Living With Allergic Asthma

If you have asthma, there's a very high likelihood that you have allergic asthma. You may not think so, but that's only because it's not obvious what you're allergic to.

It may be something that's so common (like dust or pollen) that you're constantly exposed to it. Or it may be that whatever your allergy trigger is, you have a delayed reaction to it - so by the time you start wheezing, the thing that caused it is long gone.

So the first step to achieving allergy relief is to work out what your triggers are. The most effective way to identify allergens is to have allergy testing. Make sure you use a reputable company: there are a number of dubious practitioners out there.

If you can’t visit an allergy clinic, you can try a two-pronged attack. See if you can work out the allergies:

1. keep a diary so you can spot patterns, such as “every time I had an asthma attack, I’d been patting a cat half an hour before”).
2. if you suspect food allergies, try the Elimination Diet

Meanwhile, take steps to avoid common allergens, whether you know you react to them or not.

The commonest allergy for asthmatics is the dust mite. It's a hard allergen to avoid, because they live everywhere there's fabric or soft, woolly material.   So it makes sense to get rid of soft furnishings wherever you can: have wood, cork or tile floors instead of carpets, blinds instead of curtains, latex pillows instead of feather.

Even if you have polyester pillows, buy dustmite-proof casings for pillows and mattresses, which are usually the biggest source of dust mites in any house.

Many vacuum cleaners retain only coarse dust, and blow the fine stuff out of their exhaust again, along with the dust mites! If you (or anyone else) sneezes while you're vacuuming, your vacuum cleaner isn't doing its job. Buy a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner instead.

A new aid in the fight against dust mites is the steam mop - the high temperature steam kills them stone dead! Look for a model that you can use on mattresses and carpets as well as hard floors.

Finally, dust starts accumulating again as soon as you've finished vacuuming, but an air purifier will help keep things under control until your next clean.

Another very common allergen is pets. People are often in denial about this possibility, if they have a much-loved family pet. My own sister was adamant for years that her cat had nothing to do with her asthma. Whenever she went on her annual holiday to Spain or Portugal (without the cat), her asthma improved - but she put that down to the climate.

It was only when the cat died - and her asthma improved and kept on improving! - that she had to admit the cat had been the cause all along.

If giving away the family pet will cause too much heartache, a second-best alternative is to shampoo him/her thoroughly at least once a week. Keep the pet outdoors as much as possible, so their hair and dander doesn't get into the house. And make sure you have the best vacuum money can buy - and use it often!

The pet should never be allowed into the asthmatic's bedroom. If your child is allergic to a pet, and ends up sleeping in the same room for several hours, it could be enough to land them in hospital.

The third common allergy is feathers. Mine is so severe that a few hours sleeping on a feather pillow could be life-threatening! Feather duvets and pillows are best banned from your house. Even if your asthmatic is not allergic to feathers, they can harbour dust mites.

Don't be fooled by manufacturers claiming their mattress and pillow covers are "featherproof", so no feather and down can escape to cause problems. That may be true for the first few months, but I have never yet found a feather pillow or quilt that was still featherproof after a year or so.

If you're staying with friends or in a hotel, check in advance that they have polyester or latex pillows, or take your own.

This is such a controversial subject, I've written a separate article on food allergies.   The fact is that food allergies and intolerances are becoming more common in children, but they are still unlikely to be the cause of your asthma.

Only a minority of asthmatics are allergic to strawberries, peanuts, milk or seafood.  The vast majority of allergens that affect asthmatics are things that are breathed in, not things that are eaten, so don't go denying yourself nutritious foods unnecessarily.

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All text copyright Marisa Wright.