<p>D has been in denial about the whole leaving process and is just now even beginning to think about a few logistics.
D is allergic to just about everything under the sun. And also has asthma. She does a good job avoiding the foods that she can’t eat but a major issue is the presence of Down.
Anyone deal with this issue. Any suggestions. At home she doesn’t have anything with feathers in her room and avoids even sleeping over at a friend who even has a down pillow. She also realizes now that she should have looked what dorms have carpet. She is hoping that in the south most people don’t see any need for down.
Also has anyone seem twin xl mattress covers for sale?</p>
<p>WE live near Houston and have down pillows. Sending D with featherbed. I would contact housing immediately and let them know about this. Perhaps there is another new student who is just as allergic and they could room together. As to xl matress covers - BBB and LnT have them. WE bought one for my D. They even have the anti-bacterial kind that fit over the whole mattress and zip up. We got one of those to cover the mattress and then a quilted regular kind to help make it more comfy.</p>
<p>We own a room-sized air purification filter. It is about the size of a very large hatbox. You plug it in and it removes dust, etc, allergens from the air. You replace the filter every so often. Ours cost about $300 I think (a few years ago.) </p>
<p>I suspect a roommate would be understanding about not bringing down items if you called ahead, esp because there are so many hypoallergenic alternatives that feel so similar.</p>
<p>Good luck!!</p>
<p>There was a thread last fall from a mom whose D had severe allergies and was having a lot of trouble with her dorm room? Carpet was a big problem, I think. You could call the head of housing at her college and ask for help.</p>
<p>And I think the MATRESSES have EVERYTHING to do with allergies in a dorm.</p>
<p>Mom60 - contact the Resident Life/Housing office at your daughter’s school and let them know about her allergies. I assume that, if she’s going to school in the south, the dorms are all air conditioned. If this is not the case, you need to ensure that your daughter is assigned to one that is. That, in our experience, has been a bigger issue than carpeting (which most dorms do not have - it’s usually up to the kids to provide their own area rugs). We got a letter from our allergist, insisting that DD HAD to have AC in order to breathe; the school then provided a window unit for her room (LOL, which became one of the most popular places to be on her floor during hot weather). Your daughter will probably get roommate info in advance - once she gets it, have her contact her roommate(s) and explain the problem. Hopefully she’ll have a roomie(s) who is willing to work with her. If not, go back to Housing and see if there’s any way she can get a single room for medical reasons. Most schools prefer to have healthy students, and will try to work with you. Ditto for Food Service - you might want to touch base with them regarding the possibility of getting advance menus so that your daughter can figure out what she can eat at any given meal, as well as recipes to help detect hidden ingredients. However, your daughter may have to be flexible in some areas. If her roomate is willing to stay away from down but is not a clean-freak, your daughter may have to be willing to do basic cleaning on her own to reduce dust in the room if dust is a problem for her. DD went to school with a lifetime supply of Swiffers, and regularly wiped down surfaces and the floor to try to minimize dust balls. She highly recommends stocking up on at least the Swiffer pads, if not the “broom” unit. </p>
<p>Our experience with dorm mattresses has been that they’re generally made of some kind of waterproof material, so dust mites probably won’t be an issue. However, you’ll still want a mattress cover/pad of some sort - some of the mattresses are pretty skanky looking. Remind your daughter that she’ll need to remove it and wash it periodically if dust mites is one of her allergens. </p>
<p>Does she currently get allergy shots? If so, you’ll need to arrange for her to get them at school, unless she’ll be close enough to home to come back regularly for her shots. Usually the Health Center can and will do it for you if you provide the serum. Our only problem was that, when DD got a new batch of serum, the Health Center would not administer the first shot. She had to come back home to get it, in case she had a reaction. Once the initial shot was taken care of, the Health Center was happy to continue giving the shots. DD said that on any given day there was usually a line of kids waiting to get their shots, then hanging around for the mandatory 20 minutes for an ‘arm check.’ If your daughter doesn’t have to do this, lucky her!</p>
<p>Good luck. I think you’ll find that most schools are used to dealing with kids with allergies, and will try to work with you to keep your daughter healthy.</p>
<p>One of my best friends had this problem - she had been working with the school all through the application process (ensuring that she could eat there), so I’m assuming that housing was aware of the situation as well (very small school). She did talk to her roommate - who was a nightmare! - about trying to not have peanut butter lying around. For the most part, college students don’t really bring down with them, and, if notified enough in advance, could get foam or whatever. My guess is that the roommate should have as much advance warning as possible - could you possibly get roomie selections early?</p>
<p>You can get special covers for down pillows which extend their life - would that help at all?</p>
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<p><a href=“Bed Bath & Beyond | The Best Deals Online: Furniture, Bedding, Rugs, Kitchen Essentials & Moree”>Bed Bath & Beyond | The Best Deals Online: Furniture, Bedding, Rugs, Kitchen Essentials & Moree;
<p>You should be able to find what you need there.</p>
<p>SB Mom- where did you buy the air purifier?
