Question:
I'm a bit worried about my little son's health. At the age of 3,5 the doctor
said he should take Zaditen because he had some problems with colds. After 2
years the doctor did a test and they found he had an allergy for dust mites.
I contacted a doctor of a university clinic (I'm divorced and can't discuss
this matter with my ex our her housedoctor) and there they told me that
Zaditen was not longer used by them. It was more used by 'older' doctors.
Meanwhile I could convince my ex of stopping with this medicine but now
she's giving him on a daily basis
Flixotide 50mcg
Serevent 25mcg
Flixonase 50mcg
and I'm wondering if this is necessary. Or better, will long time use of
this medication not have negative consequences for his health. Has anyone
got experience with these medicines?
Answer:
You can do a lot about dust mite allergy before resorting to medicines.
Having had 2 out of our 3 children allergic to dust I can say it worked for
us, often just changing the bedroom environment will work. We put
anti-dust mite covers on all the bedding, put vinyl on the floors instead of
carpet and blinds instead of curtains...& took most of the fluffy toys out
of the room. We gradually changed the living room furniture to leather
rather than fabric, but sorting out the bedrooms had a most dramatic effect.
I've had a severe dust mite allergy for years and rarely have to resort to
any sort of medication. It was a pain in the butt, but having a bed with no
fabric or anything was helpful, getting a HEPA filter for other particulates
that might be aggravating my asthma, getting dust mite covers for mattress,
pillows, blankets, etc. I made sure to find a place without carpet, at
least in the bedroom, and avoid things like throw blankets or stuffed
animals (all dust mite magnets). Some people even use dehumidifiers to make
the environment less friendly to any dust mites that may be there (I haven't
gone that far as I actually need to humidify my apartment or I get horrible
chest pains). Anyhow, those things work for the most part.
I was on serovent for a while - that was when my asthma was particularly bad
(just after having pneumonia) and I was waking up nightly with attacks (in
retrospect probably from the dust mites). As for the other two meds, I
haven't taken those. I use Allegra 180 for my allergies, or sometimes just
good ole benedryl when I'm having an attack and need to sleep. Don't know much about these medicines, but I do know what works, a vapor
cleaner. these machines convert water to extremely high temperature dry
steam at 120*C or 260*F, this dry steam is then used to kill the dust mites
in your mattresses, upholstery and even your carpets, it is the heat from
the steam that does this. A study was done by Cambridge University Medical
Dept on these machines and they had an efficiency rating of 98%. Check out
this company that sells these machines, they may be able to help you out
www.globalvapour.com
I know they work because I use one. Quite true. I notice the one thing missing from the questions is:
what is the effect of long term failure to control symptoms of inhaled
allergen reactions? The usual progression is to bronchitis, then
chronic bronchitis, then allergy triggered asthama, then chronic
asthma. Dust mites are very difficult to remove from the home
environment mostly because the average person has no concept of just
how little it takes to trigger a reaction. It takes experience,
unfortunately you only know if it fails by the reaction the allergic
person is having - and it is very unpleasent. About the best
compromise is to do as much as possible in reducing exposure and
saving the antihistamines for times when exposure is unavoidable.
That means if the house isn't clean enough, don't suffer for days
waiting for it to be cleaned up. Take the meds, then try another
cleaning strategy.
