Mould Problem in Emergency Accommodation

silvercar

I find that once sensitised to hay fever symptoms it is hard to rid. I take Benadryl as it is fast acting and seems to work better.

Good luck.

FBaby

More steroids might be an answer and I need to clarify with the GP why that wasn't recommended. Although the chances of seeing the same one are remote lol.

I know we can't give medical advice on the forum, but just to say that I have had serious issues with allergies for years and ended up living not with some asthma but mainly a constant blocked nose. My new GP recommended a steroid nose spray which I refused as first because of what I'd read about steroids, but he reassured me that these sprays can't pass the blood streams and therefore are not dangerous and can be taken indefinitely. All I can say is that it has saved my life.

Last time I went to Tesco for my prescription, the pharmacist said you could now get it off the counter, so definitely worth trying.

Person_one

FBaby wrote: »

I know we can't give medical advice on the forum, but just to say that I have had serious issues with allergies for years and ended up living not with some asthma but mainly a constant blocked nose. My new GP recommended a steroid nose spray which I refused as first because of what I'd read about steroids, but he reassured me that these sprays can't pass the blood streams and therefore are not dangerous and can be taken indefinitely. All I can say is that it has saved my life.

Last time I went to Tesco for my prescription, the pharmacist said you could now get it off the counter, so definitely worth trying.

Yes, for the hay fever, but a trip to the GP is still required for the asthma of course.

(I know I'm banging on about it OP, but I've been guilty of falling into the 'ignore worsening asthma because you're used to it and it seems normal to you' trap myself, I let myself get far too unwell last year before I went for a proper review and started a new inhaler that has improved my quality of life massively. Please tell me you're going to ring for an appointment tomorrow?)

knightstyle

Sorry to hear all your woes. I am fortunate and have not had these health problems with my kids, but I have some experience with mould and how to deal with it.
Mould is usually caused by water in the air settling on a cold surface, or occasionally coming from the wall like rising or penetrating damp.
So to stop the mould you need to either remove the water from the air or line the cold wall with something to insulate it. There used to be rolls of polestyrene for this but I think they have been removed from sale as they were a fire hazard.
You need the water in the air to help your child sleep but can you warm the room after he gets up to pull the damp from the walls into the air and then open all the windows to get rid of this damp air? I think this will help.

James_Tyroll

Mould can cause all sorts of health issues, short term and long term. It's serious. My advice - get out ASAP.

I realise this may not be as easy as it sounds, but please put your health first, always.

In the meantime, a good HEPA filter with UV can help to remove mould spores - you can put it right beside your child's bed. Leave it on 24/7. But it's only a temporary fix.

James_Tyroll

ps- mould causes asthma more than dry air, ditch the humidifier. You need to keep humidity below 55% to stop the mould getting worse, so get yourself a very cheap meter (about £3 on amazon). If it's higher than this, you need a DEhumidifier.

[Deleted User]

I appreciate your advice.

My son only gets asthma when he has a chest infection, and that is rare. He has hayfever, not asthma. He's not wheezing. I did take him to the GP on Friday. She confirmed its hayfever not asthma. I am keeping a very close eye on him.

I agree the mould is potentially very serious, so I am removing it as far as a human can. My son is now sleeping in the lounge which is a warmer room (gets the sun, the bedrooms at the back don't at all) and no mould. I didn't need to use the humidifier at all last night, thank goodness.

I think with an open window constantly, mould removal, the mould will go and not come back. The bedrooms are at the back of the property, very cold (I had three duvets on me during January), the bedroom radiators are useless (even full on, no clue how to get them sorted, last gas safe engineer who came round to fix the boiler said I needed to get some kind of thermal report done - god knows how as the council seems to contract out this kind of work). There's two outside probably not well insulated walls to the bedroom as well (built in the 50's concrete walls).

