Allergic reaction to dust

thriftyscotslass

Hi everyone:hello:

Just finished dusting & hoovering our bedroom and the hallway :A

.... but I am sneezing, coughing, eyes streaming, wheezing - ended up taking anti-histamine :rolleyes:

This is usually the scenario any time I clean but today was worse than most.

Does anyone out there have the same problem and how do you deal with it ?

No answers of don't bother cleaning please - I'm trying to become a super-duper flylady :rotfl:

TIA xx

anguk

I have the same problem everytime I vacuum, (sneezing, eyes streaming, sore throat) I normally just take an anti-histamine and vacuum as little as possible! I have thought about getting a hoover with one of those anti-allergy filter things but I don't know if they're any good?

2boysmum

I get this too, but it usually has to be a lot of dust that sets mine off, like emptying the hoover, building work getting done, etc. I try to avoid these things as much as possible as even if I take anti-histamines they don't really work and I end up with what is like a one day cold. I've recently tried a nasal spray for allergies which seems to work a bit better than the tablets. I dust and hoover every day so I don't get a huge build up of dust. You have my sympathy as I know how irritating it can be, especially when you have lots of stuff to do

Toonie

I use a damp cloth to dust everything because the dust irritates me, as does any sort of polish. When I vacuum I have all the windows open, where a long sleeved top and just do it as quick as possible. Even then I sometimes get irritated by dust, but not as irritated as I get by my BF who doesn't seem to understand the concept of a vacuum! :rolleyes:

newlywed

I use a damp cloth to dust if possible. And I agree little and often is best with dusting (mine has been much better since living with OH as he is very strict about dusting rooms every single week - he does most of them )

Also other options we used is getting an extension hose for the vacuum tube so that the actual vacuum bit is as far away as possible (as it's often the air that comes out of that which is dusty still). This was some time ago though, but helped a little.

But we have now changed to a hepa filtered vacuum with a "filtered exhaust" meaning the air coming back out of the end of the hoover is not dusty - makes a big difference!

If I'm still really sneezy after dusting I find changing my clothes and washing my hair helps (as I have long curly hair any dust/pollen etc seems to collect in there too!!)

Little_Otter

It is awful being allergic isnt it, I am allergic to dust and always end up snotty, sniffing sneezing eyes watering. As the others said, a damp cloth may work better.
I have a nasal spray which does help. it doesnt stop my reaction but helps with the sneezing/sniffing (I have the worst sneezing fits when i'm near dust, infact anything that my nose notices different, somones perfume is strong in the street, or cats etc)

Bongedone

Get the same reaction here when the OH is vacuuming. With have a vaccum with a HEPA filter also. The filter does get full though. I put a dust mask on and take it outside to clean.

She recons I should just go out when she does it.