To ask how you've helped/treated dust mite allergy

[Pumpkintopf]

Dd 14 has a severe dust mite allergy eventually diagnosed a few years ago after I took her to have her hearing tested several times and asked for a referral as her speech was poor - poor love was just constantly bunged up!

Following diagnosis we cleared her room, got her allergy proof bedding and an air purifier and things seemed to improve.

She now takes antihistamine most days - I'm just wondering if there's more I could be doing to help her - are there injections that could help? I've read about sub-lingual tablets or drops- has anyone any experience of these?

Or should I maybe look at a more efficient air purifier or those plug in things that claim to disrupt the mites' life cycle? Any advice appreciated!

My husband deals with this. Washing all the bedding frequently, including the pillows, helps a lot. I change our sheets at a minimum twice a week.

Hard floors throughout the house, hoover daily.

My son has the same allergy. We changed all his bedding to anti-allergy, removed his carpets and all teddies but one. We have to wash his bedding every week, alongside teddy, and obviously keep on top of the dusting. He doesn’t take any allergy meds, though. His allergy triggers asthma, and he has meds for that.

Hoover the mattresses regularly, get rid of soft toys and keep wardrobes and laundry baskets closed at all times. Also, put clean washing away asap as it gives off fibres and dust. You should also look into Rhinolight therapy which won't lessen the allergy but can reduce the associated rhinitis.

No carpets/mats and lots of hoovering/dusting/washing

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I find a nasal rinse a very helpful treatment. Nelimed etc

Thank you all. I think I could usefully step up the cleaning- she is of the teenage age that is reluctant to allow me into her room but needs must!

Her mattress is zipped into an allergy free cover, should I hoover that? I do have a Miele with hepa filter so that will hopefully work.

Again, pillows are anti allergy- should they still be washed?
Will look into rhinolight and nasal wash, thanks.

Hi my son also has dust mite allergy and loads of others so it's hard to pinpoint which allergy is causing the problems.
Can I ask everyone with dust mite allergy when they find the worst months are?
I'm sure I was told end of November onwards was the peak of dust mite season

Ventilationand daylighting of the bedroom solved mine. I had had a bamboo blind at the window, which I kept down all the time because it made a pleasing pattern on the facing wall. Once I took that down and let more air in, the allergy disappeared.

Even though the pillows are anti-allergy, they need to be washed, and dried on high heat in the dryer.

Before I comment I just want to say that in no way am I comparing a child to a dog, however my dog has a fairly severe dust mite allergy and I have found this in Pets at Home, it's a flea spray and it's for soft furnishings and carpets, but it kills dust mites too. I wet dust and hoover the house every couple of days and then spray with this once a week. It does help. You can find it cheaper on EBay.

You can also buy a cheap flea collar for a cat or dog and cut it in half then put it in the hoover bag. Helps kill any dust mites that end up in the hoover.

www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/johnsons-4fleas-household-spray-600ml

I have asthma and a dust mite allergy. We have mostly hard floors throughout the house and a robot hoover who does a really good job of cleaning and gets under beds etc. All bedding, blankets and cushion covers are boil washed at least weekly. Anti allergy bedding is also good to. Change duvets and pillows at least yearly to avoid a build up and pop anything you can in the freezer overnight periodically especially if she has soft toys in her room or big fluffy pillows/rugs.

My worst symptoms are now until January. Dm always said that if I made it to Jan without a sinus or chest infection then I was probably in the clear.

Thank you all these are really useful points. I must admit I hadn't been washing her pillows - will do so. Thanks for all the advice, will also try the spray.

My DD and myself both have dust allergies.
So yes, wash bedding frequently, at least once a week and in hot water because mites can live through cold water washes.
Vacuum with a hoover that can capture dust mites. I have a dyson.
Hard floors with no carpets in bedroom, dust and wash floor weekly. Do not store anything under the bed because you have to clean under there too.
Limit soft toys for children and wash them regularly as well.
I have cloth curtains because I can also wash them every month...blinds are harder to keep dust free.
Don’t have a forced air heating system if you can help it.
Dust surfaces weekly, cut down on clutter.
When dusting use a spray cleaner and wet a cloth then dust....if you dust dry it puts dust in the air and kicks off the allergy.

Anti histamine every day. Steroid nasal spray every day.

Thanks antihop she takes antihistamine but hasn't tried a nasal spray- what brand(s) should I be looking for?

Have just been up and cleaned her room, wet dusted and hoovered mattress to hopefully give time for it to settle before she's home from school. Definitely need to do more cleaning...

Has anyone felt an air purifier has made a real difference? Wondering if it would be worth the money.

Do you have a carpet? If so can you change it for a hard floor which you mop daily.

Also memory foam mattresses I believe are supposed to be much better than traditional sprung.

Have you tried other anti-histamines?

I find it really surprising everyone is recommending hard floors. My husband has an extremely severe dust mite allergy which flared up really badly when we moved to a house with wood floors throughout. We were told by an allergy specialist that contrary to popular belief, with hard floors the dust sits on top and is constantly agitated so it’s thrown into the air. Carpet actually traps the dust and holds it in. Obviously we hoover regularly but since we got carpets he hasn’t needed to take antihistamines anymore at all. The change was directly linked to the flooring and was seriously dramatic.

interesting HarrietM87. Are you talking old-fashioned floor boards as they are total dust-hoarders.

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-asthma/expert-answers/asthma-triggers/faq-20057785

That is really interesting Harriet! We do have carpet in her room I'm afraid, and live in a very old (and probably very dusty) house.

In our last place it was engineered wood floors, here we had old floorboards, both were bad for DH. As soon as we laid wool carpet things improved. I know it’s completely contrary to most advice but there you go. Tbh I can see that with hard floors dust is disturbed a lot more, though if you’re hyper vigilant with cleaning it probably would be better than carpet.

I think wool is supposed to be relatively anti allergy isn't it. Her bedroom carpet is years old though so maybe we should replace it.