Marcyr- she has an appointment with her allergist before she goes and I will have him write her up a letter. I think all of the dorms at her school are air conditioned. I hadn’t thought about the swifters, never have used them but we will pick her up a supply. I am embarrassed to say that she has not had a whole lot of cleaning experience beyond straightening up.
The Dr wanted her to do the shots but she is so scared of needles that we never did them. I would also assume that since she is moving from Ca to the south that she will find a whole new bunch of trees and grasses to be allergic too.
She has learned over the years to eat very simple to avoid the foods that cause her problems. I am not worried about her eating something. She also knows what to do if she has a problem. Much harder to avoid the airborne allergens that just make breathing difficult.
She will get her roommate assignment soon and hopefully they can work it out. If she turns out to be a down lover we will try to get a switch before school begins.
Marcy- were the beds bunked in your d’s dorm. I was thinking it would make matters worse if she had a bed above her.</p>
<p>We got the purifier several years ago; our allergist had given us a catalogue from which we ordered. I think it is an Enviracare (?) purifier. Who knows, they may make even better ones now.</p>
<p>mom60 - My 2nd S has terrible allergies. He is allergic to EVERYTHING outside. He is a big athlete and was beginning to have problems with exercise induced asthma. He began taking allergy shots a year ago (he waited also because he is the biggest chicken about needles). It has changed his life! He feels so much better, rarely needing his puffer and hardly ever getting those dreaded sinus infections. Even though he still hates to get the shots (he is down to 2 a month now), he knows that they are really helping him. If your daughter has any allergy issues at college, she might really consider the shots, especially if it will help her enjoy the experience more.</p>
<p>S also had similar problem. For dust mites etc, I have saved a link at home and I will post it later.</p>
<p>For food (milk, fish, nuts) we had called the campus housing/dinning and to my surprise they said that no problem. They have many kids with similar restrictions. They even provide soy milk. We did ask for a dorm that has microwave oven access (his school does not allow microwaves in the rooms). For late night eating (while others are having pizza and ice cream) the poor guy will have to settle for soups and other stuff.</p>
<p>link for allergy free covers</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/dusen2.html[/url]”>http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/dusen2.html</a></p>
<p>mom60 -
DD has never had to deal with bunk beds, so I don’t know if having a bed over your head would make a difference. Logically, it seems like it should, but we have no practical experience. Last year DD’s roomie lofted her bed, but they put their minifridge, microwave, roomie’s dresser and a bookcase under the bed, and DD’s bed was across the room. Having one lofted bed did make sweeping the floor easier, and there were fewer killer dust bunnies at the end of the year. LOL, DD wasn’t much of a cleaner either, until it became her responsibility to either clean or cough. Since she’s a singer, coughing became problematic and she discovered the joys of her Swiffer package. Now she’s a regular little dusting dervish, at least during the school year. If only I could get that habit to extend to her room here at home…</p>
<p>As for there being different allergens at school than there are at home, you’re probably right about that. However, if your daughter finds that she’s really having problems at school, it might be a good idea for her to consider getting shots despite her aversion to needles. My kids weren’t thrilled with the idea of getting shots either, but DS went from severe allergy symptoms and exercise induced asthma to minimal symptoms and less severe E.I. asthma; DD says she hasn’t had significant improvement, but as she can tell by the worsening of her symptoms when she’s due for a shot, I’d say that they are in fact helping her; and my symptoms are so much better that I’m sorry I waited until I was almost 50 (hmm, did I just admit that?) to start getting shots. And I get one in each arm, since I have a combination of allergens that can’t be mixed into one serum! Oh, and DH had bee venom imunotherapy (I told him I’d really hate to have to put “killed by a wasp” on his headstone). My family has definitely made good use of the allergist, and he has probably paid off his mortgage thanks to us.</p>
<p>The needles for allergy shots are teeny, tiny, and the shots are virtually painless. Not like other immunizations. I ended up giving myself allergy shots, and was amazed at how non-painful they were. It’s definitely worth a try.</p>