About me
My name is Don and I have had allergies my whole life. My parents have allergies and my sister has allergies. I married someone who has allergies. As luck would have it, my 3 kids have nasal allergies. We all pretty much lived our lives accepting our allergies and accepting the symptoms that we experienced. We accepted less enjoyment and a lower quality of life because our symptoms became severe. My daughter met a nice young man, married him, and moved out into the country. It was at this point that something had changed. For no apparent reason, she became allergic to all types of mold, dust mites, horses, cats, dogs, feathers, ragweed and pollen. Her quality of life went downhill as she became allergic to "everything". As we were discussing the changes that were taking place, I asked her what drugs she was taking. She rattled off a list of a dozen different kinds of drugs that she was either taking or had tried. She named two kinds of drugs that would work for her but only for a short period of time. She said that she would have to alternate them for the drugs to be effective. Since the drugs were not working for her, I became interested in finding alternative ways for her to cope with her nasal allergies. We all started thinking about our own symptoms. I started going to the library and reading everything that I could on the subject. I even began buying books to learn all that I could.
Why Avoidance Strategies?Sometime later, something started at my house. My home had an abundance of mold spores in the air for no apparent reason. It became a problem that I had no answer for. One afternoon, I got in my closet to change my clothes. I happen to look up and saw a lot of mold growing on the wood door that opens into the attic. I got a ladder, opened the attic door and got inside the attic with my light. To my surprise, the entire roof (the plywood sheets of wood that the outside shingles are nailed onto) was covered with mold! It was a bit puzzling to me how so much mold growth could be growing in my attic. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the vent from our bathroom going to the outside had become disconnected. The large hose clamp that held the venting onto the outside roof cap had vibrated off. It fell down and was lying on top of the attic insulation. I wonder for how long it was like that. For all that time, the moisture, steam and heat from all of our long hot showers was going into my attic! My attic was not such a dry location as I had assumed. My attic was a moist and dark environment perfect for mold growth.
Above is a picture of the venting that had fallen. I re-attached the venting to the outside roof cap. The bottom portion of it is attached to the bathroom exhaust fan. I made a solution in a spray bottle of 1/4 cup bleach to 3/4 water and sprayed the underside of the roof (the pictures below).
Eliminating the problem made our home a much better environment to live in. I have always known that there is no cure for allergies. But this incident really illustrated to me the point that eliminating the allergen eliminates the symptoms. It got me to see more clearly the difference between:
The research I did became a benefit for me and the rest of my family. I had accepted my condition and lived with my symptoms because I was one to experience the side effects to the drugs. I don’t like taking drugs and do poorly at following the instructions. For this reason, I was never faithful at taking the medicine. The drugs never helped me in a way that I wanted. It seemed like I was trading a symptom of allergy for a side effect from the drugs.
I have to admit that I have never tried allergy shots. I hate needles and have no plans on trying it. No one can give me a guarantee that it would work. And I would need that guarantee to pay out the money and to invest in the long term commitment that is required.
My family is now managing our allergen load quite well. Using a minimal amount of drugs, we've discovered many products that previously we did not know existed. It has been an eye-opening experience to see how just a few steps could make a big difference. We certainly do not practice everything suggested on this website because it is not necessary for our circumstances. Each situation is different. My hope is that you will learn something about your own condition. My hope is that you will discover some minor steps that you can take that will make a real difference in your life. Life is too short to be miserable. If we don’t take control over our own health, who will do it for us? Your physician can help you and guide you and teach you, but it is still up to you to take care of your own body. It is my hope that you find a few simple steps yielding big results like we found. Best wishes and good health, Don
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