<p>I’m looking for some wisdom/ commiseration about my allergy to dust mite proteins. I know I have much less to complain about than many sufferers as mine does not come with asthma or anything more serious than post-nasal drip with cough and chronic conjunctivitis. It’s a nuisance to cough intermittantly, all day, but so far I have not resorted to to the meds I was prescribed years ago, Allegra and steroid spray. But now I’m thinking about trying them as I’m now working in a small carpeted room. The first thing I did after allergy diagnosis was get rid of all of the carpets in the house, encase and wash bedding, etc. Any tips from anyone who experiences this mostbwelcome!</p>
<p>My son has a dust and dust mite allergy, diagnosed when he was 7 or 8 and experiencing sleep apnea. Also tested allergic for dogs, cats and some pollens. We started removing carpets and encased the bedding, as you have. He did start taking Clariton and then Zyrtec. He had a persistent cough and an inhaler seemed to break into that problem. He never needed to use it much. He’s now 24 and still has symptoms, but prefers not to take meds. It’s his choice at this point, but he knows what to do if he wants to. One thing I do before he visits is put his comforter in the dryer for awhile. I hope that removes dust.</p>
<p>bethievt, your son sounds a lot like me. Glad he is not having too hard a time of it either. I’ve asked drs and googled to try to find out if leaving the symptoms untreated will result in any future problems, but so far no answers to that. I run my beroom curtains through the dryer, and it definitely helps.</p>
<p>For things you can’t run through the dryer, you can bag and put them in the freezer overnight. At least it will kill any new beasties. We used to do that with the kids’ stuffed animals when they were little.</p>
<p>I think dust mites live in paper.
I dont have any trouble @ home, but when I was on the PTA, I spent quite a bit of time in the copy room, until I started sneezing constantly.
Then I got to delegate the job to someone else!
;)</p>
<p>Why did I read this?
<a href=“Befriending the Dust Mites Living in Your Ear - The Atlantic”>Befriending the Dust Mites Living in Your Ear - The Atlantic;
<p>The reason I had my son treated more aggressively was because of the sleep apnea. That can cause problems if left untreated. I was told that he might grow out of that. Hope he has. I don’t have the opportunity to hear him breathing at night anymore. Sigh.</p>