How are the allergy sufferers fairing in the Seattle area? (Vancouver: allergies, maintenance)

[sinkitten]

Hello,

I am considering moving to the area! I am originally from SF CA, moved to NY, then CO. I'm looking to be near the ocean again. I always breathe the best near the bay. I read frightening reviews about Portland/Vancouver and the allergens there.

I was wondering if Seattle is better in retrospect for allergy sufferers. I'm 4/5+ to just about everything they tested me on. I miss SF and the easy breathing. CO is killing me my asthma is out of control here despite advair and allergy meds. Just looking to see how people with allergies fair in Seattle!

[texastrigirl]

The Allergy Council rated Seattle #100 out of 100 for fall allergies for 2007...so I'd say it's not too bad! Depends what you are allergic to. I am allergic to mold but it is completely controllable for a few months a year with an inhaler and Singular for about 30-45 days in the late spring. That's it for me. We moved here from Austin TX which was #1 on that same list for 2007...my husband and kids were miserable for much of the year in Austin and none of them suffers here.

[mayfair]

It does depend on what you're allergic to. I'm sensitive to conifers- the cedars back east bothered me and late winter/spring here are bad for my allergies but summer is fine. Mold is bad if you're digging around in leaves doing yard work.

[jenlion]

My husband had terrible fall allergies in both Illinois and Texas. Every year about this time, he'd have a terrible sinus infection, and miserable allergies for weeks or sometimes months, if the freeze came late.

This year, living on seattle's east side, nothing. Not a sniffle. Absolutely nothing.

I had some fall allergies in Texas too. Not as bad as my husband did in fall, but still pretty uncomfortable. Spring was bad there for me. Here, I've had none of the major seasonal problems, but I find I still get pretty unhappy if I try to stop taking claritan, so there's still something around I'm allergic too (the cat, probably) (sorry, allforcats!).

I noticed in spring a very, very mild allergy season. And, this fall, I've noticed a few days wheezing suddenly, and I've had a couple of sinus headaches that have been pretty annoying. Not sure if those are allergy-related or not. But that's all it's been.

Disclaimer: I'm allergic to everything they test for (had to take two tests; in the middle of the first one, all the red welts raised up and merged into one big mess that covered most of my back; no measuring 3,4,5, because you couldn't tell where one ended and the next began!) EXCEPT molds. Molds got a tiny reaction but nothing like pollens, trees, etc. So, I'm not the best judge of allergy to mold.

My asthma has been fine here so far. I still have to take my maintenance drugs, unfortunately (keep trying to get off them, with bad results every time -- will I ever learn?). But certainly it's much much better here than TX.

This seems a great place to be for both allergies and asthma!

[Topaz]

I'm highly allergic to all types of stuff: grass, ragweed, trees (especially cedar), pollen, mold. I've had terrible allergies in Austin, Seattle, Portland/Vancouver, Colorado, and now Houston. Allergy shots work for me but it takes a long time in each new town for them to become effective.

Maybe this was overly optimistic but an allergist in Portland/Vancouver told me that people should live where they want and get long-term treatment like shots to enable them to stay healthy. I hope that he was right because I'm doing the allergy shots all over again here in a new place.

[jenlion]

Topaz, my asthma doctor in Texas told me exactly the same thing. Said you can TRY to move to beat it, but you don't know what'll happen in the next few years. Phoenix-area, people planted trees that weren't native, and watered them. Rural north texas used to be OK for smog, but the DFW area grew so much that the smog cloud got bigger and blows and sits right smack on top of rural land now, for a good chunk of the summer. There's nothing you can do about some of that.

So, we didn't move here BECAUSE we wanted an improvement in allergies/asthma. But so far, so good, and I hope the next few years here are as good in that respect as the last 9 months have been for me! You really don't know for sure until after two years, though....

[dontbugme]

You don't fair. You FARE.

[vnodak]

Originally Posted by dontbugme

You don't fair. You FARE.

Not sure what that means but to respond to your question====I have tons of allergies and lived in many areas of the states and what I have learned is what you are allergic to today may not be the samething down the road. Things change believe it or not so I say go for it and also I do not have alot of problems here. Their are preventative things you can do to help like special furnace filters etc. Good luck.

[tada]

Originally Posted by vnodak

Not sure what that means but to respond to your question====I have tons of allergies and lived in many areas of the states and what I have learned is what you are allergic to today may not be the samething down the road. Things change believe it or not so I say go for it and also I do not have alot of problems here. Their are preventative things you can do to help like special furnace filters etc. Good luck.

He's correcting a grammatical error.

I tried doing that in C-D's Education forum. Ironically, about 6 people jumped on me basically telling me to shut up and tell it to someone who cares. Last time I checked, English is quite a significant part of anyone's education. No wonder I don't go to that forum anymore.

Okay, back on topic, I had plant allergies here from about April to May when I was younger.

[sbdude76]

I tested 6+ for pollen (various), dust mites and 5+ for some other stuff. My allergies started since coming to Seattle but it also could be my age... those who are 30+ tend to get allergies. I just hit that threshold.

Currently going through allergy shots... we'll have to see if they are useful.