[jrijr]

Hello all...

I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this question, but I am hopeful that others can give me some insight.

After 38 years of growing up on a farm, running through fields, playing outside, having real Christmas trees and generally "all good," I was diagnosed last week with multiple seasonal allergies... and, also issues with dogs. I wake up sick from sinus drainage, have developed a hacking cough and constant sore throat, and varying levels of fatigue. In short, it's been frustrating.

I have three "pups" - Georgie is 4 y/o, and Beef and Grace (her kids) are 2 y/o. Georgie is full Black Labrador, and the pups' father was full Golden Retriever. They are my kids - we travel together in my Jeep, we run and play, and they have slept at the foot of my bed for months.

My new allergist said I needed to deep-clean the bedroom, which I did this weekend. I am still looking for a new comforter for the bed, but I have cleaned the sheets, dusted, moped and swept the entire room to rid much of the dog fuzz as I could. I also purchased a good HEPA air purifier, and placed it near my bed. Last night I kicked the dogs out, and slept fairly well (aside from their barks wanting into the bedroom, and hearing a few door scratches trying to get inside).

So, now I need other ideas to help minimize the dog allergy. I do weekly baths with dog shampoo, but is there something that works well to minimize the allergy component? The dogs are both in- and outdoors, and daily bathing won't work.

This is all new to me, so any insight would be appreciated.

Back to my nasal spray and Allegra!

Thanks,

Jim

 

[elrohwen]

This isn't dog related, but do you have carpet? I would get rid of that first. Carpet holds on to so much dust, dander, hair, etc. I've had allergies my whole life and getting rid of the carpet makes a difference for me.

For the dogs, I think weekly bathing is good. You can get wipes (baby wipes would work) and wipe their feet when they come in, to get off a lot of the pollen they might pick up from the grass.

Do you notice a real problem with the dogs when the seasonal stuff isn't an issue? Like, do you notice dog allergies in the middle of the winter? I ask because while I test positive for dog allergies, I've never had an issue with it. So testing positive doesn't necessarily mean that trying to fix the dog allergy problem is going to help your allergies, you know?

Have you considered shots? Allergy shots are the single best thing I've done for my health. No sprays or pills have come anywhere close.

 

[Greater Swiss]

UGH.....that sucks. Elrohwen makes tons of good points...especially about getting rid of carpet!!! if you need something, use small enough rugs to take outside and air out. I will add though, a Dyson is worth the money, carpet or not, and for getting hair off of fabric furniture rubber gloves are fantastic, I usually damp them down a little bit and sit there and "pet" the couch lol....watch TV and just give the couch some petting, it usually rolls up and easy to grab up once a fair bit is bunched up. If you've got skinny fingers, you can get into cracks between cushions too. I do the same thing in the car, works way better than most of the (stupidly expensive) gimmickey hair remover things I've found.

 

[BostonBullMama]

I am allergic to cats and dogs, and naturally have 5 altogether.
I find if I'm petting the cats, as long as I rinse my hands after touching them, before touching my face - I'm okay. Their food quality also helps a lot, my allergies and the cats overall health has been best on Now! grain free cat food.

For the dog, same story, he doesn't bother me much and I think it's largely due to his food quality. Better food = less dander. He's also short haired. My Mom's dogs are on kirklands dog food with longer hair and they bother my allergies a lot. My friends husky and pyrneese are on diamond brand and they bother my allergies too.
Cats from shelters tend to bother my allergies as well for about the first month that they're home.

 

[elrohwen]

I actually really like the Pet Hair Magnet. It's like a squeegee thing. I got it for free and didn't think much of it, but it actually works quite well.

 

[jrijr]

This isn't dog related, but do you have carpet? I would get rid of that first. Carpet holds on to so much dust, dander, hair, etc. I've had allergies my whole life and getting rid of the carpet makes a difference for me.

Yes, that is a project in the works now. My carpet is 20 years old, and definitely needs replaced. I am doing some updates to sell my home, and laminate is coming soon.

For the dogs, I think weekly bathing is good. You can get wipes (baby wipes would work) and wipe their feet when they come in, to get off a lot of the pollen they might pick up from the grass.

Interesting idea... I will definitely try the baby wipes!