I am in emergency accommodation and well, you can't 'just move'. If I had an alternative I wouldn't be in emergency accommodation. Gravesend has a wierd attitude to priority. In spite of being a vulnerable household we are low 'c' priority. They completely refuse to reassess. None of the professionals I deal with seem to be able to do anything about it. I've had two 'really good, once they get their teeth into something they never give up' housing advisory charities just look at me blankly when I say the local housing department shouldn't be able to do this. Shelter, who I also tried, seem to only want to do things if its covered by legal aid. I am very very sorry if I seem to have an attitude.., I'm a bit peeved with this lol. Its fairly isolating.

So a bit stymied. I've tried so much. Oh and my MP says he won't interfere with Housing Policy. That was just after he emailed that the country can't afford to fund disabled families. Seriously.

I can't afford to get a dehumidifier. I am hoping I know enough about mould to wipe it out with thorough ventilation and cleaning etc. Thank god, somehow my son isn't so bad now. The coughing isn't constant like it was at the time I posted which was awful for him. He's not complaining of feeling nauseous all the time either.

James_Tyroll

Here's what I would do:

If you have radiators thoughout the house and some rooms are plenty warm enough, you may find that you can turn them down a bit - that should in turn help send more heat through to the colder radiators, also make sure BOTH valves are open fully (sometimes people just check one)

To prevent the mould, you need good ventilation and STABLE temperatures so try to keep the heating on at least 18c all day if you can to avoid it getting cold then warm again, and yes keep the windows open when you can, at least a crack at all times. You can also get silica dehumidifiers for about £5 - a couple of them would help. Make sure there's nothing else damp in there (no drying stuff on radiators). Also move furniture away from walls to encourage air flow.

Also, remember when cleaning mould that it's when you disturb it that it gets into the air the most. So make sure you really ventilate the room (and wear a mask) when you clean it and change your clothes/have a shower after.

To help with the hayfever/wheezing you're right to keep your son out of that room. There's a spray that you can get called 'Aircleanse original Bio-Life Allergy Spray' - its about £10 and it denatures pollen and mould spores so they don't trigger as much reaction, you just spray it around the room a bit - it lasts a long time. Give it a go, it helped me.

Hope that helps

Person_one

I don't get it, you definitely said his asthma was your concern and your reason for buying the humidifier in your first post and were talking about him coughing constantly, being kept up all night and throwing up from the force of coughing. Now, just a day later, you're not even worried about his asthma?

If you have asthma you always have it, even if its usually well controlled and only a problem when exposed to certain triggers. Not everybody who has asthma has a wheeze either.

I'm glad your son is feeling better anyway. I hope his asthma continues to improve.

[Deleted User]

Yes, you are right, I did start the first post saying my son is asthmatic.., and then went on and on about hayfever but I appreciate the asthma start up is what could have been a focus. I'm sorry, I should have seen that, I didn't.

I will correct my original post, I did not intend to confuse the issue.

At the time I wrote the first post I was pulling my hair out because nothing was working after a few weeks of trying, and I'd just noticed the mould in the bedroom which previously had been just dark marks on the wall and ceiling. I'd dreaded this. So I'd got a lot going through my head while trying to compile a clear post (and messing it up obviously).

I have repeatedly said since then the hayfever is the problem, not asthma right now. The Asthma is occasional in response to a chest infection, otherwise it doesn't appear.

Oh I'm sorry, I'm now ty-ing myself in knots again over the coughing and asthma (I cough all night, and that's how I got diagnosed with asthma, but my son normally doesn't, and he does get red watery eyes etc, responds normally very well to just antihistamines - the GP was aware of this -discussed it - and was treating him for hayfever rather than asthma.) I am sure this is hayfever, he gets it every year, but not normally for as long or as bad.

Why I posted originally was because I knew the humidifier was helping prevent the coughing but was also causing mould that there was a tendancy for in the bedroom to appear so needed to think of something else.

But there's no doubt I started my post off badly, which is really irritating. I didn't intend to waste people's time.