Air Purifiers and allergies, what do you think? would it help?

[Linnet]

I suffer from hayfever and dd1 is starting to have symptoms for the first time this summer.

A friend suggested getting an air purifier to use in the house to help remove pollen/dust etc from the air.

Does anyone else do this? can anyone recommend a good one to buy?

I'm willing to try anything to stop our massive sneezing fits, the medicines we have don't seem to be doing any good at all at the moment

[jinglybits]

me and ex boyfriend had one of these for our studio flat a few years ago, think it cost about #50 or even a little more but i don't remember the make, it didn't really seem to help him much tho sadly. know of someone else who had a larger floor standing type who thought it was good

[Chandra]

We got a Miele Solution vacuum cleaner with an integrated Hepa filter that cleans the air as it passes through the vacuum cleaner. Don't know if this would be of any use but it certainly made a HUGE difference. (though don't know if it's because the filter or because the vacuum cleaner is just wonderful )

[tatt]

haven't tried an expensive one but did try a cheap one and an ioniser. Don't think it made much difference. Bought a dyson vaccuum with a hepa filter and that didn't help either.

What medicines are you on and have you tried vaseline around your nostrils/ the pollen guards you can get? Sometimes one medicine will work better for one person than another.

[suzi2]

My DH and I use an air purifier for my asthma - it seems to have made a difference. It's a bionaire fan one - about £70. We don't use the ioniser as I here it can trap particles and make the inhalable and therefore worse. We simply use the HEPA filter part of it and keep it running in our bedroom in the evening and usually part or most of the night.

We also use a DYSON with HEPA filter. But I'm not sure that would help with pollen.

[morningpaper]

Don't you have to keep all the windows shut if you use one of these?

[tillykins]

Well it couldn't hurt could it? I'd give it a go

[SofiaAmes]

I have two of the Sharper Image ionizers that are great. My father bought them for me while I was pregnant and my asthma went haywire and I find that they are really good for not only keeping the air clean, but getting smells (paint, damp etc.) out of the air. If you do decide to go that route, I will be selling mine fairly soon as I'm moving back to the usa next month and they won't work there. I'll probably advertise them in the next few days, but CAT me if you are interested before that.

[wilbur]

I've found ionisers v good for allergies (house dust, cats etc) - I get a lot less of the morning wakeup snuffly feeling when I have it on. Not sure it has much impact on my asthma tho - but that is v mild so it is hard to tell.

[Chandra]

BTW, before the miele, I had a Dyson with hepa filter which, as the others have said, didn't make any diference.

[FIMAC1]

We used a HEPA air purifier when ds was small and his asthma was bad - ran it at night too, really seemed to help. Replacing the filters was an education as they were flithy - yuk! Had an inbuilt ioniser which can't harm if you can find one with one

If you knew what caused his hayfever it would be useful as ds also had all his bedding and bed covered with anti-dust mite covers which really helped in the night with his allergies