X-posted in Health and Healing
I really would love other opinions, thoughts, etc. on this situation. I'm at my wits end.
My husband has chronic asthma (which seems to be getting progressively worse) and allergies. As a child, he was allergic to milk and eggs, eggs more significantly than milk. He also grew up overseas (in Asia), so he had a large amount of vaccinations. As a rock climber, he also got a tetanus shot every couple of years (because he couldn't remember his last one, and would just get another one when injured). He tried allergy shots through a traditional allergy doctor for about a year. They didn't seem to help. Their allergy testing showed he was allergic to mold, grass, dust, cat dander, dogs, and eggs.
He claims that when he eats eggs now, nothing happens. However the allergy testing nurse freaked out when she tested the eggs and said "oh my! what happens when you eat eggs??" which leads me to believe that while he may not be throwing up etc., on some level, his body is reacting to the eggs, causing inflammation, etc.
I believe the testing they did was a scratch test.
We have a cat and a dog. The cat is hairless and is washed every morning. According to my vet, rinsing it off every day decreases the dander (and hence the allergy) by 80%. Still my husband thinks the cat is to blame for his ever worsening allergies. I am fine with finding the cat a new home, but am concerned this is not the real culprit.
The asthma gets unbelievably bad during the winter. Over time, we're becoming more certain that this has to do with a few factors: 1. the A/C is not running all the time, so the air is not being filtered through the HEPA system we have. 2. the humidity levels are still high enough for dust mites to survive (A/C is not drying the air out).
During the winter, we have a dehumidifier set up in the bedroom, as well as an austin air purifier. The bed is covered with dust mite proof covers. My husband sleeps well in the bedroom and doesn't have a problem as long as that is the case. In the summer, the heat from the dehumidifier makes it impossible to run. Our room feels like a desert if we do. Usually it is not needed in the summer.
I have noticed since we turned on the A/C the last few days, the house smells a bit musty. I've had the unit serviced and the filter changed, so I can't explain the smell. The house needs insulation in the attic, and I'm concerned that due to the difference in temperature (cool ducts, hot attic) condensation may have formed and created some mold (of which my husband is highly allergic).
This winter was worse than last winter which was worse than the winter before it. At this point, my husband has had a pretty significant lung infection/hacking cough for the last 4 months or so. He is taking steroid inhalers, etc. to remediate it out of desperation.
Obviously, something has to be done. Some things we are considering.
1. Find a new home for the hairless cat. I have a hard time believing this is the real culprit myself (as the cat is there year round, but the asthma problem is in the winter). That said, it could be a cumulative effect with the cat just making things worse. My husband has agreed to no more pets after the dog passes (she is 14 yrs old).
2. Get the ducts cleaned and the attic insulated.
3. Pay some serious money to a naturopath to sort out the diet/allergies. Obviously mainstream allergy treatments have done little for us.
Any other thoughts/ideas?
It should be noted that my daughter had a serious problem with enlarged tonsils, sleep apnea, and chronic ear infections. We took her to a naturopath (who cost us a fortune but was worth every penny). He put her on a ton of supplements, got her gut back in balance, took her off dairy/soy/gluten for 6 months (we nailed down dairy as a big cause). She was SO healthy. We've recently gotten lazy on the dairy, she had strep throat (and antibiotics) and now she's got eczema on her elbows
So we've cracked down on dairy the last few weeks anyhow for her.
My husband and I are both speech pathologists and make a decent living, but money is tight. Esp. going into summer. I can't put a price on his health of course, but I also want to be smart about our plan of action.
Any words of wisdom, mamas?
XOXO
B
I really would love other opinions, thoughts, etc. on this situation. I'm at my wits end.
My husband has chronic asthma (which seems to be getting progressively worse) and allergies. As a child, he was allergic to milk and eggs, eggs more significantly than milk. He also grew up overseas (in Asia), so he had a large amount of vaccinations. As a rock climber, he also got a tetanus shot every couple of years (because he couldn't remember his last one, and would just get another one when injured). He tried allergy shots through a traditional allergy doctor for about a year. They didn't seem to help. Their allergy testing showed he was allergic to mold, grass, dust, cat dander, dogs, and eggs.
He claims that when he eats eggs now, nothing happens. However the allergy testing nurse freaked out when she tested the eggs and said "oh my! what happens when you eat eggs??" which leads me to believe that while he may not be throwing up etc., on some level, his body is reacting to the eggs, causing inflammation, etc.
I believe the testing they did was a scratch test.
We have a cat and a dog. The cat is hairless and is washed every morning. According to my vet, rinsing it off every day decreases the dander (and hence the allergy) by 80%. Still my husband thinks the cat is to blame for his ever worsening allergies. I am fine with finding the cat a new home, but am concerned this is not the real culprit.
The asthma gets unbelievably bad during the winter. Over time, we're becoming more certain that this has to do with a few factors: 1. the A/C is not running all the time, so the air is not being filtered through the HEPA system we have. 2. the humidity levels are still high enough for dust mites to survive (A/C is not drying the air out).
During the winter, we have a dehumidifier set up in the bedroom, as well as an austin air purifier. The bed is covered with dust mite proof covers. My husband sleeps well in the bedroom and doesn't have a problem as long as that is the case. In the summer, the heat from the dehumidifier makes it impossible to run. Our room feels like a desert if we do. Usually it is not needed in the summer.
I have noticed since we turned on the A/C the last few days, the house smells a bit musty. I've had the unit serviced and the filter changed, so I can't explain the smell. The house needs insulation in the attic, and I'm concerned that due to the difference in temperature (cool ducts, hot attic) condensation may have formed and created some mold (of which my husband is highly allergic).
This winter was worse than last winter which was worse than the winter before it. At this point, my husband has had a pretty significant lung infection/hacking cough for the last 4 months or so. He is taking steroid inhalers, etc. to remediate it out of desperation.
Obviously, something has to be done. Some things we are considering.
1. Find a new home for the hairless cat. I have a hard time believing this is the real culprit myself (as the cat is there year round, but the asthma problem is in the winter). That said, it could be a cumulative effect with the cat just making things worse. My husband has agreed to no more pets after the dog passes (she is 14 yrs old).
2. Get the ducts cleaned and the attic insulated.
3. Pay some serious money to a naturopath to sort out the diet/allergies. Obviously mainstream allergy treatments have done little for us.
Any other thoughts/ideas?
It should be noted that my daughter had a serious problem with enlarged tonsils, sleep apnea, and chronic ear infections. We took her to a naturopath (who cost us a fortune but was worth every penny). He put her on a ton of supplements, got her gut back in balance, took her off dairy/soy/gluten for 6 months (we nailed down dairy as a big cause). She was SO healthy. We've recently gotten lazy on the dairy, she had strep throat (and antibiotics) and now she's got eczema on her elbows
So we've cracked down on dairy the last few weeks anyhow for her.My husband and I are both speech pathologists and make a decent living, but money is tight. Esp. going into summer. I can't put a price on his health of course, but I also want to be smart about our plan of action.
Any words of wisdom, mamas?
XOXO
B
Like I said, allergists have never been helpful for me. I have never seen any improvement with their treatment paradigms.
this one is less expensive and does hard floors. I really recommend it for you.
. It sounds to me like you need him to buy in to working on a solution, and starting with the obvious. Like he probably does react to eggs - it's just not obvious it's an egg reaction (like eggs cause an inflammatory response that makes his asthma worse).
