Does anyone's child have a dust mite allergy and if so, what measures, if any, do you take to relieve symptoms?

[Riro]

DD, 9,was just officially diagnosed with a dust mite allergy. As DH took her to the GP appointment which resulted in the hospital test referral, I'm not sure whether I am supposed to follow up with the GP. When the receptionist rang with the test results, I asked if I needed to see the GP again and she said it was up to me, but made it sound like it wasn't expected.

DH also has a dust mite allergy and thinks it is no big deal, just something you have to live with. However, there are a few little things which concern me still but I don't want to waste the GPs time.

Do you give your child anything to relieve symptoms when they are at their worst? Are there limits to how long such things should be given? Does your child also cough a lot? DD has had a persistent, irritating cough for a few months. We initially took her to the GP because of the cough. Wondering if the allergy is causing asthma, we were given a peak flow monitor to test her with for two weeks but her expiratory flow was in the normal range for a child her age. Is it more likely the cough is post nasal drip? She says she coughs to a lot to clear her throat and sometimes says she coughs because she can't take a full breath in.

I also worry about her speech. It's a bit nasally at times and her articulation of certain consonants can be poor, particularly when she is reading or outside, when she seems to talk faster. But it's not so bad that anyone else has picked up on it or can't understand her. Has anyone else experienced this with their child?

This won't be the answer you're looking for, but till someone else comes along I will suggest nutritional ways of supporting her - I'm not a nutritionist but from my own history and reading it seems that anti-inflammatory/anti-histamine foods are things containing quercetin and vitamin C, magnesium and omega 3 sources. Turmeric is also supposed to have anti-inflammatory effects. As she's only little, you'd need to consult a specialist nutritionist though.

When dd was young, I was advised no carpets, no stuffed toys, curtains and beddings washed daily, as well as daily hoovering/sweeping and mopping of entire house. Seriously? Didn't happen. We had carpets, stuffed toys, bedding washed every other day, curtains hoovered as much as possible, then washed once a week.

oh, in answer to your other questions, dd has asthma. When she was young, it was dreadful - allergies to a number of things, and they kicked off asthma attacks on a regular basis. It wasn't always clear specifically what kicked them off. The child couldn't live in a plastic bubble though - I took reasonable precautions and monitored her asthma closely. Peak flows were very helpful, as were nebuliser treatments at home as needed (this was in the states though - I understand they do not do this here generally).

No speech issues noted with her though, sorry. Has she had a referral to speech and language therapist to rule out anything in that area?

We had this, diagnosed at hospital with blood tests (but then DD had lots of other very severe allergies).

She would often come out in hives for no apparent reason which was the dust mites.

I bought JL anti allergy duvets and pillowcases and the zip on mattress protector (the £50 one, gulp) and pillowcase protectors.

We polished the floorboards throughout the upstairs (had planned this anyway) and I wash everything on the bed once a week, pillows and duvet (s) included. I bought two 4.5 tog duvets so that I could layer them with cotton quilted throw if necessary thinking that the thinner quilts would dry quicker.

DD is asthmatic anyway so I am not sure how the DM allergy affects it. Three years on it affects her less, I don't know whether she is growing out of it or whether we have less dust mites.

In your shoes, I would take some sort of preventative measures and see if you can see an improvement - I felt that the mattress protector and pillow protectors made the most difference.

If you are at all worried about her asthma I would go back.

Thank you everyone. I think I'll monitor her closely and make some detailed diary notes before I see GP again.

Riro It may help to make a few changes at a time and then wait a couple weeks to see if there is a benefit at all. If you make lots of changes at once, you'll not really know specifically what change made the difference IYSWIM.

I did find an air filter endorsed by the British Allergy people helped. Quite expensive though

DD has it too. No asthma though. We do the same as Alice

Have laminate floor though.

Our daughter at age 7 had a very severe reaction to dust mites and we ended up seeing a private specialist because we were desperate. Dr Fox at Spire, Bushey. Probably cheaper than buying a fancy air filter! She had all kinds of tests and medicines and in the end the solution was relatively simple. Her main issue was skin reaction so we had to tackle that with daily moisturising/emollient baths and creams. Strong creams for daily use - may even have to use Protopic and stronger Hydrocortisone if very bad. That's until you get it settled. Then moisturiser and weaker Hydro creams. Towels and bedding washed at 60 degrees C EVERY DAY! Zipped complete encasement covers for mattresses, duvets and pillows - Protect a Bed from USA best quality; Puraspace products fine but fall apart. All toys washed at 60 degrees or frozen in a bag overnight. Lots of hoovering of room. Lots of ventilation and not too much central heating. She is now 10 and and hardly any issues. This is not an easy solution and needs a serious amount of work by both parents - I'm Dad.