Do you notice a real problem with the dogs when the seasonal stuff isn't an issue? Like, do you notice dog allergies in the middle of the winter? I ask because while I test positive for dog allergies, I've never had an issue with it. So testing positive doesn't necessarily mean that trying to fix the dog allergy problem is going to help your allergies, you know?

Have you considered shots? Allergy shots are the single best thing I've done for my health. No sprays or pills have come anywhere close.

This all just came about in the last week. I've had symptoms for a few months, but I just ignored them. However, it's obvious there is more to it than I realized. I hope that I can get out of "miserable" and back to "normal" soon and feel good again. This stuff stinks!

Thank you for the info!

 

[elrohwen]

Good luck! I've had sinus and allergy problems for probably 20 years, with about half of the last 15 on shots. They are huge for me, and prevent me from getting multiple sinus infections every year.

If the symptoms just started and you've had the dogs for a couple years, definitely think about what else has changed in your environment. It could be that the pollen is different and worse this year for what you're sensitive. I usually don't have significant seasonal allergies (mine are more mold and dust, which isn't exactly seasonal) but I've been miserable the last couple months too. I think it's been a bad year (at least in the northeast). You might be feeling a lot better in a month or so.

 

[Amaryllis]

Brushing the dogs out daily is good for allergies, too. it removes loose hair and any pollen they might be carrying. You'll want to rinse the brush really well when you're done.

I definitely second removing carpets and any fabrics you can anywhere else, i.e., fabric curtains, fabric shower curtain, get leather or pleather furniture, etc. Dust 2x a week with a swiffer duster. It has to be that kind of duster, because it traps the pollen and dust instead of moving it around. Get everywhere, the tops of windows and door frames, decorative trim on doors, baseboards, basically if it doesn't move faster than you, dust it. It really made a difference with my husband's allergies when we started doing all that.

 

[jrijr]

Thanks for all the tips, everyone! Glad to know I'm not the only one dealing with this...

 

[MRVivekB]

fyi my wife has allergies, as does my dad. Carpeting is the #1 issue, we have it in just few rooms and its the super-flat/zero pile kind. Even then it has to be aggressively vacuumed. Any minor allergen gets amplified as it sits in the carpet, basically poking/annoying my wife until she has a sneeze attack. And if we don't intervene quickly, she gets sick within 3 days. And that sucks for everyone...

 

[xoxluvablexox]

Good luck! I've had sinus and allergy problems for probably 20 years, with about half of the last 15 on shots. They are huge for me, and prevent me from getting multiple sinus infections every year.

If the symptoms just started and you've had the dogs for a couple years, definitely think about what else has changed in your environment. It could be that the pollen is different and worse this year for what you're sensitive. I usually don't have significant seasonal allergies (mine are more mold and dust, which isn't exactly seasonal) but I've been miserable the last couple months too. I think it's been a bad year (at least in the northeast). You might be feeling a lot better in a month or so.

I have never had allergies like I have this year. I tried everything... claritin d and zyrtec did absolutely nothing for me. I started taking benadryl cause a couple people said that's all that works for them... It's not working for me. This whole summer I have felt like I have a continuous cold. It's starting to give me headaches. For the past two weeks my head has been killing me and my jaws hurt and my ears actually like itch inside... There's definitely something in the air cause I've never had anything like this in my life. 4 months straight now... I'm fed up with it.

 

[Willowy]

I have never had allergies like I have this year. I tried everything... claritin d and zyrtec did absolutely nothing for me. I started taking benadryl cause a couple people said that's all that works for them... It's not working for me. This whole summer I have felt like I have a continuous cold. It's starting to give me headaches. For the past two weeks my head has been killing me and my jaws hurt and my ears actually like itch inside... There's definitely something in the air cause I've never had anything like this in my life. 4 months straight now... I'm fed up with it.

I've had that for a while too. I do take (generic) Zyrtec every day and it helps with the major symptoms but the stuffy head/jaw pain/ear thing just won't go away. I don't even know if a doctor could do anything about it :/. Last time I went to the doctor he recommended Claritin D but that didn't help either. Ugh.

I've heard from cat allergy sufferers that wiping the cat with distilled water every day helps. That might have something to do with the cat grooming himself, so I don't even know if it would help with dog allergies, but it's cheap and easy so it's worth a try.