Anyone been tested and found allergic to dust mites?

[goodgraces]

“Surprised” my new allergist today when skin tests revealed strong allergic response to dust mites. (He said since no one else in my family had allergies it was highly unlikely I would.) Ha.

Anyway, just wondering how others have dealt with the finding and how vigilant it did or did not make you in terms of changes in your home. Dust cases for all bedding, weekly super-hot washing of bedding, no rugs in bedroom, etc. I’m tired just thinking about it and wonder how realistic it all is for this busy mom and inhabitant (along with many animals) of a century-old home.

FWIW, my symptoms are asthma — not really sinus issues. So I’m truly hoping that stepping up to a daily inhaled steroid will go a long way toward dealing with that.

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[mike0323]

You said you have many animals so maybe my experience will be relevant.

I’m supposedly allergic to dustmites but I found it was the cats that were causing my problems. At first I was convinced it was dustmites too. The allergist did the test and basically came back telling me I was allergic to almost everything they tested. I’d lived with cats all my life, so I was really skeptical about the cats. I went through the procedures you’re talking about and it didn’t help. Finally I moved away from my parents home which contained the cats, and I’m almost completely allergy free. I still wasn’t convinced and

babysat a cat once more just to convince myself that I wasn’t really allergic to cats. Unfortunately within one hour the symptoms were back. Now a days I live with two dogs (The test said I was allergic to dogs) and a barely ever clean the house and am fine.

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[B-squared]

I tested positive to dust mite allergies as a child and all of the efforts i made back then seemed all for not (removing all knick-knacks, books, stuffed animals, etc from rooom, damp-mopping floor each day, no rugs, etc). However, when i moved away from home, my sinus allergies were much improved. i attribute this chiefly to mold problems since it was the 70’s and all the efforts to save oil and over insulate made for a damp environment (dad didn’t like to turn the furnace on and there were no fans in the house, and the windows were visqueened over to save heat).

As an adult, i use dust-mite covers on pillows. i don’t have carpet anymore. when washing bedding, i don’t use hot water as i don’t think it’s hot enough to do much good, but the dryer more than makes up for it as it is wicked hot. One thing i read was that dust mites like a moist environment, so i try to keep the house humidity under 50%. i have a programmable thermostat that heats the house for two hours upon waking in an effort to dry the house out. i also use properly vented fans in the kitchen and the bathroom to pull out steam. air exchange is important. i also sleep with the bedroom window open a crack. my sinus problems are nearly non-existent except during pollen season (grass!).

so it’s hard to say if i truly have or ever had dust mite allergies, but occasionally when staying at a hotel or someone else’s house, the sinus stuff kicks in, in the morning, which i have always attributed to dust mite allergies.

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[dhg]

that’s what I love love love about seattle: I sleep with the window open every night! I get so used to it that modern hotels with sealed windows make me feel like I’m suffocating.

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