold reaction, no ragweed reaction.

The bad news is that I'm allergic to dust mites and two types of household mold. Allergic to my own housekeeping, basically. So I'm looking into the pros and cons of allergy shots. (darthfox? Don't even think "I told you so.") And in the meantime I have to figure out a way to get the mold out of the basement laundry room and keep it from coming back.

The other good news is that I have glutted myself with pills and nose spray, and stuff has stopped moving around in my face, and I haven't sneezed for almost two hours. If I ever said anything bad about medicine, I take it all back.

In other news, last night I dreamed that The Pursuit of Happiness broke into my house and wouldn't leave, even though they didn't want to steal anything, only to look at my CDs and cheer because I had theirs.

I don't know why I'm dreaming about Canadian rock bands. And in fact I don't have their CD; I just checked it out from the library and copied "I'm An Adult Now" and "Down On Him" over to iTunes. Sorry, guys.

[subject line: from Paul Simon's "Allergies"]

Comments

[tradescant.livejournal.com]

I don't want to scare you away from the idea of allergy shots, but I got them for years, through high school and college, and they did do me a little good, but that was sort of outweighed by systemic meltdown they eventually caused. Which was partly my fault, but still unpleasant and kind of scary.

I know everyone's different, but I find that drugging myself to the eyeballs with Allegra every day is just the ticket.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Talk to bayleaf about the mold. She's currently working as a PCA (personal care assistant) for a woman with multiple chemical sensitivities, who has mold problems in her basement and is allergic to the mold, but finds most cleaning supplies highly toxic. *g* Anyway, Alanna might have some suggestions...

[evilprettykitty.livejournal.com]

On the topic of allergy shots... I did them for two years (for dust mites, mold, various pollens, various danders... pretty much anything you can be allergic to). Downside was the actual going and then the swollen arm I would have for the rest of the day but the plus is five years after stopping I still have only minimal reaction to the allergens, nothing that can't be taken care of by cold pill at the worst times of the year.

Moldy basements

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

Now, I don't want to say that this is a cure all, but it's a start, and it's relatively cheap: bleach. For starters, it will clear out everything that's already there, if you scrub thoroughly enough. The best thing to do is add a cup of it to a bucket of water and start going. The fumes are horrendous, though, so you need ventilation, or you need to take breaks. And bleach can be dangerous, as in use rubber gloves and never get your nose too close. But here in Florida mold grows on the mop I put outside to dry. And I mean MUSHROOMS. A little bleach cleared that up.

Then again., I worked in a dry cleaners for 6 years. Plenty of time for all those neurotoxins to damage my thinking processes. Come to think of it, we used bleach there too. ::sigh::

Re: Moldy basements

[halimede.livejournal.com]

Speaking from dust & mold allergy experience, grapefruit seed extract works just as well as bleach and you only need a few drops. What little smell there is dissipates quickly, and it doesn't hurt my airways. It is a lot more expensive than bleach, though. A couple of drops of tea tree oil in a normal cleaning solution with soap or whatever works well on some molds too.

Other things I have learned: If at some point you're thinking of remodeling, keep in mind that smooth floors are much easier to keep clean. Blinds are better than most curtains, easily washable curtains are better than blinds. Anything is better than venetian blinds. Vacuum cleaners with really good filters rule, or just use those swiffer static electricity disposable rags (bring a small plastic bag along so once the rag is 'full' you don't have to drag it all over the house). Those allergy covers for pillows and duvets (the ones that let through air and moisture, but keep dust & mold where they are) are worth their weight in gold.

Re desensitisation: I remember reading a research article where shots were counter-indicated for people who either had more than one allergy, or who couldn't easily avoid the allergens (dust & mold were specifically mentioned). I know people who have had good experiences, and people who had really bad experiences.

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

Mold in the basement? Get a portable dehumidifier and run it down there. Mold won't grow well without humidity.

[mwynen.livejournal.com]

I'm currently getting allergy shots, and they're not doing me any harm. I will say, though, that if you have to go to a walk-in clinic to get the shots, the lineup every week might get tiresome.

Also, keep an eye on the doctors, especially if it's not the same one giving the shot every week. I got overdosed a few weeks ago and had a systemic reaction, because I didn't confirm how much the doctor was giving me.

IMHO, I think it's worth it to get the shots, so long as you're careful. In Canada anyway, it was significantly cheaper for me to order a year's worth of allergy serum than buy a year's worth of Claritin.

[gwendolen.livejournal.com]

I'm allergic to mold too, as well as dust and all kinds on animals and it usually made my allergic reactions worse. Once I moved out of the moldy apartment my allergies got better and are now barely bothering me.

The easiest way would be to move but I guess that's something you don't want to. There are special paints and sprays that can be used against moldy walls. At least they have them here in Germany and I'm sure you can find some in the US too.
You might also check into the way your basement walls are isolated. Sometimes one can do something with the isolations to stop mold. Air the rooms regularly, i.e. several times a day (not AC but open the windows or doors and try to create a draft).

If you have potted plants you should also get rid of them or at least move them out of the bedroom. Mold loves potted plants.

There are special air-cleaners specially for allergic people who clean the air from dust and other things. Same with a vacuum cleaner, get one specially designed for people allergic to dust. They have filters so that the dust doesn't get blown into the air while your cleaning.
If your dust allergy is really bad you might also have to think about removing all carpeting in your hose. Dust loves carpets and all blinds and everything that collects a lot of dust.
Not to mention change your bedding and especially the mattress to ones made for people with dust allergies.
Also when cleaning or dusting use a wet rag or the vacuum cleaner.

The most useful and hardest to realize advise I ever got from an official brochure was: People allergic to dust should find someone else to do their cleaning.

As for shots, I did a treatment with formic acid and my own blood that helped a bit and doesn't have any side effects (except for the one that it might not help). My aunt did an immunization which usually gets done only during the winter that helped her.

The best thing one really can do is avoid the things one's allergic to. That's what I did and still do and I'm doing really fine right now and only need medication sporadically. And the dust is mostly easy to live with.

And now I've probably told you a lot of stuff you either already knew or never wanted to know. Sorry.